Updates to this story
The local media over here is already trumpeting that Steve Ballmer will head South - the way of the penguins - and arrive in Buenos Aires today to give a speech at a local university. We can assure you in advance that he will get mostly softball questions from the mainstream press.
The local media presents Ballmer as a "renowned executive" and says he'll speak to "students and businessmen" at the local management school of private university UADE. While we don't know yet if we'll be able to speak face to face with the head of the Microsoft juggernaut, this is a good opportunity to remind everyone of previous remarks by the alleged chair-chucking specialist.
Here is our Steve Ballmer Hall of Shame:
2000 - Ballmer: "Linux is communism"
2001 - Ballmer "Linux is a cancer"
2004 - Ballmer: "Windows is more secure and cheaper than its open source rival"
CassiaNote: This must be why almost all of the major e-book readers run on Linux and Google's own Chrome OS is based on it, while the Windows Mobile market share is shrinking rapidly - see "Windows Mobile market share drops like a rock" here.
2004 - "Ballmer doesn't get patents"
2004 - Ballmer: "OpenOffice infringes 45 of our patents"
2007 - Ballmer: "Linux violates 235 of our patents"
2007 - Ubuntu, Red Hat rejects Microsoft patent deal
2007 - Ballmer: "Vista is great for consumers"
2007 - Ballmer: "Vista is selling well"
2007 - Ballmer blames piracy for poor Vista sales
2008 - Ballmer thinks consumers don't want Windows XP
2008 - Ballmer: "Vista needs a bigger marketing budget"
2009 - Ballmer: "Vista licence allows a downgrade to XP"
2009 - Ballmer: "Microsoft never recovered from Vista blow"
2009 - Ballmer blames security features for Vista's failure
CassiaNote: From his original "cancer" and "communism" remarks, it only took Ballmer 9 years to finally admit the obvious:
2009 - Ballmer: "Linux is a bigger competitor than Apple"
CassiaNote: But wait, there's more.
2009 - "Windows Mobile Doing better than the iPhone"
CassiaNote: The following cannot be attributed to Steve himself, but come from key Microsoft executives, who also get a free pass and softball questions from the mainstream press:
Kevin Turner, MSFT COO: "Vista is the most secure OS on the planet"
2006 - MSFT Jim Allchin: "Vista so secure, it doesn't need an anti-virus"
CassiaNote: Three years later:
2009 - Microsoft's new free antivirus hits the streets
Will anyone in the mainstream press put Ballmer in the hot seat today over his dismal predictive track record? It's funny how Microsoft executives can say almost anything, with very few reporters following up years down the line and asking about their failed predictions or outright lies proved wrong. Politicians by comparison, rarely get the same privilege.
Would anyone in the mainstream press ask him today about the firm's patent trolling, for instance? Don't hold your breath.
But what did he mean when he said:
We must move at “cloud speed,” especially in our consumer offerings. And we need to be crystal clear about the value we provide to all our customers.
We’re investing in areas where there’s room for improvement.
We’re not trying to profit off of anyone else’s work.
I haven't found that when you're trying to sell something to somebody, yelling is very effective.
I'm going to f------ kill Google.
We needed a name that says this is all about search.
We should have named it ‘BOOM!’
We have Bing evangelists, age 18, age 11, and age 15. We are definitely a religiously pro-Bing family... I hope my kids 30, 40, 50 years from now, they'll still be using Bing.
Do I search when I'm out on the move? The answer is too much relative to what my wife thinks I should be doing when I'm driving. So, I'm trying to -- I'm trying to tame my search behavior while I'm -- I mean, literally I only have a phone when I'm in the car...
My guess is we're not going to get a huge amount of operator support for Windows Phones who don't want Bing. I mean, in some senses it's an essential part of the definition of the Windows Phone, and if you have an operator who would want to do something with another search player, they'll probably do it with a non-Windows Phone.
Smartphones are PCs. Netbooks are PCS. The Web is designed for the PC.