August 26, 2005 12:11 PM PDT
Steve Ballmer vs. Spider-Woman
Plenty of people in the computing industry accuse Microsoft of evil behavior. And they could be right, if a 1980 Spider-Woman comic book from Marvel Comics is anything to judge by.
The cover of the comic book shows Spider-Woman imperiled by a large rotating saw blade. But more deadly than the blade, we are warned, is a man who looks remarkably like Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. Not only that, but 1980 is the year Ballmer joined Microsoft.
Microsoft defenders can take heart that while the Ballmer-like character might be deadly, there's no indication that he is as malevolent as Mephisto or Shuma-gorath.
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank.
