Ballmer Trumpets Microsoft’s ‘Epic Year’

The Seattle Times: In a far-ranging interview, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer touched on a number of topics of interest to the technology industry. Here are a few of the more interesting things he said:

• “Windows 95 was certainly the biggest thing in the last 20 years until now. I think Windows 8 certainly surpasses it.”
• “Screaming loudly doesn’t work very well in our industry. It really matters whether the product fundamentally captures people’s imagination, and then you tell the story well around that.”
• On Surface pricing: “We haven’t announced pricing. I think we have a very competitive product from the features perspective. … I think most people would tell you that the iPad is not a superexpensive device. … (When) people offer cheaper, they do less. They look less good, they’re chintzier, they’re cheaper.”
• “I think Google is just another big company at this stage.”
• “I think when you look forward, our core capability will be software, (but) you’ll probably think of us more as a devices-and-services company. … Doesn’t mean we have to make every device. I don’t want you to leap to that conclusion. We’ll have partners who make devices with our software in it and our services built in.”

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