He dances. He romances operating systems. He crushes iPhones (not really).
And, it turns out, he speaks the language of love.
Steve Ballmer charmed a crowd of executives and government ministers in Issy-Lex-Moulineaux, France, Tuesday, with a 10-minute speech in their language, the Associated Press reported.
The economic slump has bottomed out and optimism is returning, but it will take some time for business to return to more normal levels, Microsoft Corp. International President Jean-Philippe Courtois said Monday.
Mr. Courtois’s comments echo those of Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who told delegates at a Confederation of British Industry conference Monday that he expects the economy to stay weak and recover only slowly.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer emphasized Windows 7’s cost benefits Tuesday, saying businesses can expect to save $90 to $160 per computer annually with the soon-to-launch operating system.
His speech was directed to corporate customers, and he avoided the dancing and iPhone demolition that have made his prior appearances viral hits on YouTube and the blogosphere.
Microsoft had rented the museum for a private party and a screening of the most recent ” Harry Potter” movie. After the film, the roughly 600 attendees received a free Xbox 360 video-game console.
The new iPod nano is a tour de force, the Swiss Army Knife of mobile entertainment. I’m sure there’s some obscure gadget from Japan that packs more features per cubic millimeter, but I’ve never heard of it, and chances are neither have you.
It’s no secret to anyone at Microsoft that more than a few employees tote around iPhones in their pockets. Some staffers make little effort to hide the Apple device, while others seem to treat the iPhone a bit like a flask of whisky — a secret, irresistible source of shame.
I’ve got to say: in my opinion, Microsoft has turned The Corner. You know The Corner. The one that gets us off of pothole ridden Vista Avenue (one street over from Lincoln in Blue Velvet). The Corner that requires Microsoft to shed some of the fat it has layered on recently just to make the turn without flipping.
When multitudes of decisions need to be made, delegate. Seek passionate people to work for you. Budget your time carefully, and keep a culture of innovation alive within your company.
These are the secrets to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s success, as revealed in a series of short video interviews for the Wall Street Journal’s Lessons in Leadership guide, where he discusses his views on time management, making decisions, driving innovation, and more.
A group of 10 tech-industry executives spent Tuesday and Wednesday lobbying members of Congress and the Obama administration on issues like taxes, immigration reform, and software piracy.
The group, which included Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, and Sybase CEO John Chen, met with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, among others.
There is a famous story about a meeting between Yahoo and Microsoft which took place when Yahoo was still a small start-up.
Here is the latest comic from our Joy of Tech friends at Geek Culture, Nitrozac and Snaggy. Joy of Tech appears three times a week in the Voices section of this site. (Click on the image to see a bigger version.)
Over the weekend, Microsoft (MSFT) unleashed the second TV ad in its “you find it, you keep it” series–this time swapping handsome, “technically savvy” Giampaolo for perky, red-headed Lauren De Long. Once again the camera follows a typical budget-constrained buyer on a laptop shopping spree using Steve Ballmer’s money.
For the past few Februaries, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer makes the trek to Wall Street to provide analysts with an annual “Strategic Update” overview, in which he covers the areas where Microsoft plans to invest and why. This year, during his Feb. 24 update, Ballmer was more about circling the wagons than staking out new, far-flung territories Microsoft planned to conquer in the next 10 years.
Microsoft executives have long spun visions of a world where computer users can seamlessly share information between a PC, the Web, and a cellphone. But the company has made little progress in making that vision a reality–at least until now.
Microsoft may not need Yahoo, but Steve Ballmer’s legacy sure does. Perhaps that is why Ballmer opened a new chapter in the annals of perpetual torment [last Thursday] with this musing at the GartnerITXpo: A Microsoft takeover of Yahoo would “make sense economically for the shareholders of both companies,” he declared.
This is a section of the All Things Digital Web site featuring posts from around the Web, from other Dow Jones properties and also original pieces we solicit. The section is now explicitly labeled that it comes "from other Web sites."
We are fully aware of the controversies around how linking and aggregating is done on the Web and we, in no way, are attempting to "scrape" original content created by others. Instead, regarding third-party posts, we are trying to point readers of this site to other posts from around the Web that we admire and are trying to do so in the quickest manner possible.
The Internet is full of terrific content that is not ours and we want to help our readers find it by making editorial suggestions--Look, Mom, no algorithm!--of posts we think are worth their time.
That is why we have made even more changes to Voices to ensure we do this in the most transparent and timely way. While we don't expect that everyone will agree with our policies, we have made changes that reflect our intent in pointing to content outside our site.
So here is exactly what we do: Read more »
Because the site is wholly owned by Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, we aim to adhere to the journalistic standards of the best of the mainstream media. But, because it is run autonomously as a small online startup, we aim to exhibit the fresh thinking and nimbleness of the best of the new media. We want to be first, and sassy, but also well sourced and accurate. We will offer lots of opinion and analysis, but plenty of fact as well.
D is unlike any other executive conference. Since its debut in 2003, D has brought to life the energy and excitement of the digital revolution in an unscripted, upfront and unparalleled way. Read more »
Don't miss a post! Sign up for our Daily Email and get AllThingsD.com delivered each day.
Get columns, blogs and video from D and All Things Digital on your iPhone. Download now »
