SearchMob!
Recent Comment
Spotlight
Recent Comments
- katrina Onufer: " go for it ..." [go]
- katrina Onufer: " are you looking for Katrina Onufer? ..." [go]
- katrina Onufer: " Katrina Onufer ..." [go]
- Jd: " Search results should not be based on po ..." [go]
- Projekty domow: " Pete you tube must free.. ..." [go]
- mIRC: " ..." [go]
- mIRC: " ..." [go]
- mIRC: " thankss ..." [go]
- sohbet: " We have designed sites without the no-fo ..." [go]
- sohbet: " just drink the water and shut up....if y ..." [go]
- sohbet: " I think one thing that no one seems to h ..." [go]
- Lee: " Great idea, the word game, but at least ..." [go]
- seo yarışması: " tanx mf ..." [go]
- John Battelle: " These are great guys thanks so much keep ..." [go]
- Mike: " Why is Vista such a memory hog? And why ..." [go]
- Melody: " I hope you can invite me, thanks in adva ..." [go]
PERFECT FOR THAT PERSON WITH EVERYTHING
Order 'The Search'
Yup, it makes the perfect gift for that officemate or colleague who you thought had everything....including you! If you order here, I promise to sign it, assuming we can figure out the shipping...
You can also buy the audio version here.
Check my book page for more info.
Blogger's Rights
Top Posts
- The Database of Intentions (or how this all got started)
- From Pull to Point(or the first post where I riff on the "Point-To Economy")
- Google As Builder (or the point at which Google stopped being simply a search engine)
- On Google v. Yahoo
- TV and Search Merge
- On Sell Side Advertising
- Battelle Gets Searchstreams
- Search and Immortality
- Toward the Endemic (on endemic advertising)
More coming soon...
Active Topics
- 19 comments: Thinking Out Loud: Facebook (09.16)
- 17 comments: Huh. Yahoo's Better, Google's ... Bigger-er? (09.28)
- 17 comments: What Should I Ask Steve Ballmer? (10.09)
- 13 comments: 4000 Posts (10.02)
- 13 comments: Yahoo MASH (09.15)
Monthly Archives
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
About John Battelle
Searchblog Newsletter
Enter email to subscribe to "Re-Find", Searchblog's weekly newsletter:
Calendar
| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Syndicate
Powered by
October 9, 2007 9:49 AM
What Should I Ask Steve Ballmer?
Steve Ballmer has been much in the news this year, taking potshots at Google (remember the one trick pony quote?), calling Facebook a fad (but considering another investment, reportedly), projecting massive growth in Microsoft's advertising business, you name it. It seems Steve knows one thing for sure - if you are going to win in these markets, you must to be in front of them. Literally.
That's good for us, because on the morning of Day Two of Web 2, we'll wake up to a conversation with Steve Ballmer. This will be his first appearance at the event, and I think it marks a new era at Microsoft, an era of engaging with the Web industry more directly. In the past few years of visiting and doing business with Microsoft, I've found folks at the company welcoming, willing to admit mistakes, and eager to learn.
And as I have done with Mark Zuckerberg and Chris DeWolfe/Rupert Murdoch, I'd love your help on what to ask him.
A few things come to mind:
- Microsoft and Facebook, happy partnership or headed for trouble? Do you plan to invest more, or is Facebook a fad? How is the ad deal you did with them working out?
- The question I will also ask Brian McAndrews: You declared recently that 25% of MSFT’s revenues would be advertising in the future. That’d make Microsoft a media giant, one of the largest in the world. But is being a media company, well, in your DNA? If you are serious about this, how do you do it? Is a major acquisition (AOL? Yahoo?) in the works?
- Office Live: How does it win against Google Apps, Yahoo Zimbra, Sun OpenOffice, etc?
- Google: Is it still a one trick pony? What do you make of the company?
- Silverlight vs Flash vs…
- Search: You talk it up and have come a long way, but...why keep tilting at it? Why not just work with Yahoo and call it a
- Who do you wish you owned that you don’t? Was aQuantive the last big acquisition for a while?
- What do you make of Apple's recent surge?
- The rap on Microsoft is often that the company is a bit sclerotic - slow to move, stuck in its ways. True?
- In the past five years, your stock has vacillated in a narrow range of 22 to 28 or so, but it's on the rise lately (to 30). How do you get your stock out of what seems to be a permanent flatline?
- What technology are you stoked about?
I'd also love to do the one word game with Steve. He strikes me as a guy who has a quick wit and a very good sense of humor, and he's not afraid to say whatever is on his mind. Words I'd toss out include:
o Google
o Facebook
o Privacy
o MySpace
o eBay
o Zimbra
o ATT
o Net Neutrality
o Halo
o Nintendo
o Department of justice
o Doubleclick
o AOL
o Steve Jobs
Microsoft is so vast, so important, I know I've missed a ton of stuff. So help me out here - what would you ask Steve Ballmer?
- Posted by John Battelle on October 9, 2007 9:49 AM
remember this »- Sphere It
Comments
What the internet really needs is a new operating system; backwards compatible with all existing formats; sleek, fast, and low on bandwidth use; easy to use and program; and able to move seamlessly from desk, to net, to phone. Do you have a department at Microsoft working on such a beast?
When will he step down and stop embarassing Microsoft?
John, this should be on top of your word list: Ubuntu.
Bah, Phil beat me to it. Still, I don't suppose you'll ask when he's going?
"I am just a new boy, stranger in this town..." -- oops! am I on?!? Oh, yeah, OK... well, I read and listened to the links -- all neat-o and all that jazz... -- what was the question? Oh, yeah: What to ask Steve. Apart from the ingenious questions above, I might ask:
1. are you feelin' OK? ;P
2. we all know that Google is supposed to be not evil, and Ask is supposed to be very evil -- how will the "search" provided by Microsoft differentiate itself from it's competitors? Note that I am *not* talking about the present situation -- I want to know what the difference will be in 1 year, in 2 years, etc.
3. apart from Microsoft, Google, and other similar "online" companies, how do you expect the business *environment* will play a role in the coming years? Do you feel there will be any momentous decisions ahead WRT copyright and/or other intellectual property law, business law, the media and/or advertising industries, etc.? How might these affect the online market? What do you think will be the single most important change in the next 2 years? the next 5 years? ...?
That's all (then I would turn to the crowd and say "Hey, you... -- is there anybody out there?" ;)
ps -- highly recommended: http://www.mediadis.com/music/detail.asp?id=168669 ;D
A few years ago, Microsoft was considering expanding its Mountain View/Silicon Valley presence, but decided to invest in Redmond instead. With Silicon Valley increasingly becoming the "center of the universe" with Web 2.0, with Google, Google/YouTube, Facebook, Yahoo!, eBay, etc... has Microsoft reconsidered a larger presence in Silicon Valley?
I think bringing up Apple and Google, he will have some set answers that will not likely be that interesting, unless you frame them in unique way. Also, silverlight/Flash is way too early to say.
My sense is that the energy is around this transition MS is in and how they will be a software company, ad company, game developer, and all the other things they do. Who are they now? Do they just follow the wind or does something connect all these?
Talking about Google and Apple will need to have a fresh approach, something where his set answers do not work, and opens up a possibility for a creative response. Otherwise, it is just more the same, and he or his people have already figured out what to say -- unless there is a twist that sparks an interest. Maybe "If he was graduating form college today, and had offers at Google and Apple but not MS, which one would he choose and why?"
How is it going with Ray Ozzie? With Groove Networks, he was innovating in online apps. How much is he changing Microsoft and how much is Microsoft changing him? When will Microsoft offer its productivity suite completely online? If it is never, why not? Does Microsoft have a new paradigm for online apps? Or will it rely on catching up, as it did with web browser and silverlight?
What are your predictions for Web 3.0? What strategies if any are in place in Microsoft to innovate in that area?
Whatever happened to the MsDewey.com search experiment? It appeared to give a little insight into Microsoft's ideas of media convergence and search,however, it proved to be a half baked idea that didn't reach it's full potential.
What else is Microsoft doing along these lines of innovation with relatively low investment?
What is Microsoft working on that consumers would be surprised or shocked by?
Dear Mr. Ballmer,
Have you noticed the Google strategy lately? They have hugh traffic on Orkut, are thinking of replacing windows as an operating system on mobile, bought Jaiku to extend presence iinto social networks, have a unique advantage in RSS with Google Reader, Feedburner, and Jaiki (Mobile RSS),seem to be working on a Google PC, are buikding up fast in Asia (the place where payed mobile services actually work!) and oh they have the most used search engine in the world. Forget Windows Vista, it will be Google Everywhere as the new social operating system. What will you do about that?
http://vanelsas.wordpress.com/2007/10/09/facebook-will-be-no-match-for-google/
How about asking him when/if he feels Google will lose its lustre and become viewed by the population as a Microsoft-like business. Even though it may be unpopular to say it i do see a lot of syncronicity between the two companies with regard to popular opinion. MS are just further along the cycle.
When does 'cool' become 'evil'?
John - how about one word quizzes starting with AMAZON - Amazon with its S3 and data services all of which will compete with MSFT's soon to be public Astoria (data services), etc. - or on a lighter note, AMZN entrance into music services with MP3s.
Hi John,
I was at a conference in the UK last year where Steve was very excited about improvements in multiword searches, basically he said search got worse the more you tried to refine it with longer keyword combinations and that Microsoft were working hard on this...
A year is up and I have tried all sorts of variations and live is IMHO the worst of the big 3.
In essense i guess I would ask why they have spent so much resource making an advertising platform rather than developing platforms which users are going to be interested in and then worry about commercial side once that is fixed!?
Facebook could of course help fix that...
Richard
Why is Vista such a memory hog? And why did MS spend all this time programming the most annoying OS on the face of this planet? Rhetorical questions aside, how much does bad PR like this or this affect employee morale at Microsoft? And what do you make of the Microsoft Orchestra? Did you enjoy its most recent performance?
These are great guys thanks so much keep em coming if you can!
Great idea, the word game, but at least throw out words that aren't so obvious; that aren't essentially duplications of questions that you'll already be asking him. Try words deeper in the sub-conscious. The point of the game is to stir up the mud a bit.
Post a comment