Die schlechte Presse zum 30. Geburtstag von Microsoft scheinen Firmengründer Bill Gates und CEO Steve Ballmer nicht groß zu stören. Paul Thurrott veröffentlicht auf seiner Site Internet-Nexus nun Ausschnitte einer internen Frage&Antworten-Runde, in der Gates und Ballmer ziemlich offen von ihren Mitarbeitern gefragt werden, wie sie Microsoft im Wettbewerb mit Google und Apple sehen. “Bill Gates: I always get a kick out of the periods [of time] where people underestimate us.”
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Foto: Internet-Nexus
Bill Gates und Steve Ballmer
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Bill Gates: I’d definitely say this is one of those periods, partly because they [the people who are underestimating Microsoft] haven’t seen the [upcoming product] pipeline, partly because other companies are in what I call the Honeymoon period, where their me-too products are considered, you know, more innovative [throws hands up]. You know, that’s OK, we’re going to have lots of people [competitors?] who are viewed as being perfect, and we just simply have to come up with something that’s better. Also, maybe, I’m jaded. You know, the tough PR, that was 1999, 2000, I mean, that article, hey, that was nothing.
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 Foto: Internet-Nexus
Bill Gates und Steve Ballmer
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[Laughter]
Bill Gates: I’ve got thick skin, so I, you know … It will be interesting to see what they write over these next 18 months as they see what comes out of the work we’ve been doing.
Steve Ballmer. Yeah, just to throw in one thing on that … [When] we shipped Windows 95, we were on top of the world, PR-wise. Two months later, the press was writing [that] we were completely dead. Netscape and the Internet had wiped us out. 8 months later, 9 months later, a year later, I don’t know, maybe it was two years later, we had a lawsuit because we were so successful on the Internet. [Nods his head.] Stop and think about it. This next twelve months is going to be fantastic.
http://www.internet-nexus.com/2005/09/microsoft-executives-discuss-apple.htm
