Paul Thurrott on CEO Steve Ballmer’s thoughts at the BUILD conference:
>The four themes for Microsoft are new hardware form factors, which include slates and convertible tablets, of course, but also the new Ultrabook PC; cloud services; and new application scenarios that provide new opportunities for developers. “Each and every one of these things is shifting our direction, what we’re doing, what we’re trying to accomplish,” Ballmer said, “and each and every one of them, I think, has incredible opportunities not just for us, but for every developer in the world.”
So in other words Microsoft is “shifting” to build: iPads; what used to be called Tablets, but are just those funky jobbers with rotating screens that weigh ten pounds; “of course” MacBook Airs; iCloud/Google/Amazon; App Store.
*Innovative.*
That’s not to say this isn’t a good strategy for Microsoft, but honestly it is the *only* strategy for them — so why put these things into such silly categories?
This bit from Thurrott cracked me up, if for no other reason than the passive jealousy the statement holds:
>And of course, PCs are just kicking the bejesus out of tablets, despite reports to the contrary: Apple might sell 35 million iPads this year, and it gets a lot of press for that. But there will be over 10 times as many PCs sold in the same time period, and while growth is comparatively slow—as it would be for such a mature product—it’s still a growing market.