Rant of the Month. Steve Ballmer & the $500 logo

That's my rant of the month, and it's not against Windows users, it's against Steve Ballmer. Once again he has proven that he may suffers from a short memory loss syndrome and a blunt overconfidence.
Statements like his last one, are in my personal opinion, misleading to consumers and damageable to his personal credibility.

Quote:
“Paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO

Dear Mr Ballmer,
I spent the vast majority of my life on Windows. After spending countless hours re-installing hypothetical drivers, fixing my friends computers, removing virus and crap, or re-installing Vista because-that-was-the-only-solution-that-your-“Tech”-support-was-able-to-advise-me, I finally took a leap forward and went to look for a Mac.
Since that very day, I do not regret a damn thing or any single cent spent on my Mac.
Trying to compare Vista with OS X Leopard is like comparing a screaming pig to a Mozart Symphony; You can only call Vista “competition” to OS X by an act charity.

Mr Ballmer, you are a sales guy, so you do your job: selling at any cost, whatever crap is available, but how do you feel when you hear that people are downgrading Vista to return to XP? And need to shell out $300 again to do so? You probably feel good: You are a sales guy.

As for the money, my Mac is costing me much less than the previous Windows I owned: I don’t spend hours anymore fixing bugs, re-installing, looking for lost drivers and expecting crashes and disaster at any moment.
Just the hours I spent fixing the -clusterfuck- that you call Vista cost me much more than $500. Do you include that in your $500 calculation?
Do you include the absolute need for Antivirus, AntiSpyware, etc on Windows?
Do you feel proud of your product(s) when your ridiculous IE 7 gets a grade of 13 over a 100 on a acid3 test? Are you happy with IE 6 and 7 and its 284 days per year of unpatched security holes? FYI, Mr Ballmer, Safari 4 got 100. 13 Vs. 100? Firefox with 1/100 of your budget is doing 546% better than you do. (Even the brand new IE 8 fails to pass the test with a 20/100 result. Great progress: IE 8 is Obsolete at launch. I would strongly suggest any Windows user to switch directly to Safari 4 Win, Firefox or Chrome. For you own sake: dump that crap of IE.)

Do you include the high cost of your office suite? No? You should: Apple delivers 5 (Five) iWork licenses for $99 when your suite goes for $400 a piece!
According to my calculator, I may have already saved $1,901. If I include the hours I spent on issues and other associated cost I easily reach $3,000.
So, spending an exaggerated $500 (realistically $300) to end up saving $3000 is a very good deal for me. Maybe not so good for you, but I am all about me. I don’t care about you, because I know that you don’t care about me. Nothing personal, it’s only business.
Furthermore, when I need something, I can call Apple: They answer my questions; they’re polite, nice, efficient and fast. No frustration. I can’t put a price on that.
I must admit that I spent an extra $99 for a “One to One” one-year subscription. Here again, the best $99 I have invested this year so far: one hour per week, face to face, with nice people that answer your questions, solve your problems and teach you all the tricks and tips they know. –And they know a lot-. Investment wise: Priceless. That's maybe why you announced the New Windows Store concept? Another highly innovative concept by Microsoft.

So, Mr. Ballmer, do you remember that day in 2007 when you laughed at the launch of the iPhone? Are you still laughing?
Do you recall Mr. Bill Gates stating that Apple was setting standards in the industry?
Do you recall CNN questioning the “innovative” features of Vista mimicking OS X?
Or your own person trying to persuade the greatness of MS while acting like a dancing monkey?
(this video is really scaring me)

It seems to me that the “$500 logo” was just another Foot-In-The-Mouth comment.
It’s true that Microsoft owns 90% of the market share, but I’ll be careful: if Windows 7 is the same success as Vista, you may have to re-think your strategy and get a pair of heavy duty pliers to remove that foot. Microsoft in the past 5 years has turned from a lynx into a sleepy fat cat. Be sure that the little kitty with only few % of the market share does not turn into a raging tiger: it’s already a mighty leopard.

I can’t force people to dump your pathetic and bug-rigged OS, but I do advise all my friends to do so. When one is taking the advice, I got the same answer: Holly Shit! It Rocks!
So, to anybody reading this post, do yourself a favor: Save yourself much more than 500 bucks : Pay a visit to an Apple store and see for yourself. You’ll decide what’s best for you: $300 upfront to save 3000 or a discount of $300 that will cost you dearly. After all, it’s your money, not mine.


.