Steve Ballmer - MacBook Air on MIX08
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN uses it as a recurring example of Microsoft leadership dismissing a product that later proved significant.
What it is
A short clip from MIX08 in which Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer grabs Guy Kawasaki's MacBook Air from its envelope during a Q&A and mocks it.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2011 to 2012.
What Hacker News said
Critical raganwald · 2011-10 · on “Is Ballmer delusional? Calls Android 'cheap,' doomed”
I agree that his VPs might be blowing sunshine up his arse, but that is no excuse. It’s his JOB to be such a great leader of managers that he knows how to get them to tell him the truth. It’s his job to read tons of positive press and reports and pick out the warning signs and the possible problems. It’s his job to be able to pick up one of those “cheap phones” and remember how Microsoft and cheap PCs beat Apple within an inch of death. And if nothing else, he ought to remember how well things turned out the last time he laughed at something: [this video]
Critical yequalsx · 2011-12 · on “The fall of Microsoft's Andy Lees: inside the Windows Phone power shift”
Yes, the problem is Ballmer. He is extremely shortsighted. Witness his scoffing at the iPhone when it was introduced [1]. Then watch his claim that the iPad is just another PC form factor [2]. He also laughed about the Macbook Air [3]. Of course, now there is a push for ultrabooks from Intel. I saw a Microsoft commercial not too long ago and the lost shot showed a PC and it was a Samsung laptop that looked just like a Macbook Pro. It's a good thing that Metro is not just a copy of iOS. The sooner they fire Ballmer the better. [1] [LINK] [2] [LINK] [3] [this video]