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Steve Ballmer banning Apple products for L.A. Clippers
Former Microsoft CEO and new Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is known for his distaste for Apple products. Its not shocking then that Ballmer, who once grabbed an employees iPhone at a Microsoft meeting and pretended to stomp on it, plans to phase out iPhones and iPads from the Clippers locker room.
After plunking down $2 billion to buy the NBA team away from embattled former owner Donald Sterling, Ballmer has pledged many changes to the Clippers organization. We should have all seen this one coming.
Ballmer left the board of Microsoft last month but is still the largest individual shareholder, with about 4 percent of the company worth $15.7 billion.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the Clippers will be a Microsoft organization. The son of a Ford Motor Co. manager, hes always been a company and product loyalist, banning his own family from using Apples iPhones.
Most of the Clippers are on Windows, some of the players and coaches are not, Ballmer said.
And (head coach) Doc (Rivers) kind of knows thats a project. Its one of the first things he said to me: We are probably going to get rid of these iPads, arent we? And I said, Yeah, we probably are. But I promised we would do it during the offseason.
Microsoft recently struck a five-year deal reportedly worth $400 million to make its Surface the official tablet of the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks are the poster child, it seems, of a push from Redmond to get pro football players and coaches using Microsoft tablets on the field.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/sonics/2014/09/26/steve-ballmer-banning-l-a-clippers-from-apple-products/
I thought it was a joke at first but knowing Balmer's great vision of technology it was too Zune to come to any other another conclusion.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)But given his track record at Msoft, If I were a clippers fan I would not be cheering at this micromanagement action.
I guess somebody has to buy those surplus Surface and Msoft windows phones, though
.
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)I got a Nokia with windows, and it is great. My daughter and husband have iphones and after seeing mine, they are changing.
It's much easier to use, and it's pretty to boot.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)that is my point. I know people who love their surfaces, but again, they didn't sell.
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)In the enterprise as Microsoft does.
Apple has always been more of a consumer company. They are getting much better in the enterprise.
We have rolled out 1000s of iPads to employees and their way of managing them has been terrible. And until recently no real effort to help.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)Cooley Hurd
(26,877 posts)I wonder if the same applies for Android devices?
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)"Under Ballmer's watch, I expect the Clippers to Excel," tweeted Tim Moynihan.
Others made jokes at the expense of Microsoft's Windows operating system.
"Steve Ballmer now owns something else that always seems to crash at a critical time," said Joe Sheehan.
"Well, who else would be accustomed to rebooting things?" tweeted William Boot.
"Steve Ballmer is buying the LA Clippers and the Jumbotron in Staples Center just blue screened," wrote Twitter user Wendavis.
Some techies posted geek humor. "How about moving the 3 point line to 3.1?" wrote Louis Gray.
Many folks were shocked that Ballmer is paying $2 billion for the team. That's the most ever paid for an NBA franchise and the second-largest amount ever paid for a sports team. The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team sold for $2.1 billion two years ago.
"Let's not forget this is the same Steve Ballmer that thought Yahoo for $44B in 2008 was a good idea," said Twitter user FennyFen. In 2008, Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) rejected Microsoft's buyout offers, which were said to reach $47.5 billion. Today, Yahoo has a market cap of $34.7 billion.
Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/053014-702796-steve-ballmer-clippers-jokes-posted-to-twitter.htm#ixzz3EcHB9yFX
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BTW I have an old Nokia phone and a old iMac
I think the story is more about Balmer, who I never could stand, than their product.
FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)They are still in business?