@SigmundTheSeaMonster: Rage much? You can dish out the troll comments, but can't take them?
Comparing MSFT and AAPL is like comparing apples and oranges with the way their balance sheet is structured, how revenues flow in, and what type of shareholders they have.
@Mark 2000: Or, and this is a big "or," she can keep doing what she's doing because she looks perfectly fine and she doesn't have to adhere to every request some loser makes on the Internet.
@geiko: Dude, calm down. I didn't say your girlfriend was was ugly or butch. I just noticed her delightfully rippling arms and shoulders and hope she does go too far with them.
So cool to see your original article, and to see how much has achieved since then.
I'd still like a non-Jailbroken version of iBlacklist, and AdBlock for Safari. We sorta got ClickToFlash... I believe the iPhone version is called ClickToStillNoFlash.
What if Microsoft really used their marketing money for something more sinister, like buying out Justin Long and John Hodgman, then making them do complete riffs of the Apple "Get a Mac" campaign?
Hmm... Bill Gates has sure gained a lot of weight and lost all his hair. Chris Liddell seems to have taken to using glasses, and reversed his receding hairline somehow.
In fact, our marketing is so bad that you don't see a lot of commercials for our products - or at least not as many as for Apple - and because of that, we still are the OS of choice for the vast majority of computer systems out there, including not only the business sector, but also on other platforms like display systems and ATMs. Clearly, we have failed to adequately penetrate and saturate the market as our market share is still sub-100%.
And I understand that you're upset about Apple making gains in computer sales. It has been especially horrible for us, given the fact that because of Boot Camp, every Mac is a potential sale of Windows. There's nothing worse for Microsoft than being able to have every computer be a potential install of Windows and we certainly will be looking to fix that.
And yes, we need to be like Apple and spend $500m per year on marketing to gain an additional half-percent of market share in the OS market because, if we don't, at this rate Apple may overtake us in 50 years.
I thank you for your astute comparison of our company - a software company - to Apple - a hardware company.
@OMG! Ponies!: It's not because people choose to have windows that they dominate, it's that it comes as standard on 99% of PCs; that's why they don't need to market their product heavily.
When you're in a bar and you order a 'coke' you're generally not choosing Coca Cola or Pepsi; just whatever that bar carries. This is why Coca Cola and Pepsi find it very hard to gauge the effectiveness of their advertising, and instead 'blindly' market.
@OMG! Ponies!: Mr. Ballmer as a long time investor in your company there is only one thing that matters to me and that is the share price. Over the past 5 years MSFT share price has been stagnant. It just hovers around the $20-$30 range. It doesn't matter if your operating system is installed on every computer. If it the share price stays the same then everything was for nought. In 50 years when Apple overtakes us, what will the share price be? (Gates covers the microphone and leans towards Ballmer and instructs him not to answer the question)
I could care less about market share. For God's sake man you sound like the guys from Nokia. For the company that you try your best to belittle so much their stock price continues to climb the charts. Why is that so? You know what I am done talking with you...look at yourself getting all hot and sweaty. (Looks to my left) Mr. Gates, what can be done to shake things up and get that warm and fuzzy feeling MSFT used to have when (pauses and lowers voice) you were at the helm.
I think Steve is doing an admirable job but its not translating into much. Apple has "it" and is getting Wall Street to drink their Kool-Aid. Right now our Kool-Aid is tasting a bit bitter and needs more sugar. You feel me?
One more thing (sternly looks back at Steve) If Microsoft isn't a hardware company, then where the fuck do I send my Xbox to when it craps out on me? I guess that Apple outsources another company to write the software that powers the bevy of devices they sell. As I speak today MSFT and AAPL are a hardware AND software company. Balmer open your eyes and get with the program!
@pdditty: Well if you're a long-term investor, then you undoubtedly know that Microsoft also has a higher market cap than Apple, a better P/E ratio, generates more revenue, has a better profit margin, delivers a better return on equity, and it pays dividends, unlike Apple. You also undoubtedly noticed that your shares of Microsoft have split more often than those of Apple.
I understand you don't like our prime-time ads. But those aren't our only ads; we also have our ads on the news programs for our enterprise solutions. Which is why we are still dominating our main competitor, SAP.
You undoubtedly know that our stock is traded on the NASDAQ classified as "Technology/Software" and you know we compete with not only SAP, but also Oracle. And you know that Apple is considered to be a hardware company and its competitors are Dell, HP, Toshiba, and Lenovo.
In fact, you, as a prudent investor, no doubt understand that Microsoft and Apple, in fact, have a symbiotic relationship. You understand that our licenses are sold in bulk to the PC OEMs and for retail to people buying a copy of Windows for a Mac. Which people do.
Being a long-term investor, this is all stuff you know. Because if you only invest based on the share price and the niftiness of an ad campaign, then you're not much of an investor.
So whose dividends would you rather have? Ours or Apple's?
@Kaiser-Machead: maybe that's true, but look at how many sub-1k PCs there are out there. people don't have the bank to spend $1k+ on an apple, and if they've never used an apple, they don't see what the hype is about. so... save $500, or buy a mac?
@Kaiser-Machead: What's considered high end though? Considering that Macbooks start at 1k when does that cross the line into high-end? A good Windows desktop is usually about $1.5k but I don't really think that's considered high end and I would guess that most Mac sales are in the $1.5k range. I doubt he's calling all Mac sales as high-end, probably just upwards of $2000, maybe even more. And when you start getting to those numbers you are talking about gaming rigs which Microsoft goes unchallenged. It really depends on where he draws the line to see where he gets the numbers from.
@Kaiser-Machead: Right..because people that buy very expensive PC's 99% of the time...custom build them
or buy something cheap at the store then upgrade Video cards, Hard Drives ETC.
Apple folks don't normally care about any kind of hardware updgrading, and the way Apple's are built now, I don't even know if you can upgrade them.
@CommentingpointlesslyisMeh: I don't know where this notion came from, but yes Macs can be upgraded. The iMac and mac mini are similar to a laptop in this regard but people have even upgraded the processor in these machines. Proper towers like the powermac and mac pro are like any other computer for upgrades
@thechansen: I think the point is that there's less of a gain for doing so. Consumers who talk about upgrading are usually gamers who are keeping their machines current for PC games. Most games are made with Windows in mind so most people who are serious gamers own a PC of some type. You won't often find yourself needing to upgrade a Mac because it's fine as is for a few years for what it is mostly used for.
The Powermac and Mac Pro are a different story. They are work horse computers that most consumers don't even know exist. When you are doing heavy work that these are for such as graphic design or CAD programs some times you need to upgrade when new software becomes available. Their design is such that they are easy to upgrade to cater to these type of people.
The consumer level Mac's don't value ease of access like these ones do, they value style above it. The iMac, MacMini and the laptop lines are all harder to expand because as I said before there is not much of a need to. When you can convince consumers that what you are selling is going to be fine as is you can spend more time on styling the products and making them in more unorthodox styles than the Mac Pro.
So yes, it is possible to upgrade consumer level Macs. Is it easy? Not really. Is it even very necessary? No.
@Maori_Yelir: Apple's laptop line up have to be the easiest laptops in the world to upgrade. I find that statement to be 100% false. You could be at a Gump level of intellect and still be able to upgrade the RAM and hard disk drive.
02:51 PM
12:33 PM
11:59 AM
AAPL-$199.43
nuff said.
12:10 PM
12:12 PM
12:21 PM
You just don't get my message. STFU.
I bet you think that is a stock symbol too.
(If you see philbo17 above, market cap, profit/loss... his makes sense.)
12:24 PM
Maybe I should have asked, "How much did you lose on these two companies?"
12:24 PM
Number of outstanding shares:
MSFT- 8.88 Billion
AAPL- 900.68 Million
Makes sense now, doesn't it?
01:22 PM
Comparing MSFT and AAPL is like comparing apples and oranges with the way their balance sheet is structured, how revenues flow in, and what type of shareholders they have.
11:59 AM
12:08 PM
12:18 PM
12:39 PM
12:40 PM
01:11 PM
01:34 PM
11:59 AM
I'd still like a non-Jailbroken version of iBlacklist, and AdBlock for Safari. We sorta got ClickToFlash... I believe the iPhone version is called ClickToStillNoFlash.
11:58 AM
11:53 AM
[hornyinternetdude]Only clicked article because of prospect of girl video[/hornyinternetdude]
11:55 AM
Isn't that redundant? I mean, you could've just said internet dude.
11:57 AM
11:45 AM
11:42 AM
11:07 AM
Steve
Sent from my iPhone, sitting in my Mercedes, in a handicap parking spot.
10:52 AM
10:34 AM
10:31 AM
10:16 AM
In fact, our marketing is so bad that you don't see a lot of commercials for our products - or at least not as many as for Apple - and because of that, we still are the OS of choice for the vast majority of computer systems out there, including not only the business sector, but also on other platforms like display systems and ATMs. Clearly, we have failed to adequately penetrate and saturate the market as our market share is still sub-100%.
And I understand that you're upset about Apple making gains in computer sales. It has been especially horrible for us, given the fact that because of Boot Camp, every Mac is a potential sale of Windows. There's nothing worse for Microsoft than being able to have every computer be a potential install of Windows and we certainly will be looking to fix that.
And yes, we need to be like Apple and spend $500m per year on marketing to gain an additional half-percent of market share in the OS market because, if we don't, at this rate Apple may overtake us in 50 years.
I thank you for your astute comparison of our company - a software company - to Apple - a hardware company.
Now sit down, shut up, and enjoy your dividends.
10:28 AM
When you're in a bar and you order a 'coke' you're generally not choosing Coca Cola or Pepsi; just whatever that bar carries. This is why Coca Cola and Pepsi find it very hard to gauge the effectiveness of their advertising, and instead 'blindly' market.
10:34 AM
Coke=Soft Drink
10:59 AM
11:20 AM
I could care less about market share. For God's sake man you sound like the guys from Nokia. For the company that you try your best to belittle so much their stock price continues to climb the charts. Why is that so? You know what I am done talking with you...look at yourself getting all hot and sweaty. (Looks to my left) Mr. Gates, what can be done to shake things up and get that warm and fuzzy feeling MSFT used to have when (pauses and lowers voice) you were at the helm.
I think Steve is doing an admirable job but its not translating into much. Apple has "it" and is getting Wall Street to drink their Kool-Aid. Right now our Kool-Aid is tasting a bit bitter and needs more sugar. You feel me?
One more thing (sternly looks back at Steve) If Microsoft isn't a hardware company, then where the fuck do I send my Xbox to when it craps out on me? I guess that Apple outsources another company to write the software that powers the bevy of devices they sell. As I speak today MSFT and AAPL are a hardware AND software company. Balmer open your eyes and get with the program!
11:26 AM
I understand you don't like our prime-time ads. But those aren't our only ads; we also have our ads on the news programs for our enterprise solutions. Which is why we are still dominating our main competitor, SAP.
You undoubtedly know that our stock is traded on the NASDAQ classified as "Technology/Software" and you know we compete with not only SAP, but also Oracle. And you know that Apple is considered to be a hardware company and its competitors are Dell, HP, Toshiba, and Lenovo.
In fact, you, as a prudent investor, no doubt understand that Microsoft and Apple, in fact, have a symbiotic relationship. You understand that our licenses are sold in bulk to the PC OEMs and for retail to people buying a copy of Windows for a Mac. Which people do.
Being a long-term investor, this is all stuff you know. Because if you only invest based on the share price and the niftiness of an ad campaign, then you're not much of an investor.
So whose dividends would you rather have? Ours or Apple's?
10:14 AM
*May just have been for US sales though
10:25 AM
most people opt for the earlier.
10:26 AM
10:28 AM
10:29 AM
10:32 AM
or buy something cheap at the store then upgrade Video cards, Hard Drives ETC.
Apple folks don't normally care about any kind of hardware updgrading, and the way Apple's are built now, I don't even know if you can upgrade them.
10:41 AM
11:10 AM
11:20 AM
The Powermac and Mac Pro are a different story. They are work horse computers that most consumers don't even know exist. When you are doing heavy work that these are for such as graphic design or CAD programs some times you need to upgrade when new software becomes available. Their design is such that they are easy to upgrade to cater to these type of people.
The consumer level Mac's don't value ease of access like these ones do, they value style above it. The iMac, MacMini and the laptop lines are all harder to expand because as I said before there is not much of a need to. When you can convince consumers that what you are selling is going to be fine as is you can spend more time on styling the products and making them in more unorthodox styles than the Mac Pro.
So yes, it is possible to upgrade consumer level Macs. Is it easy? Not really. Is it even very necessary? No.
11:48 AM