CES: What Microsoft's Ballmer didn't say
Most alarmingly, he didn’t have anything to say about how Microsoft plans to address the slate market beyond what company officials have said already — namely, that Windows 7 makes a darn good slate/tablet operating system and will be the operating system that Microsoft makes available to its partners for the next two-plus years. I strongly disagree, as even the nicest looking Windows slates hitting the market are either 1. super pricey; 2. horrible re: battery life; 3. heavy/bulky; and/or 4. not touch-centric.
You know that feeling when you’re completely overwrought, trying to over-multitask, and just realized that nothing you have is going to work? I think that’s where MS is right now with respect to the highest growth areas of tech: mobile phones and tablets.
I think they’re realizing that they need a total tear down of Windows, from the concept up, to be competitive. It’s a huge challenge that will require a great visionary with a lot of authority at the helm.
I think MS has already missed the first sailing of the mobile ship. Opportunity gone. It’s now time to skate to the next puck. They need to invent a new, tangential market. I have no idea what that is.
