Because he’s a genius—or maybe just one of the few remaining people not seduced by the idea of a site that refuses to put a cap on the amount of useless crap "applications" it will offer, none of which does anything to better facilitate the stalking/slaying of potential prey—Steve Ballmer said that he regards individual social networks as a “fad,” seemingly implying that Microsoft will not be making a $300-500 million investment in Facebook (for a 5% stake that would place the company’s value at around $10 billion). (You have Christ, we have wishful thinking.)
“I think these things [social networks] are going to have some legs, and yet there’s a faddishness, a faddish nature about anything that basically appeals to younger people,” Ballmer told Times Online. Though he acknowledged some vague potential value in Facebook’s 40 million users, he noted that “There can’t be any more deep technology in Facebook than what dozens of people could write in a couple of years,” a point that makes the valuation Zucks (claims not to be but probably) is seeking, for a site expected to achieve revenues of only $150 million this year, what’s the word? Insane. (Ridiculous. Dumb. Adidas shower shoes. Etc.)
Ballmer also, somewhat awesomely, added that sites like Geocities “had most of what Facebook has” years ago (and without the personification-of-a-smug-twat grin). He did not comment on why Mark Zuckerberg was seen in Seattle last week (a spotting that fueled speculation about a Microsoft investment). However, the tone of his voice seemed to hint at a combination of a. (“Bryan Adams with George Thorogood concert at the WaMu theater”) and e. (“Annual pilgrimage to Brandon Lee’s grave in Lake View Cemetery”).
Earlier: Cutting The FaceBook/Microsoft Deal Rumor Off At The Knees
Ballmer: Facebook risks being 'a fad' [Times Online]
Posted by , Oct 03, 2007 11:55AM
yes! a deal post!
Posted by , Oct 03, 2007 12:03PM
Geocities was just like facebook, minus the 40 million users.
Posted by , Oct 03, 2007 12:05PM
"...there can’t be any more deep technology in Facebook than what dozens of people could write in a couple of years..."
No wonder every Microsoft product is released 6 years late. DOZENS of people could build a Facebook clone in MONTHS, not years.
Posted by Lee D , Oct 03, 2007 12:08PM
Wait, when was it decided that Ballmer was a genius? I thought he got to where he is today because he was the jock who defended young Bill Gates from the other jocks who wanted to give him a swirlie.
Posted by pay attention , Oct 03, 2007 12:10PM
she said "because he's a genius-- OR"
Posted by Bulging Bracket , Oct 03, 2007 12:31PM
It's not the technology, it's the UI and the userbase. M$, of all people, knows how valuable that is - and is seeing it from the other side with the iPod.
BTW, the geocities guys were just as smug, but with far less reason.
Posted by most offensive , Oct 03, 2007 12:36PM
but they didn't have the smug twat GRIN!
Posted by Harvard classmate , Oct 03, 2007 12:43PM
i guess when the kid will be a multi billionaire in the next few years 100% all you can do is make fun of how he is SMILING. good one most offensive, you jealous fool.
Posted by Anal_yst , Oct 03, 2007 12:49PM
@12:05, the reason Balmer doesn't get it is because MSFT has tens of thousands of programmers and they still can't write a stable, functional OS that doesn't suck (for various reasons) in 5+ years. Hence his confusion.
As to the rest of what he mentioned, once again, Mr. Softys completely missing the point, sigh....
Posted by , Oct 03, 2007 12:53PM
Harvard classmate, once the lawsuits against Zuckerberg are settled he won't be left with much.
Posted by LippyTex , Oct 03, 2007 1:00PM
Effective immediately, I am only going to show financial awe to "trillionaires" because just about everyone is becoming a billionaire these days and it's overtaxing my "awe' abilities.
Posted by Jason , Oct 03, 2007 1:06PM
Even though I basically agree with Ballmer on this one, let's not forget that he and Gates initially believed that the Internet wouldn't achieve mass market potential either (source: "How The Web Was Won"). In other words, that it was just basically a "fad", so keep in mind that the Microsoft crystal ball gets somewhat cloudy a lot of the time and their strengths tend to lie in the ability to catch up from behind quickly...not set the pace of the technological discussion.
I think Zuckerberg's best bet may be to take his company public sometime in 2008 and cash out after the IPO when the buzz is still hot, and before the price craters. That way, he can leave some other suckers holding the bag on this one.
Posted by , Oct 03, 2007 1:15PM
at the end of the day he has to live with the fact that his last name is zuckerberg
Posted by Anon , Oct 03, 2007 1:53PM
1:15 sounds like a player hater.
Posted by Johnie , Oct 03, 2007 3:02PM
Didn't Microsoft call the Internet a "fad" also?
Gee, I wonder when this fad will end. I kind of enjoy being able to communicate online.