Ballmer’s View of Android
November 8, 2008
Steve Ballmer, according to ZDNet Australia here, has little to fear from Android, Google’s open source mobile phone operating system. Suzanne Tindal’s article summarizes remarks Mr. Ballmer made at an annual investment conference sponsored by Telestra. Ms. Tindal presents the highlights of Mr. Ballmer’s talk in a series of quotations. You will need to read her article to get the flavor of Mr. Ballmer’s view and attitude toward Google and its mobile adventures. However, one comment, attributed to Mr. Ballmer, caught my attention. Ms. Tindal reported Mr. Ballmer as saying:
“They [Google] can hire smart guys, hire a lot of people, bla dee bla dee bla, but you know they start out way behind in a certain sense.
I think it was the “bla dee bla dee bla” that seemed memorable. Google has been circumspect in the information I have gathered when it comments about Microsoft. I think the GOOG enjoys making a modest move and then waiting to see if Microsoft reacts, sometimes with considerable gusto, to a tiny Google input. I cannot recall a Googler characterizing Microsoft’s technology as “way behind” or using “bla dee bla dee blah” in a presentation I have watched either in person or on YouTube.com.
Microsoft has made Google’s enterprise initiatives higher profile than they would have been in my opinion. Google does a so so job with sales and marketing. The Google brand is widely recognized, but few know that Google is in the email archiving business and offers bare bones email search for some enterprise customers. Almost no one in Harrods Creek knows that Google’s pricing for its GB 7007 is set up to make an upgrade a no brainer and a first time purchase pretty expensive. Yet Microsoft’s putting Office in the “cloud” has been explained as a way to keep competitors from snagging this business. The comparison is not that Zoho is challenging the Office suite of software. The comparison is between Microsoft and Google.
Now the mobile operating system. I listen occasionally to Paul Thurrott’s podcast which is available on iTunes and on Mr. Laporte’s Web site here. Not more than a week or two ago, I thought I heard Mr. Thurrott suggest that Microsoft should start over with its Windows mobile software. When a respected journalist makes such a radical suggestion, I had my personal hypothesis confirmed. I have fiddled with mobile devices running Windows mobile. I found that I had to click icons to do pretty basic phone things; for example, make a call. I also discovered that on both and HP and Treo device, the responsiveness was not well matched to my expectations. I gave up, dismissing the system as desktop Windows slapped on a phone. That’s not what a phone type device requires.
I think it is too early to know if Android is a hit or miss. Some of the applications for the G1 device available from T Mobile are interesting. I like the Apple iPhone, but it’s on screen keyboard is almost impossible for me to use. I don’t plan on visiting Hot Hot Hot Nails and getting plastic artificial fingernails glued on so I can hit the tiny keys. The applications don’t resonate with me either. I am accustomed to the BlackBerry device.
I think mobile device operating systems and mobile interfaces are in their infancy. It’s a phone, and I want to tell it what I want. No one has pulled off that feature to my satisfaction at this time. Therefore, I think Microsoft, Google, and Nokia have a long road to travel.
Mr. Ballmer’s comments are theater for investors. For me, the casual dismissal of Google is not warranted. Furthermore, I think Microsoft has quite a challenge with its own mobile operating system. Those 10 year olds are growing up and their needs will drive the market. My thought is that a more balanced statement might be, “Google’s first effort is good, but the company has a long road to travel. We all do. It’s a horse race that is ultimately decided by what today’s 10 year olds buy in three or four years.” The “bla dee bla dee blah” statement is a throw away dismissal, not a reflection of the reality Apple, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, and Nokia have to live with.
Stephen Arnold, November 8, 2008
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One Response to “Ballmer’s View of Android”
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I’m surprised he didn’t throw a yada yada yada in there as well. Oh and hot hot nails have a special on at the moment, buy 10 and get 2 free.