Does Ballmer need to step down?
The rumblings are starting back up again. There is more talk that Ballmer has had his chance and that someone else needs to take the reins. Is Ballmer just getting warmed up or does he need to step aside and give new life to Microsoft?
No doubt Microsoft is still making billions every quarter. They’re posting record profits but ironically the stock has barely budged in nearly a decade. Apple has a stock price well north of $250 yet Microsoft can break $30. Despite making all that money they seem to be losing consumer confidence. They seem to be stuck in this odd catch-22. There is profit but also distress at all the lost opportunities.
While under the helm of Ballmer there has been the fiasco that was Vista and the Microsoft Kin. Microsoft has ditched their staple Encarta product due to massive losses to Wikipedia. Money has been shut down. Their PC game division has all but died. Their mobile offerings are floundering at best. Their tablet offering is still non-existent. But yet somehow they keep making money hand over fist.
Personally I think Ballmer needs to step aside. He doesn’t respect MS and doesn’t appreciate its value. He wants to compete with everyone like some hopped up bully on the playground. Everyone is his enemy. Everyone must be destroyed. Everything you can do he can do better. He comes across as a sad little flake that wants to arm wrestle everyone because he can. His claims are so irrational that you just stop listening. You can’t believe anything he says.
Ballmer was fine as a pitch man a decade ago where his boisterous antics made people laugh and got them excited. Now, this thumbing his nose at everyone and beating his chest just comes across as cheesy and pathetic. Microsoft doesn’t have the products or track record to make those kinds of claims anymore. He just looks stupid. He’s clinging on to past glories like a washed up fighter. He still thinks he can wage war on 20 different fronts.
It’s time to move beyond Windows. It’s time to move beyond Office.
