>> Steve Ballmer: Now, you don't need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows phone and I think you do to use an Android phone. Pretty inconsistent, don't look alike, don't -- you can say everything I said versus Apple but you can add a list that's longer than my arm. The cheapest phones on the market this holiday will probably be the Android phones, the very rock bottom cheapest, and that's part of kind of the work we're going to need to do is support lower and lower price designs, but other than that it is very hard to be excited for me, about the Android phones. Apple's a good competitor, different kind of competitor.
Microsoft's Ballmer mocks Android phone
At the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talks about why users should buy a Windows phone rather than an Android device: "You don’t need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows phone and you do to use and Android phone."
Transcript
Microsoft's Ballmer mocks Android phone
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I suspect that, not being a computer science major, Mr Ballmer was simply unable to discover how to turn his Android phone on....
Henri
Henri
Strange, my 61 year old father who can barely turn a computer on, loves his android phone, its very intuitive
Just because it's not "the Microsoft way" doesn't mean it's not good .............. pretty arrogant !
to be a computer scientist to know how cheap that sounds. So the windows customers are non scientists just average dumb 'ol good boys from down on the farm heeyuuckk heeeyyuuckkkk yup. Personally I wont buy android Microsoft or I phone either I just like my good 'ol dumb phone heeeee yuuuukkkkk!
And that's why the Android has been kicking Windows phones in the ass and will continue to do so in the future. Must be lots of computer scientists out there...and I guess that makes me one too. Cool!
I'm just waiting for the next Windows phone that will have a cool UAC nanny screen pop up, blocking the number I just dialed.
lol...
lol...
This is why consumers should take all claims by company spokesmen with a grain of salt. These companies design products based upon their own preferences.
A product that works for one consumer may not work for another. This is why Windows users don't like Apple and vice versa. Both groups are correct because they have different needs.
Even comparisons are suspect because of the bias of the person doing the comparison.
A product that works for one consumer may not work for another. This is why Windows users don't like Apple and vice versa. Both groups are correct because they have different needs.
Even comparisons are suspect because of the bias of the person doing the comparison.
@shanedr
That's not true. Not at all. Both groups aren't correct. You can't just stuff off and say 'we're all different'. There are things that we ALL look for in a computer/phone. Actually, nearly everyone (speaking as a programmer/computer scientist) out there wants approximately the same thing from their OS.
That's not true. Not at all. Both groups aren't correct. You can't just stuff off and say 'we're all different'. There are things that we ALL look for in a computer/phone. Actually, nearly everyone (speaking as a programmer/computer scientist) out there wants approximately the same thing from their OS.
"It's hard for me to get excited on Android". Yeah right. Ballmer is just a bad salesman. You can almost smell the bad BO through the video clip. He is *very* excited about Android because it's eating Windows 7 phone alive. Why do people give this guy the stage? He makes Ellison look good and that's hard to do! 
Isn't this the same moron that said that the iPhone was no threat to his Windows Mobile platform? When will the board of directors replace this bozo?
Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer and his cronies...Stop bashing and start to do real work. Microsoft Windows Phone are the worst.
Ballmer should audition for the next Three Stooges movie.
In a way Ballmer is right -- you don't have to be a computer scientist to use a Windows phone, you can be just an ordinary guy with bad taste and no imagination. I just turned 66, and 2 weeks ago I made the switch from many years with BlackBerry to the Samsung Galaxy S2 (after a brief and very unhappy experience with the HTC HD7). I wouldn't say Android is perfect (haven't yet found anything that is), but I've found it to be intuitive and incredibly simple to learn and use. Whatever its limitations, it works for me. My 150-200 daily work emails hit my Inbox almost immediately, and I'm able to access our company website and interact & do many things I've never been able to do on a mobile device. OK, so maybe I spend too much time in the Market, but I'm blown away by the function of some of the apps and how they enhance my life in an average busy day. And I haven't yet had to ask a single person "how do you make this work?" Thus far I've found Android to be a matter of very basic common sense.
He is a buffoon, a jackass, an embarrassment to MS.
Hmmm, my 3 year old seems to do ok with Android. Maybe she can run Microsoft.
This is the same Ballmer who ridiculed the first Macs as being toys because they did not use a command line interface. Fortunately for most of us the GUI became a standard for consumers. Even Microsoft had to change to Windows instead of remaining with DOS.
a windows 7 phone sucks microsoft is not hearing the people microsoft is hearing it's self only windows 7 phone and windows 8 SUCKS SUCKS SUCK SUCK SUCK do you get it microsoft do you hear microsoft
So, Ballmer's excited about having his ass kicked by Apple, but not so excited about having his ass kicked even more resoundingly by Android? He's mocking Android as being low-end, when the newly announced "special relationship" Nokia Windows 7 Phones are, at best, low-end to mid-range... no flagship models yet.
And if Balmer is really having trouble with Android, I'm sure my 20-year-old son (BioChem major, not a CS guy) would be happy to be flown out to Redmond to explain it to him.
Microsoft's plan to sell Windows 7 Phones to people who don't want smartphones (pretty much the crux of their whole ad campaign) seems a bit flawed. People buy the things they're excited about, in consumer electronics, not the thing that the "get off my lawn" guy finds suitable.
And if Balmer is really having trouble with Android, I'm sure my 20-year-old son (BioChem major, not a CS guy) would be happy to be flown out to Redmond to explain it to him.
Microsoft's plan to sell Windows 7 Phones to people who don't want smartphones (pretty much the crux of their whole ad campaign) seems a bit flawed. People buy the things they're excited about, in consumer electronics, not the thing that the "get off my lawn" guy finds suitable.
Steve Jobs already said don't let a marketing guy ever run a tech company. It was In January-Feb 2007 that Ballmer said: "That is the most expensive phone in the World and doesnt appeal to business customers because it doesnt have a keyboard, which makes it not a very good email machine. We have our strategy, we have great Windows Mobile devices in the market today, you can get a Motorola Q phone now for 99 dollars". He stresses the 99 dollars. JB goes on to say how could they compete with iPhone because it has no market and "we are selling millions, and millions, and millions...." As with the iPhone, Android will become the platform for the masses because JB says it can not. JB spent the entire Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter mocking and frowning during any public event or interview when asked about the iPhone - clearly it was going to be a failure! We had Rick BelLuzzo, former MS President and COO in our offices in the fall of 2007 putting our futurist down for saying that the iPhone will change the game until Google launches an open platform phone OS.
Microsoft Windows Vista is so bad but computers came with PC. Unlike Apple, we have to pay to get upgrade to Windows 7.
We have been using Microsoft Windows phones during the last 2 years (because we stuck with contracts). Nothing but nightmares.
We dumped 4 Microsoft phones in recycle bin for 4 Android phones. Never been happier.
We have been using Microsoft Windows phones during the last 2 years (because we stuck with contracts). Nothing but nightmares.
We dumped 4 Microsoft phones in recycle bin for 4 Android phones. Never been happier.
I am a 64 year old man and I took a close look at the Windows phone recently. I also looked close at the iPhone ... NO way will I give up my Android phone.
Anyone who has a problem operating an Android phone should not be allowed to operate a light switch ...
Anyone who has a problem operating an Android phone should not be allowed to operate a light switch ...
He's right, android is difficult to use for an average user. Not only that, they have to deal with lag, constant force closes, and malware. It's java junk.
I haven't found Android difficult to use. It just gives you a lot of options that ARE NOT available in either Iphone or WP7. I like having control of my devices, and doing things the way I want to do it. If that is not important to you, then WP7 and Iphone would be better for you.
@mikroland2.0 Really? Been using HTC's Evo Shift for 10 months now.. Rooted and installed a custom ROM (CM) day 1, Never do I deal with lag (that's not due to the network), force closes or malware.... never. It works delightfully.
The irony of Ballmer mocking Android for being too user unfriendly is beyond absurd. I've used Windows products since inception. Given that every version of Windows is buggier than a roach motel, *that's* a product you need to be a computer scientist to use successfully. Crock of s***
Hey, ZD Net. I thought a technology media company would be cutting edge ??? yet you are still using Flash for your video. What a shame.
my name is mouse for real i have both an android and a wp7 phone
and i hate to burst any bubble but my Motorola atrix 4g run rings around my Samsung focus i call it my windows ( lemon ) phone not my windows 7 phone
i was so disappointed i was hoping for something different than i phone ( because every body and there brother got one ) so all you android users crank up your phone i have and I have not been disappointed
and i hate to burst any bubble but my Motorola atrix 4g run rings around my Samsung focus i call it my windows ( lemon ) phone not my windows 7 phone
i was so disappointed i was hoping for something different than i phone ( because every body and there brother got one ) so all you android users crank up your phone i have and I have not been disappointed
my name is mouse ( for real ) i have both an android and a wp7 phone
the wp7 phone turned out to be a windows ( lemon ) phone ( samsung focus ) my Motorola atrix 4g phone turned out to be a kick in the pants compared to anything else so all you android user out there crank up your phones like i have and you wont be disappointed
the wp7 phone turned out to be a windows ( lemon ) phone ( samsung focus ) my Motorola atrix 4g phone turned out to be a kick in the pants compared to anything else so all you android user out there crank up your phones like i have and you wont be disappointed
my name is mouse ( for real ) i own both a samsung focus wp7 and a motorola atrix 4g i haft to say that my wp7 phone is a lemon compared to my android phone so all you android user out there crank your phones up like i have and you wont be disappointed
Says a lot for Ballmer that he couldn't figure out how to use an Android phone, This is why salesmen shouldn't run companies, apparently they are not smart enough.
Then again, Ballmer laughing at your product is usually a sure sign that it's a dead winner... ipod/iphone/itunes and now android..
So now that ballmer has laughed at it, I'm positive that Google will take Android the distance.
Then again, Ballmer laughing at your product is usually a sure sign that it's a dead winner... ipod/iphone/itunes and now android..
So now that ballmer has laughed at it, I'm positive that Google will take Android the distance.
I find it truly amazing that Ballmer is a marketing guy. He has all the appeal and charm of the homeless guy on the street corner begging for your change, as you pretend to not realize he's there, while waiting impatiently for the pedestrian crosswalk light to change
Wow, way to congratulate all the Android phone owners and totally take the piss out of all your customers.
Hey Steve, if you steal THIS one I won't mind:
"Windows Phone: For People Too Stupid for Anything Else"
Hey Steve, if you steal THIS one I won't mind:
"Windows Phone: For People Too Stupid for Anything Else"
It is not good business to mock another company's product. All he should say is"ours is more user friendly" or something. I mean, Microsoft, of all companies, is the most ridiculed on earth.
This video is so old and only used to justify FUD against Microsoft.
If you have an 60 IQ, everything seems harder to do
Basically Ballmer said Windows mobile Phone 7 is for dumb people. That says lot about how Microsoft views their customers...
I remember reading Ballmer being quoted in one of the PC magazines more than 20 years ago that the Macintosh with its GUI interface was just a toy. Of course, at the time Ballmer and Gates did not have a GUI interface. After all, real men use the command line interface anyway.
let's be real people! what did you want him to say..."go buy android!" ???
what he said is part true...might not need to be a scientist BUT android IS inconsistent!
what he said is part true...might not need to be a scientist BUT android IS inconsistent!
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