Ballmer Vows to Bury Google

Or so the statements by former Microsoft employee, Google new hire, Mark Lucovsky seem to suggest. John Battelle reported first, followed by the tech press picking up the story that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was outraged by news that another employee was leaving for Google.

It is assumed Lucovsky's statement is accurate, since it is part of the lawsuit between Google and Microsoft over Google's hiring Kai-Fu Lee. The chair throwing and swearing paint a colorful picture, but this level of passion is good for the industry. The only time big companies ever doing anything remotely exciting is when they preceive a threat to their bottom line. The departure of smart people from Redmond is the sign of that threat. And Microsoft is known for rising to a challenge.

Google is aiming for the Windows crown jewel of the Microsoft empire. Microsoft is on the verge of dominating in another platform space with Xbox 360; the gateway drug to unite the desktop and the living room. Longhorn is still too far away to matter, but I don't think the next rev of Windows matters as much as everyone thinks it does. You can deliver the stuff home users want to a game console in far better ways than an PC world ever invisioned. Lets get ready to rumble!

Update: The Business Telegraph has an article that puts a little doubt on the whole chair incident. Thanks to Scoble for pointing it out. Whether the chair was thrown or not, all signs point to a renewed energy in the deep end of the tech pool.

Posted by Jake

Feedback

Ballmer Vows to Bury Google

Recent Entries

Comments