Ballmer admits his open-source blindspot

In one of the most revealing (and honest) quotes I've ever seen from Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, Mary Jo captures the big man revealing his blind spot toward open source, SaaS, the Internet, etc.:

One of the biggest mistakes I've made over time is not wanting to nurture innovations where I either didn't get the business model or we didn't have it.

Now compare this to a previous Ballmer statement:

I'm not saying open-source is a bad thing, but it doesn't pay the bills in this company, so we can't embrace that way of doing things. ... We give out free soda pop to everybody who works here. We make our stuff free, people gotta give back the soda pop -- it's just inconsistent with what we do around here.

Could it be, Mr. Ballmer, that you are classically overlooking a major opportunity for Microsoft because you simply don't understand the open-source opportunity? Now would be a good time for a touch of humility and a smidgeon of good counsel from those around you.

[PACSferret]

It isn't just 'getting' the difference between proprietary & open source - Once SB 'gets it', he has to work out how to get from here to there (if indeed he decided he wanted to!)
As they say in Ireland - "you want directions to Dingle? If I were you, I wouldn't start from here" ;-)

[PACSferret]

It isn't just 'getting' the difference between proprietary & open source - Once SB 'gets it', he has to work out how to get from here to there (if indeed he decided he wanted to!)
As they say in Ireland - "you want directions to Dingle? If I were you, I wouldn't start from here" ;-)

[PACSferret]

It isn't just 'getting' the difference between proprietary & open source - Once SB 'gets it', he has to work out how to get from here to there (if indeed he decided he wanted to!)
As they say in Ireland - "you want directions to Dingle? If I were you, I wouldn't start from here" ;-)