http://retro-box.net/blargh/2012/05/15/forbes-says-ballmer-is-the-worst-ceo-but-for-the-wrong-reason/

So it seems Forbes says Ballmer needs to be fired, and then they list a bunch off BS reasons why.

rabblerabblerabble yes I mad.

And I think they got it right. You said:



Where's the Zune now? Wasn't it like, abandoned some time ago? http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11 ... efeat.html
Windows Phone 7 is the last thing I see when I come to a mobile phone store. For now, they're trying to sell me either Android devices or iPhones. Windows Phone 7 is still "background".
Windows 8. You can't say anything about it (marketing, sales, statistics), as it didn't came out yet.



The reason why some people still prefer XP?



No one said about OS X. They meant the iDevices. Look at how popular they are now.



Yes, they did. Zune is just a program now, which is even less popular than Zune (devices) back then. And the Music Player in WP7 is called "Music", you can only see Zune in some other not-so-important places.



HP Slate anyone?



And if Windows 9 fails, they will do nothing about that, other than releasing a newer Next operating system, which will gradually go down eventually.

Incorrect, the music player and app used for syncing with the device is called Zune. I advise you get off your Apple products once in a while and try something different. Derf did and he loved it and he can comment on things since he has actually used WP7.5 properly.

Well, on this screenshot, for example, it is "Music + Videos".





I actually love Windows Phone. It is so smooth, that I think even Android can't be compared to it. I would get either an iOS or a WP7 phone, but I don't have much money and desire, so I just stick with my old LG from 2009.

But back on topic, I want to see Microsoft with a CEO such as Bill Gates (he's a very good CEO, in my opinion), and improving current products, and be successful with future ones. I want whenever I come up to a store, see Windows Phone devices on the main rack.

I still "regret" for Steve Ballmer, that he tried to show his hate for the iPhone back in 2007, saying it won't be ever popular.

Again, it's still called Zune. Open the application up and see. Oh what application is that you use to sync music, videos and pictures to your device? Oh and nice emulator.

OK so. Here's a photo I found in the Internet. Still the same app name.



Now, as Zune as a device is abandoned, the name isn't so popular. How much times could you hear the word "Zune" before the abandonment and after. And I actually like the app, but it's that I wanted to emphasize, that Forbes was talking about Zune as a device itself.

Just because the app shortcut is called Music+Videos does not mean the app itself is not called Zune. You're saying that if I put a shortcut on my desktop for VLC and call it Music+Videos, the app is no longer called VLC.

Well, I stand corrected, you don't see it as often, and it's called "Music+Videos" by default (which I think is a good move - it's easier for users to understand). Zune, as a digital media service, is a completely different thing than the Zune music player series.

In fact, that app is called "Music" on iDevices as well, not iTunes.

Either way, let's get back on topic.

Wow, look at that logo! It looks like... woah... the music+videos app has the Zune logo? Could that mean.. Yes it does! Open it up and the first thing you're greeted with is the word "Zune" in the background behind the menu.

Zune is a brand. Not just a hardware device. On the desktop is it Microsoft's answer to iTunes. On Windows Phone it's all of the media-related programs rolled into one.

The forbes article explicitly says Ballmer has made Microsoft leave the tablet, phone, and PMP markets, which is FALSE.

Tablet market? Go to a windows store and look at all the Windows 7 tablets there are.

Phone market? Look at all the Windows phones.

PMP market? PMPs are irrelevant, but Zune has been rolled up into Windows Phone.

I don't give a flying flip whether anyone *uses* it or not, the point is Microsoft is still active in those markets, contrary to what that article says.

EDIT: Too lazy to use the image uploader, but here's a picture of what you see when you open up the Music+Videos app

http://www.godswmobile.com/blog/wp-cont ... neSync.jpg

OH MAH GHAWD IT SAYS "ZUNE" FRONT AND CENTER

Windows 7 tablets? With an operating system not optimized for touch? Also, in most shops here you will only find iPads and Android tablets.
The market participation is empty without popularity.

Windows Phones? Again, besides US and some other countries, you can't find them easily. Here, in most shops we only get 2-3 of models variety of them. I want Microsoft to have more than Nokia and HTC in its hand.

Music market? I don't hear the word Zune everyday. More like very rarely. But iTunes is everywhere (which is a sign of successful participation, unlike Microsoft).



Yes, it also says Music in much bigger letters above.

there is an iTunes app as well, for the iTunes music store.

Exactly. On WP7 it's just integrated with the Music app, which supports my point.

To be honest there's a lot more here that could have been mentioned such as Microsoft's lack of (or poor) support towards PC gaming. To be fair if Steam did not exist then I think PC gaming would be almost completely dead by this point.

Just because you don't see them/know about them/they aren't the most popular/approve of them doesn't mean they exist. My point wasn't about popularity, it was WHETHER OR NOT THE STUFF EXISTS, which is what Forbes was claiming, that this stuff doesn't exist.

Well, they never said it didn't exist, they just said MS dumped the stuff. Which they certainly did (i.e., HP Slate, Zune HD).

Tablet is not dumped. Windows 7 tablets are still being made.
Zune is not dumped, the hardware just doesn't exist, but they are still technically *in* the portable music market.
Phones are not dumped. Windows Phone 7 is very much alive and well.

I fail to see what you're misunderstanding here.

They probably tried to still leave some units, and "hope it works". Because where are the Windows 7 tablets. It's all Android in Newegg (as an example).

And yes - The new Commodore 64 PCs (based on Intel now) are still being produced. But Commodore is not in the market anymore. Same with some car brands.

They dumped the "phone" part, yes. Windows Mobile was more popular, and it was sold in the stores as PDAs. Now where is WP7. Seems like Microsoft doesn't want to do much to make it on the market, but it's definitely better. I can see more and more WP devices appearing, though veeery slowly.

I don't get what you are misreading about "I don't care if *insert store here* has device A instead of a microsoft device. It's irrelevant.

Go to a Windows Store. Windows phones, windows 7 tablets, etc. EVERYWHERE, and they are all *brand new* aka still being manufactured. Yes, you have to kind of know where to look, but that doesn't mean they aren't active in the market and still making x product.

You have no clue what you're talking about.

I have a clue. Microsoft Store is Microsoft's own store. That's obvious everything is sold there. By the way, isn't Microsoft Store only for the US?

Apple Store, yes, indeed has their products there. But then think about all the Apple Premium Resellers around the world, making the devices accessible to users. That's what means being on the market. Directly.

EDIT: And of course your average music store. Has the iTunes sticker all over the place.
There also isn't just BMW or Mercedes store, too.

For once, stop comparing MS to Apple and see the bigger picture. You have your head so far up Apple's anus that you can't see because so much excrement is caked on to your eyes.
Who gives two [censored] about Apple in a conversation about Microsoft?
Besides, Zune is far better than iTunes on the PC, iTunes on PC is just godawful, not to mention far inferior when it comes to categorising and managing media. That said, iTunes does have it's uses but here is not the place to debate.
Zune is still used today, just as a service and application. That is a fact. If you want to debate this continue to /dev/null or read up at http://www.zune.net/en-GB/.
There are also tablets still available running Windows 7, they're just not advertised, mainly due to the fact Windows 8 is so near that it's stupid to advertise Windows 7 tablets now.
People prefer XP for these reasons: they do not trust 7 after Vista, despite how well 7 worked out and how good Vista is on a decent machine. Their machine is too old to handle anything better than XP. People are not educated enough on operating systems and do not know the difference. People buy machines off ebay with dodgy copies of XP, mainly because XP is far easier to pirate and Microsoft wouldn't give two [censored] anyway.
Also, what people fail to notice is how Microsoft are considering greatly how to push Windows 8 to all environments, from business users to consumers.
OSX and iOS is technically the same thing; Darwin/swiss cheese. iDevices are only popular because they're pretty much status symbols. Regardless of there being better devices out there, people automatically go for an Apple branded device because "it's shiny OMG MUST HAVE WHERE IS MY DAD". Some people genuinely do prefer iOS and accept that, but the fact most people - even indirectly - buy it just for a status symbol. Heck, even the iPhone 3GS is still sold new and that says something about my point.

I sincerely hope your next reply does not mention the world Apple in it at all. If you wish to have a discussion on Apple, click the New Thread button.

This post brought tears of joy to my eyes.

I couldn't have said it better.

Moving swiftly on,
Ballmer is a salesman and an excellent one at that. He is the one to thank for bringing us to WP7 and other similar accomplishments. He's also a rather amusing character. Considering he has got Microsoft sitting with a rather nice revenue, I do think he is doing a successful job. Obviously Forbes is some biased fanboy of something else considering the lack of knowledge among 'journalists' there.
I love how they claim that Ballmer is ruining the ecosystem of Dell and Nokia etc. Let's see. Microsoft helped Nokia take off again with the new Lumia series of smartphones. Dell have already started cashing in on the Inspiron Duo, I imagine they will start making i3-7M series tablets soon with Windows 8. HP screwed themselves over, as always though. Again, he's a salesman. He employs people to do research and development for him which is great; it creates more jobs at Microsoft's labs keeping more people employed. I think Forbes needs to do some research and development themselves. Only Microsoft appears to be the only company doing that nowadays. Everyone else just does COPY+PASTE THE CODE

Used, but not as popular as even Windows Media Player.



Well, Windows 7 is out there for a quite a long time now.
Anyway, there was an HP Slate, that could be nearly as popular as, for example, a Galaxy Tab. But they decided to throw it out. That's a fact.



Exactly what I wanted to say. The Vista is the root of the fail. Microsoft could offer bargains for XP users, like giving them new machines, discounts for newer hardware etc. But they decided not to. Instead, we see the "Works with Windows Vista" stickers, which is more job to do, you actually have to see if your device is compatible with Vista. That's why.

Also, Forbes is now a fanboy? They're just keeping up with the latest tech news and see what's going there in the market. A personal computer and Windows still take up the largest part of the industry (yet).



Only that users get problems like bricking devices after updates and purple colored screens. http://www.ukmobilereview.com/manufactu ... n-bug-fix/



No comment.

--

Anyway, yes, Steve Ballmer is a salesman... who is far from a real CEO. Look at Bill Gates for comparison.

>Used, but not as popular as even Windows Media Player.
So? It still exists. Forbes says it was "pulled."

>Anyway, there was an HP Slate, that could be nearly as popular as, for example, a Galaxy Tab. But they decided to throw it out. That's a fact.
Sounds like HP's fault, not Ballmers.

>Also, Forbes is now a fanboy? They're just keeping up with the latest tech news and see what's going there in the market. A personal computer and Windows still take up the largest part of the industry (yet).
No, Forbes just has incorrect "facts"

>Anyway, yes, Steve Ballmer is a salesman... who is far from a real CEO. Look at Bill Gates for comparison.
Look at the evolution of Windows, then look at the evolution of Windows when Ballmer got the reins.

Ballmer might not be as good as Gates, but he has more vision and he could see that the market was changing, and Microsoft had to change with it.

Zune just needs more advertisement and bundles. I hope this will be rectified in Windows 8 as Zune would make an excellent replacement to WMP. Not everyone is tech savvy enough to install Zune, let alone know better alternatives. Plus, what's easier to someone who is not tech savvy and just uses the web? Continue using WMP as terrible as it is or find out what something else is? Hopefully Microsoft also fix this by implementing Zune on the XBOX 360 along with a fully blown Metro UI. Looks fantastic imho.

Ballmer did a [censored] fantastic job. Look how much he changed in what, 10 years? Your Aero interface today? Thank Ballmer for pushing that forward. That's just one of the things people take for granted nowadays. By all means Ballmer has no means to do this himself but that's what makes Microsoft better; he can use his employees to get the job done for him and point out any flaws in the drawing board room. I also think he has created more jobs at MS than Gates has in the past.