Netizen: Microsoft

Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts

Sunday, September 08, 2013

Through Nokia Microsoft Should Go Down The Food Chain

With Google Loon attempting free internet access in the remotest corners, the other piece of the puzzle is the smartphone. How cheap can you make it? There Nokia has an edge.

There is argument that the Windows mobile platform does not have a million apps like the iOS and Android do. Most people I know use less than 10 apps, and all the hit apps do exist on Windows Mobile. Windows is decent in mobile. It is workable.

The only way it could become a contender is if it were to go down the food chain with ridiculously cheap smartphones in the emerging markets. That might be the top benefit Microsoft could hope for from the Nokia acquisition, I think.

How cheap is cheap? Under 50 dollars. So, a super cheap smartphone that most people can save up and buy, free internet access from the skies, a Skype phone number that works just fine over the internet, and you get 80% of the world connected. I can't imagine a better boon for democracy, gender justice, and microfinance.

Friday, August 23, 2013

That Other Other Steve

Wow. Big news. Msft should go android now. http://t.co/FCgzzYw4HH
— mark pincus (@markpinc) August 23, 2013

History's biggest acqui-hire: What if Microsoft gets a new CEO by buying Yahoo?
— Christopher Mims (@mims) August 23, 2013

Why not “retire” immediately? Can’t even leave properly.
— Marco Arment (@marcoarment) August 23, 2013

From @dinabass sources, 4 on MSFT's internal list of CEO candidates: Tony Bates, Qi Lu, Satya Nadella, Terry Myerson http://t.co/DuDAH1T8Nm
— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) August 23, 2013

By announcing his own retirement, Ballmer just drove the value of his 300M $MSFT shares by ~$1B.
— Zach Epstein (@zacharye) August 23, 2013

"No chance the iPhone is going to get any significant market share."
— MG Siegler (@parislemon) August 23, 2013

My worst 2012 Worst CEO List: Mason $GRPN; Ballmer $MSFT; Johnson $JCP; Pincus $ZNGA; Perez $EK (or whatever its symbol is now)
— Herb Greenberg (@herbgreenberg) August 23, 2013

If only Ballmer had been shouting "mobile developers! mobile developers! mobile developers!"
— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) August 23, 2013

In the last 20 years he's had big wins as well as loud failures. it's a hard role to fill. talking about @benaffleck as Batman of course
— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) August 23, 2013

What Steve Ballmer achieved at Microsoft is actually amazing. It's underrated simply because consumer tech casts an irrationally big shadow.
— Anil Dash (@anildash) August 23, 2013

"You can tell which is his office at MS HQ. It's the one where they took the desktop away and hid it in a cupboard." http://t.co/syt8YUSYU9
— Charles Arthur (@charlesarthur) August 23, 2013

All joking aside, MS needs some external to come in and look objectively at their businesses and cut/expand accordingly. No more status quo.
— Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) August 23, 2013

Notable: In 2010, Ballmer indicated he’d stay CEO until around 2018. http://t.co/sN6W9NBDMK
— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) August 23, 2013

Way off. Marissa Mayer for CEO of MicroHoo."@mims: Elon Musk for CEO of Microsoft."
— Amir Efrati (@amir) August 23, 2013

Why Steve Ballmer Failed
The Rise and Fall of Windows Mobile, Under Ballmer
For Ballmer, Resistance Was Futile
Ballmer is leaving at the right time as the whole IT landscape shifts
Beyond Ballmer: who will be Microsoft's next CEO?
Ballmer’s Exit Adds $18 Billion To Microsoft’s Value As Investors Cheer Its Impending Leadership Change
Let's Throw Out A Bunch Of Names For Who Should Be The Next Microsoft CEO
Five People Who Could Replace Steve Ballmer As Microsoft CEO
Microsoft Signals Change Ahead With Ballmer Departure
5 questions for Microsoft's next CEO
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to Retire. What Happens Next Won't Be Pretty
Steve Ballmer's market cap 'problem'
From ‘Monkey Boy’ to Developers: 6 classic videos of Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer
Microsoft stock surges 8% on news that Ballmer is retiring
Steve Ballmer's Legacy Is a Limping, Bleeding Microsoft
The Steve Ballmer Legacy: A Very Bumpy Ride

Ballmer's Successor

Image representing Vic Gundotra as depicted in...

Image by Google via CrunchBase

I think the next CEO can not be an outsider. For a company like Microsoft the next CEO necessarily has to come from inside, just my opinion. And the cloud and enterprise vice president Satya Nadella would be a decent choice. The next CEO has to be about the future, not the past.

Or Microsoft could pull a Yahoo, and bring in Vic Gundotra, a former Microsoft soldier. Gundotra just might bite, since Larry Page is just getting started and Vic might already have hit the glass ceiling at Google. Gundotra's Microsoft past and Google present is an amazing combination. And many would say Microsoft has also had the Yahoo problem: it is widely considered a has been company. The shine just is not there anymore.

@vicgundotra You should become Microsoft CEO.
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) August 23, 2013

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Gates, The Most Famous Self Made Billionaire Of His Time, And Global Poverty

Bill and Melinda Gates during their visit to the Oslo Opera House in June 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gates has shamelessly cashed on his status as the most famous self made billionaire of his time to shove his hat in the laps of other billionaires and ask for money, not just some money, but most of their money. The ROI of the Gates Foundation is astounding, to put it mildly.

Gates Live

Watch the full Bill Gates keynote from Microsoft Research Faculty Summit 2013

100 billionaires have signed the foundation’s “giving pledge,” promising to give away most of their wealth. ...... As for how governments help, the bulk of the money flowing to the world’s poorest countries comes from foreign aid budget ..... A researcher from London asked Gates if he thought about unintended consequences. Killing billions of mosquitos might prevent the spread of disease, for example, but there could be unintended consequences on the food chain. ... “I’m always glad there are people around to dampen my enthusiasm,” quipped Gates, who said he tends to focus on the good. He then said there are serious issues raised by the work of scientists and researchers. Bioterrorism is a real threat. Privacy is always a concern in an online, digital world...... “If you go out to the developed world and see kids dying of malaria, or see a woman who can send her kids to school because she has better crops, it’s hard to feel too bad about the general arc. Because I see how innovations can help, I mostly see the positive. But we should be aware of the negatives and how to mitigate them.”