

Ballmer: An iPad Killer is Job One - all
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/359887/ballmer-urgently-wants-to-launch-ipad-killer

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protomyth
If I have to install ant-virus software on a tablet, then they have failed.
They really need to figure out a way to take some of the current lessons from
iOS and Android to heart and build something that is dead simple, integrates
well with Exchange, easily managed by IT Admins, and doesn't require
maintenance.

~~~
stcredzero
Either MS makes a tablet that's actually cool, or they make a tablet I can
install Ubuntu on, or I have another chance to laugh at MS. Any way you slice
it, I win!

EDIT: Microsoft has XBox. They should be able to _murder_ Apple with their
resources and an installed base like that. They could make sure that putting
Apple and "Digital Hub" in the same sentence implies a joke. The fact that
this isn't imminent is a sign of massive internal disfunction.

~~~
protomyth
I would submit to you that the installed base of iTunes is a lot higher than
XBox. I believe the days of thinking of Apple as the little guy are just about
over.

~~~
stcredzero
My point is that XBox has _for a freakin long time_ been occupying the perfect
real estate for the "digital hub!" If Microsoft could execute on decent "me
too" offerings, they should have been able to _murder_ Apple from that
position. They had the fortified high ground with the heavy artillery and
troops sitting on it, and they still let Apple surround and bypass them.
C'mon! Zune + Plays for Sure. Vista. Kin.

Microsoft Home Server is a potential gold mine! Inkskein/Courier could have
revolutionized personal computing in deeper ways than iPad. Singularity could
have leapfrogged OS X, leaving it hopelessly in the dust.

Clearly, Microsoft has been dysfunctional and could not execute.

~~~
protomyth
Sony had a better chance than Microsoft being in that space longer and also
being a content producer. If Sony had come up with an iTunes service at the
same time as Apple and incorporated it into the Walkman, Sony TVs, Sony /
Erickson cellphones, and the PS/2 then Apple would have had some real
competition. But, it didn't happen much like Barnes & Noble didn't build a
competitor to Amazon until it was too late.

Microsoft's biggest problem is that the Windows franchise was not directly
translatable into MP3 players or phones. This made their normal "me-too"
strategy very hard. Also, all of the lock-in that Microsoft got from their
Windows line was actually in Apple's favor with the iTunes ecosystem. "Me too"
doesn't work if the switching cost is too high.

Microsoft Home Server is great for geeks and knowledgable users, but it is too
expensive (PC cost / maintenance cost) for normal people. I believe Courier
would have been a great product, but it, by design, would not have had the
depth of ecosystem that the iPad has. It would have been an amazing device for
business though.

~~~
stcredzero
In a nutshell: Apple has been walking all over competitors with tremendous
positional and legacy advantages because only they truly understood end-to-end
user experience.

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elblanco
I was going to supply quotes here from the article, quotes that Ballmer made
demonstrating his complete lack of competency in understanding the playing
field, but then I realized that was all of them.

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powrtoch
He should avoid using words like "urgently". Causes me to expect they're going
to rush it out prematurely and embarass themselves.

~~~
rbanffy
> they're going to rush it out prematurely and embarass themselves.

like they did with Vista?

Seriously: they have ample capacity to embarrass themselves even without
rushing things.

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dman
Hopefully they will let a small team of specialists handle this challenge
instead of throwing a lot of people and money at the problem.

~~~
protomyth
They had that (multiple times). Their obsession with putting "Windows"
everywhere is killing good things. I (not a Microsoft fan) thought the Courier
would have been a great product in the $300 - $500 price range. I could easily
see people buying it and ditching their daytimes.

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robg
Like the iPod killer? Or the iPhone killer?

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RodgerTheGreat
If you start by marketing your product as an "X-Killer", you've just shot
yourself in the foot.

~~~
byoung2
Exactly, because if you just injure instead of kill, you've failed.

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rbanffy
Well... According to this

[http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/07/30/steve-ballmer-on-
the-...](http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/07/30/steve-ballmer-on-the-ipad-the-
transcript/)

theirs will even print. I can't imagine how Apple will be able to compete with
something so revolutionary.

~~~
stcredzero
Isn't there an app for printing?

~~~
Samuel_Michon
There are actually dozens of apps for that. Here's a few:

ActivePrint <http://prmac.com/release-id-13473.htm>

iPrintApp <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351954,00.asp>

Air Sharing Pro <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351933,00.asp>

HP iPrint Photo <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351934,00.asp>

Canon Easy Photo-Print
<http://www.dpreview.com/news/0910/09101602canonprintapp.asp>

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tlrobinson
When was the last time something described as a "X killer" actually killed, or
took significant market share away from, X?

~~~
Samuel_Michon
When Adobe InDesign was released (1999), it was soon called the Quark XPress
killer. <http://www.macworld.com/article/21336/2001/02/indesign.html>

A couple of years later, most print shops had switched to InDesign.

(EDIT: The print shops I was working with had all switched to InDesign by
2002. I'm sure that it took longer in other parts of the country. Be that as
it may, it has definitely become the layout package of choice.)

~~~
bradleyland
It took a hell of a lot more than a couple of years.

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noelchurchill
I'd imagine a windows tablet would come mostly at the expense of an android
tablet market share.

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SwellJoe
I think you accidentally a word.

~~~
stcredzero
"This sentence no verb!" --Douglas Hofstadter

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credo
It is unclear whether Microsoft's future tablet will be successful or not, but
most of Ballmer's comments seem fairly reasonable and he never uses the phrase
"iPad killer"

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slantyyz
The fact that Ballmer is talking Windows 7 makes the whole idea doomed to
fail.

Why not Windows Mobile 7 (or whatever they're calling it these days)?

I have never been a fan of Windows Mobile-- each WM phone I had prior to the
iPhone, I wanted to smash into the ground.

Windows Mobile 7, however, actually looks pretty nice, and it seems like a
fresh UI (even though it is Zune-like). It's not my taste in design, but it
seems much more well suited to a slate interface than Windows 7.

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jeremymcanally
"Ballmer: Catching Up Is Real Hard"

FTFY. :)

~~~
elblanco
Quote from the same guy who presided over the nixing the Courier.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Courier>

__sigh __Has _anything_ come out under this guy that wasn't always going to
anyways by sheer force of market inertia?

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wrs
Oh man. There's nothing wrong with a fast-follower strategy, but the basic
requirements are to (1) be fast, and (2) understand the thing you're trying to
follow. SteveB is missing the boat on both here.

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geophile
Hey Steve, what's Job Two?

~~~
Samuel_Michon
"Job one" is singular, "Steve Jobs" is plural :)

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ja27
Why not innovate instead? Or go after Apple where Apple is weak? AppleTV is a
great target. Microsoft could own the home theater PC market a lot easier than
they could catch iPad.

~~~
endtime
I haven't used it, but I've heard that Windows Home Server is actually pretty
good. Not particularly well publicized, though.

[http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowsh...](http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx)

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typedef_void
Anyone else ironically hoping MS creates a better iPad just for the
opportunity to install Linux on it?

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warmfuzzykitten
Microsoft "innovation": Three rotten product generations followed by an Apple
clone.

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unclebob
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

(Sorry but I couldn't resist)

