 |
 |
| ActiveWin | Anonymous | Create a User | Reviews | News | Forums | Advertise | VBA in Excel | Users Online: 0 |
|
|
|
|
|
User Controls |
|
New User |
|
Login |
|
Edit/View My Profile |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Active Network |
|
ActiveMac |
|
ActiveWin |
|
ActiveXbox |
|
DirectX |
|
Downloads |
|
FAQs |
|
Interviews |
|
MS Games & Hardware |
|
Reviews |
|
Rocky Bytes |
|
Support Center |
|
TopTechTips |
|
Windows 2000 |
|
Windows Me |
|
Windows Server 2003 |
|
Windows Vista |
|
Windows XP |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
News Centers |
|
Windows/Microsoft |
|
Apple/Mac |
|
Xbox/Xbox 360 |
|
News Search |
|
XML/RSS Newsfeeds |
|
Pocket PC Site |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ's |
|
Windows Vista |
|
Windows 98/98 SE |
|
Windows 2000 |
|
Windows Me |
|
Windows Server 2003 |
|
Windows XP |
|
Windows 7 |
|
Windows 8 |
|
Internet Explorer 6 |
|
Internet Explorer 5 |
|
Xbox 360 |
|
Xbox |
|
DirectX |
|
DVD's |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latest Reviews |
|
Xbox/Games |
|
Fable 2 |
|
|
|
Applications |
|
Windows Server 2008 R2 |
|
Windows 7 |
|
Adobe CS5 Master Collection |
|
|
|
Hardware |
|
Microsoft Express Mouse |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latest Interviews |
|
Mike Swanson |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Site News/Info |
|
About This Site |
|
Advertise |
|
Affiliates |
|
Contact Us |
|
Default Home Page |
|
Link To Us |
 |
CEO helps Microsoft enter its 30s gracefully | |
|
||
| Time: 06:07 EST/11:07 GMT | News Source: USA Today | Posted By: Chris Hedlund | ||
|
The clock says 8 a.m. CEO Steve Ballmer has been up since 4:45, has worked out and been in the office for a while. Tall coffee in hand, he's already his famous self: revved up, voluble, funny, charming and launching into a root-root-root for the home team.In an interview, Ballmer talks a lot about how, five years after Chairman Bill Gates made him CEO, he is redefining Microsoft for its next phase, making it more disciplined and decentralized. Though Microsoft (MSFT) has a reputation as a bully in the technology industry, Ballmer is trying to make it a better corporate citizen. As the company enters its 30th year, Ballmer, 48, is nudging Microsoft to make a transition to an enduring corporation — a General Electric or an IBM — that can long outlive its founders. To get there, Ballmer has driven structural and cultural change through the software giant. |
||
|
Read Only Comments Return to News |
Displaying Comments 1 through 1 of 1 |
This is an archived static copy of ActiveWin.com. |
| #1 By 3339 (64.160.58.137) at Tuesday, January 25, 2005 07:30:55 PM |
|
While it's clear that Microsoft is changing, old behaviors die hard. When Ballmer gets talking about how Microsoft must be first with technology innovations — which, so far in Microsoft's history, has not often happened — the exchange is more like vintage pugilistic Microsoft.
Ballmer: "You've got to be not just first in an area; you've got to be first with important innovations even in areas that you've pioneered." USA TODAY reporter: "Well, you guys have proved over and over again being first is not necessarily ..." Ballmer: "We love to be first." Reporter: "You love to be first but ..." Ballmer: "We love to be first." Reporter: "You certainly weren't the first — you know, I mean, here looking at your ..." Ballmer: "We love to be first. Well, our big success is Windows. We were first. Windows, we were first — and then everybody faded out because there was a period during which the concept was — I mean, Apple stuck around with their concept of that, but everybody else faded out, basically." Tech people must be scratching their heads. Windows wasn't the first graphical user interface — that was invented by Xerox and was first made popular by Apple Computer. Microsoft didn't have the first browser or video player or cell phone operating system. Time and again, the company has come in late and, in many cases, won the day with tenacity. It is a strength Microsoft could boast about but doesn't. The yin and yang — past and future — in Ballmer's remarks echo around Microsoft. In interviews with nearly a dozen Microsoft executives, the company sometimes seems to be grappling with which parts of itself to leave behind and which parts it can't live without. Change is happening. But it apparently isn't easy, and it's not yet evident what kind of company Microsoft is becoming. "The problem isn't that Microsoft can't change," says Jeffrey Tarter, editor of influential newsletter Softletter. "The real problem is it's not at all clear how the company should change." HA HA HA |
