Steve Ballmer

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs considers buying Yahoo

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Yahoo
Apple could have teamed up with Disney to make an offer.
Photo: Yahoo

February 4 Today in Apple historyFebruary 4, 2008: Apple CEO Steve Jobs reportedly considers buying the search engine Yahoo. Apple is one of several interested companies, following reports that Microsoft offered $44.6 billion for the web portal the previous week.

Nothing ultimately comes of it, but Apple’s interest is later confirmed in an authorized biography of Jobs.

Today in Apple history: Microsoft hits the height of its power

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December 1999 was a turning point for Microsoft.
December 1999 proved to be a turning point for Microsoft.
Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

December 30: Today in Apple history: Microsoft hits the height of its power December 30, 1999: Microsoft hits the height of its 1990s dominance and begins its early-2000s decline, clearing a gap at the top for Apple.

After hitting an all-time high of $53.60, Microsoft stock starts to fall. Less than a year later, MSFT shares will fall more than 60% in value to $20.

Today in Apple history: Steve Ballmer freaks out and stomps an iPhone

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Ballmer
Turns out using an iPhone at a Microsoft event is a bad idea.
Photo: Off2riorob/Wikipedia CC

September 11: Today in Apple history: Steve Ballmer freaks out and stomps an iPhone September 11, 2009: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reportedly snatches an iPhone from a Microsoft employee during a meeting and pretends to destroy it.

This isn’t the first time Ballmer behaves in a wacky way and incurs negative publicity as a result. However, it’s an embarrassing moment for a man who ranks among the tech world’s most powerful people.

‘Apple should pull the plug’: 10 iPhone predictions from 2007

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iPhone predictions from 2007
They must have been holding their crystal balls wrong.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iPhone turns 10 Predicting the future is tough, even for the experts. That’s the only lesson we can learn from looking back at these horribly misguided iPhone predictions that greeted the device at its launch 10 years ago.

Before most people had even wrapped their fingers around Apple’s first-gen smartphone, tech pundits, analysts and competing CEOs were already writing off the iPhone as a disaster similar to Apple’s previous excursions into video game consoles and the like.

Here are just a few of the laughable reactions that greeted the iPhone in 2007.

Laurene Powell Jobs will talk philanthropy at next month’s Code Conference

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Laurene Powell Jobs (center) at the Female Founders Conference 2016 in San Francisco.
Laurene Powell Jobs (center) at the Female Founders Conference 2016 in San Francisco.
Photo: Y Combinator/Flickr CC

Laurene Powell Jobs may be best known to Apple fans as Steve Jobs’ widow but, as a longtime philanthropist with decades of experience, she’s carved out an impressive solo career.

Having kept a fairly low profile since her husband’s death in 2011, next month Powell Jobs will speak at the Code Conference about her approach to philanthropy. Her appearance will take the form of an unscripted onstage conversation.

Ballmer: Saving Apple in 1997 was ‘craziest thing’ Microsoft ever did

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"Let's talk developers!"
Photo: Bloomberg

Microsoft infamously invested $150 million in archenemy Apple in 1997 as the company was facing bankruptcy right after the return of Steve Jobs, and according to former CEO Steve Ballmer, it was the craziest thing the Windows-maker ever did.

Ballmer spends more of his time on the basketball court now than working on the next big tech ideas, but in an interview with Bloomberg this morning, Ballmer was brought on to talk about the Microsoft’s battle with Amazon. After saying Amazon is not a great place to work, the conversation drifted to Apple and Ballmer actually admitted that “they’ve done a great job.”

Coming from the guy who laughed off the iPhone because he thought the Zune was killer, that’s a hell of a compliment. Watch what Ballmer had to say about Microsoft’s rivalry with Apple below:

Watch Microsoft CEO’s demo with ‘iPhone Pro’

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Microsoft's CEO loves the iPhone.
Microsoft's CEO loves the iPhone.
Photo: Salesforce

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was spotted using an iPhone at Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference this week, and while Nadella insisted the device wasn’t actually his, he was all too proud to show off the amazing apps his company is making for it.

Nadella even gave his device a new name, dubbing it the ‘iPhone Pro’ (a little knock on the iPad Pro that was recently announced) because it was running all of Microsoft’s apps.

Check out Nadella’s demo below:

Entertain your eyes and ears with The CultCast on YouTube

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Our ever-popular podcast – The CultCast, hosted by Erfon Elijah – is now on the Cult of Mac TV YouTube channel. It’s a whole new way to digest your favorite 30-minute (-ish!) Apple conversation.

Click the video above to check out the latest podcast, which covers topics like NFC on the iPhone 6, Steve Ballmer landing the perfect job and a mobile payment system for iPhone that will make credit cards obsolete.

Watch the latest episode above and don’t forget to subscribe to Cult of Mac TV to stay up-to-date on all the latest happenings from the world of Apple.

iPhone 6 gets NFC, faster LTE, and Apple wins an Emmy on The CultCast

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This week on the Cultiest of Casts: Steve Ballmer lands the perfect job; NFC and your iPhone make credit cards obsolete; iPhone 6 gets even faster data access; new photos give us our best look yet at a 4.7-inch iPhone 6; Apple wins their first Emmy; APPL stock hits an all-time high; and, behold, Podcasting turns 10! Oh, and it’s growing like crazy, too.

Snicker your way through each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the chuckles begin.

Our thanks to Lynda.com for sponsoring this episode! Learn virtually any application at your own pace from expert-taught video tutorials at Lynda.com.

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Click on for the show notes.

Steve Jobs’ widow competes with Steve Ballmer for L.A. Clippers

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Laurene Powell Jobs is part of a syndicate to buy the LA Clippers with Beats founder and Apple employee Jimmy Iovine
Laurene Powell Jobs is part of a syndicate to buy the LA Clippers with Beats founder and Apple employee Jimmy Iovine

Steve Jobs and Steve Ballmer were competitors during their time as CEOs of Apple and Microsoft respectively, and now it seems that the Jobs vs. Ballmer competition continues in an altogether different arena.

The competition in question concerns a quest to buy the L.A. Clippers from embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Ballmer has reportedly placed a $2 billion for the basketball team: an offer which would triple the record for an NBA franchise.

One of the roadblocks in his acquisition plan? None other than Steve Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs. Jobs is partnering with several other tech and entertainment magnates, including Oracle software co-founder Larry Ellison, and new Apple employee (and reported special adviser to Tim Cook) Jimmy Iovine.

Steve Ballmer’s Last Act Was To Unleash Office For iPad Unto The World

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Steve Ballmer. A total doofus, right? The man who said the iPhone was destined to be a failure, who thought the iPad was a dud, who stood in the way of Office being released for the iPad long after it was clear that Windows 8 was a total bust.

Okay, sure, Microsoft’s sweatiest ex-CEO was a bit of an idiot. But to be fair to the man, he did make his amends before he was forced out by incumbent CEO Satya Nadella. In fact, Ballmer’s last oleaginous act as CEO appears to have been greenlighting the release of Office for iPad.

Apple Inches Closer To Health-Tracking Domination On Our Newest CultCast

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With rumors of a new Apple-made “fitness app” coming to iOS 8, secret meetings with the FDA, and murmurs of more sleep and fitness experts joining the Apple ranks, the iWatch rumors are heating up on this week’s CultCast! Plus, a classic Nintendo game makes its way to iOS; Microsoft says goodbye to the one and only Steve Ballmer; and new job openings in Cupertino could mean big upgrades in battery life for future MacBooks…

Thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode! Treat yourself to a brand new website with the help of Squarespace – a drag-and-drop, do-it-yourself site builder with everything you need to create an exceptional website. Head to Squarespace.com to try it for free, and use the offer code “CultCast” to save 10% on any order.

Softly giggle your way through each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.


Steve Ballmer Admits Microsoft’s Successes Are In The Past

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ballmercrazed

Part of Steve Jobs’ genius was his ability to find just the right words to explain why whatever Apple product he was unveiling was so “insanely great” you had to rush out and buy it at that very moment.

Outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer never had that gift, but his final interview before stepping down contains a few really telling quotes about why things turned out the way they did — with Apple being the innovative market leader, and Microsoft being… well, Microsoft.

Steve Ballmer Confirms Office Will Come To iPad When It’s Ready For The Touchscreen

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officeforipad

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has confirmed that Microsoft Office will come to the iPad just as soon as it’s ready for devices with a touchscreen. Speaking at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Florida today, Ballmer said, “iPad will be picked up when there’s a touch first user interface.”

That user interface is “in progress” Ballmer added, but it’s likely to come to the Windows version of Office first.

Steve Ballmer Admits Microsoft’s iPad-Killer Is A Flop

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Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
The man, the myth, the sweaty legend: Steve Ballmer

It’s no secret that Microsoft’s would-be iPad-killer has been a complete disappointment, but now Steve Ballmer, the company’s ever-optimistic CEO, is admitting to employees that the Surface is a flop.

Ballmer held a “rally the troops” event on the Microsoft campus yesterday to go over the company’s quarterly earnings and boost morale, but according to people at the event, Ballmer dove into how disappointing it has been trying to make Surface a success.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Talks About Office for iPad And Dropbox

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ballmercrazed
Steve Ballmer is absolutely mad, and we love him that way.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is the anti-Steve-Jobs: a sweaty, tongue-lashing ogre of a corporate figurehead who exudes a sort of Ben-Grimm-like lovability through his orange, scaled outer shell. He often says foolish things, and that’s okay, because we love him anyway.

This morning, Ballmer’s talking to Bloomberg Businessweek about the just-released Office 2013 (not to be confused with Office 365, Microsoft’s online productivity suite). In the interview, he talks a little bit about Office for iPad, and then bizarrely decides to slag off Dropbox for a spell.

Steve Ballmer Labels Android ‘Wild’ And ‘Uncontrolled’, Apple Too Expensive

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Too expensive and too uncontrolled?

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was at the Churchill Club in Santa Clara this week to be interviewed by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. One of the most interesting subjects he talked about was Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, and how it compares to its two main rivals, Apple’s iOS, and Google’s Android.

As you might expect, he didn’t have many good things to say about his competitors. In fact, he called Android “wild” and “uncontrolled,” before saying the iPhone is too expensive and too controlled. Windows Phone, he feels, sits in a sweet spot between the two.

Microsoft Shareholder Note Points To A New, More Apple-Like Position On Hardware

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Why is this girl so happy? That isn't a Mac.
Why is this girl so happy? That isn't a Mac.

In a letter to shareholders posted today on the Microsoft Investor website, Steve Ballmer, current CEO of Microsoft, said something surprising.

His comments in the annual letter suggest that Microsoft may take a page out of the Apple playbook and start building its own phones based on the upcoming Surface tablet PCs, similarly to the other hardware made by the Redmond-based tech giant, the XBox 360.

Microsoft: Screw Apple’s Post-PC Era, It’s Time For The PC+ [Agony Of Ballmer]

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The man, the myth, the sweaty legend: Steve Ballmer
The man, the myth, the sweaty legend: Steve Ballmer

Microsoft has had a lot to say about Apple over the past couple days. The Redmond-based company is holding its annual Worldwide Partner Conference this week, and some recent comments from Microsoft COO Kevin Turner and CEO Steve Ballmer address the company’s stance on Apple as a competitor.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and the late Steve Jobs have spoken out multiple times on how the iPad and iPhone have pioneered the “post-PC era.” Instead of needing a traditional desktop computer, consumers are turning to tablets and smartphones for their everyday habits. Today, Microsoft’s Turner called Apple out on its post-PC label, saying “We actually believe Windows 8 is the new era for the PC plus.” Yesterday, Steve Ballmer said, “we are not going to leave any space uncovered to Apple.”

Cult Of Mac Says Why Microsoft Might Be The Next Apple On Macbreak [CES 2012]

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LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 — Our very British Editor Leander and I were invited to sit in with Leo Laporte, Sarah Lane, and Alex Lindsay for Tuesday’s live episode of Macbreak Weekly. We had a hoot ‘n hollerin’ good time playing with new gadgets from the show floor, talking about this year’s trends in tech, and pondering how Microsoft just might be becoming the next Apple.

The full video is almost 80 minutes long, so feel free to skip around to all the good parts where it’s just me talking.

Steve Ballmer’s Final CES Keynote A Letdown, Despite Good Software [CES 2012]

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LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Oh the irony! Microsoft showed off some of its best software in years at its final keynote at CES.

But just as Microsoft seems to be getting its act together, it is pulling out of the U.S.’s largest technology show.

Steve Ballmer didn’t dance around like a monkey. Bill Gates didn’t make a cameo, and there was only one of the goofy, funny videos that Microsoft is known for.

Overall it was a letdown, despite software that looks like it might really give Apple a run for its money.