Microsoft COO Speaks Out On Company's Rep techweb.com
That's Bob Herbold, the alleged source of one of my two favorite Microsoft quotes. A good piece in general, goes into how you define monopoly and all that stuff, but all I want to note is that quote and the "explaination" for it.
The quote, of course, is
In January, when the company's chief operating officer, Bob Herbold, was asked what competing software firms could do when Microsoft decided to fold a product into Windows, Herbold told Bloomberg News that they had three options: fight and lose, sell to Microsoft or "not go into the business to begin with." So much for Gates' professed concern for preserving consumer choice and dynamic, competitive markets. (from salonmagazine.com
And the explanation:
Q: A comment you made to the Bloomberg News Service has been characterized as a smoking gun. In summary, you said companies could either lose to Microsoft, sell out, or not enter the market. How do you feel now about that remark?
A: This is not a quote from me, nor is it an accurate portrayal of my view or Microsoft's view. My discussion with Bloomberg was along the lines of: Wow, there certainly have been a number of things that have occurred to software companies over the years. Some of them just keep being successful and successful and successful.
And so on. So, news.com didn't quite ask the right question, or they didn't have the verbatim transcript with them. The quote wasn't from him, and it was totally inaccurate anyway. He meant to express great respect for, um, certain competitors, of a sort. Or whatever. I, of course, am impressed by his forthrightness, as is often the case with pronouncements from high Microsoft executives.
Cheers, Dan. |
