Comments on: Ballmer says offline media is dead, keeps mum on Microsoft's offline software

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says that offline media is going to die, but he offers no suggestions as to how Microsoft will avoid the same fate.

[Lerianis3]

Yep, I have to agree with him: newspapers are deader than a doornail, and it's just time to acknowledge that they are.

[pentest]

So is Microsoft. In fact MS is less relevant then newspapers.

[CDubber]

And what better man to lead Microsoft to extinction than Steve Ballmer.

[Splashes]

Microsoft is just like a newspaper. Desperately hanging onto legacy cash flow, hoping the future doesn't come too soon, making only tepid attempts at adjusting to the new reality, dead but doesn't realize it yet.

[TwoWolves]

I wouldn't trust my personal data to an online service without a home/offline copy at least. Connectivity can fail as can businesses and then there is security and confidentiality to consider too. The cloud model doesn't appeal to me for anything more than my diary thanks and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Ballmer is a buffoon of a businessman, whatever he predicts is sure to miss the mark.

[fmathewsjr]

Apparently Ballmer hasn't tried to find a parking spot outside a Barnes & Noble lately.

[schammer]

Google does depend on on-premise deployments: Google Desktop, Google Earth, Google Toolbar, Picassa... am I missing any? Google may have blazed the trail for cloud applications, and some of the online apps that have followed that trail are truly outstanding, but the online offerings almost always lack performance and capabilities you can find in their locally-installed counterparts. Personally, I don't want companies taking control of my computing power -- I want to have a choice! We should stop looking to force every solution into corporate clouds, requiring companies to setup hundreds or thousands of servers (or Google's half-million++ servers) , with all the security risks and performance limitations of the internet. Instead, focus on pushing the envelope for software distribution, making it easier, more manageable, and less expensive. Also, we need to look at how we can create our own Wi-Fi-based local software sharing networks, legally licensed, allowing service providers to setup shop at a local level to dish up software to a network of users (or at least to a whole household). Microsoft, you rule on the network -- instead of talking about killing it, focus on empowering more types of users to reap its benefits.