Ballmer: ActiveSync on iPhone, ponders Silverlight
updated 12:40 pm EST, Fri March 7, 2008
Ballmer on iPhone SDK
Steve Ballmer recently sat down with Guy Kawasaki at the Mix 2008 conference in Las Vegas, where Kawasaki asked him about his feelings on Apple's iPhone developer announcements yesterday. According to CNET, Ballmer thinks that Silverlight on the iPhone would be interesting, but somewhat dismissed the idea. He says that there has been no official conversations with Apple CEO Steve Jobs on the matter, and Apple's business model of taking 30-percent of revenue is questionable.
One user comment on the story humorously points out that 30-percent of free is still free, in response to Apple's offer of "picking up the tab" on free applications. Accounting that Microsoft purchases a developer certification for $100, they would incur no additional costs regarding the distribution of a free application.
Kawasaki also probed Ballmer regarding the licensing of ActiveSync for the iPhone's interoperability with Microsoft Exchange servers.
"We've licensed ActiveSync for a while. That's been an option that's been available to Apple," Ballmer said. "It was certainly an option we knew Apple might take advantage of."
Ballmer Spin
03/07, 01:10pm reply
30% of revenue is much cheaper than other "smart phones" including those hosted on Microsoft operating systems. Handango charges 50% and above, and does not provide as easy download of purchased applications as that proposed by Apple. The funny part is that Microsoft certainly knows this, so spinning is required as a means of preventing further loss in an area which they have a decade of investment.
Guest
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Joined: Nov 1999
What a douche!
03/07, 01:16pm reply
In a situation like this, Bill Gates would have proudly spoken about Apple as a partner. He would have lauded their choice of a MS technology, and glowingly spoken about them as a partner. Ballmer is a bag of s***, who acts like a high school kid with a grudge.
njfuzzy
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Joined: Apr 2001
Ballmer BS
03/07, 01:55pm reply
This guy is so full of it....actually, in the picture he looks like he is relieving himself.
ClevelandAdv
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Joined: Jul 2004
re: what a douche!
03/07, 02:26pm reply
You are right. Behind the scenes they were competitors, but Gates would have spoken positively about the situation. Ballmer just falls back on dimissing every competitor as unimportant.
koolkid1976
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everyone!
03/07, 02:42pm reply
developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers
Bartman
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re: Gates
03/07, 04:52pm reply
Bill would've spoken positively in public while planning a s******* bonanza behind closed doors. Remember when he snatched the Mac OS, and Netscape. Ballmer on the other-hand has a solid memory... and that's about it.
bloggerblog
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Joined: Aug 2007
please stop
03/08, 09:22pm reply
Ballmer is about as relevant as a corset (even though he could use one). Ask any MS employee - not only do they pay little attention to him, he is seen as a kind of "figurehead joke" -- too bad there are people's retirement investments tied into what this idiot says and does.
Doofuses.
robttwo
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Joined: Nov 2005