Steve Ballmer Laughs At The iPhone
Sander DuivesteinCited 6× on HN, 2018–2023
comedy · general · evergreen · 2018–2023 on HN
A one-minute clip of Steve Ballmer laughing at the original iPhone and dismissing its price and appeal.
HN uses it as a joke or cautionary reference when a company or analyst confidently dismisses a product that later succeeds.
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6 comments from Hacker News
To everyone complaining about the price, let's add Steve Ballmer to the studio, he will give some weight to your words: ▶ this video
Yeah, while Google immediately scrapped their blackberry like phone project to quickly accelerate an iPhone-ish design for the first android phone, Ballmer made MSFT's probably largest strategic mistake: ▶ this video I don't buy the 'things were in motion' while he was there, I think if they were it was in spite of his direction, not because of it.
Steve Ballmer points out iphone's "disadvantages": ▶ this video The bet is that the advantages outweigh the negatives.
Among many things: “500$? Fully subsidized? With the plan? That is the most expensive phone in the world” [0] [0]: ▶ this video
> Is there another choice? Not yet, I guess. But the $35K Model 3 should be delivered mid 2019 and the first used sales should be available soon after. I doubt Tesla will decrease its prices (they're slowly securing the industry's profits, à la Apple). I'd expect most people to spend more on EV than did on ICE. I wonder if this legitimate question (when people wonder how much to spend on an EV vs cheap ICE) will be later compared to the famous 2007 Ballmer moment: ▶ this video :)
Major congrats to them and to the late Jobs. I'd be in the Ballmer category... ▶ this video Making telcos "subsidize" it, must be right there with the "pay just the minimum on your credit card" business wise. Brilliant.