Tuesday, May 01, 2007

ballmer: the 85-year-old uncle test

He's got more money and status than I do.

He's clearly got more experience than I do.

But when I read that Microsoft CEO Mr. Steve Ballmer said the following to USA Today's David Lieberman. . .

But it's not like we're at the end of the line of innovation that's going to come in the way people listen to music, watch videos, etc. I'll bet our ads will be less edgy. But my 85-year-old uncle probably will never own an iPod, and I hope we'll get him to own a Zune.

I realized he doesn't have more common sense than I do.

Because even I know that victory in the mobile market can't be measured by your market share in the 85-year-old uncle segment.

Besides, if Mr. Ballmer hasn't sent free Zunes to every one of his relatives - both near and far - then either I've grossly overestimated the power of the Microsoft CEO to throw perks around or he's just not willing to take the hit against sales that such a give-away would represent against total Zune sales.