

At what point is Ballmer going to be held accountable? - StevenHodson
http://www.winextra.com/archives/at-what-point-is-ballmer-going-to-be-held-accountable/

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byoung2
It's a good thing Ballmer isn't judged solely on how Microsoft does compared
to Apple. The media likes to play up Microsoft's recent "string of failures"
but it's overhyped. Microsoft is like a championship team that has had a few
bad seasons. They had a few duds like Vista, Windows Mobile, and Kin, but
people forget how much cash Windows and Office rake in. These more than pay
for the few missteps. Microsoft has a winner with Windows 7, XBox and the
Marketplace are doing well, and even if Windows Phone 7 is just so-so, they'll
still have cash to keep experimenting.

~~~
makecheck
With something as established as Windows and Office, you could continue to see
decent revenues almost with your eyes closed, so let's not commend Microsoft
too much for merely _maintaining_ what is practically handed to them. The only
credit they deserve is for establishing those wins in the first place, but
these are now 20-year-old victories; very little that's new has arrived. What
is new, has also cost them dearly (e.g. how much money does X-box make...or,
does it make money?).

I am quite sure that the only thing keeping them in business is their money.
They have made enough bad decisions to kill any smaller company.

~~~
byoung2
I'm not commending Ballmer or Microsoft for anything. I'm just saying that
there are a lot of people calling Ballmer a failure for maintaining an even
keel. The company is not losing money, they are profitable, and they are far
from going out of business. They aren't growing at a breakneck pace either,
but that is not failure. They have plenty of cash on hand to continue
experimenting.

