Steve Ballmer
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
to be effective we're trying to keep with os2 bill's very frustrated with ibm i'm frustrated but i know my job is to ride the bear and so bill's pushing windows hard but we still suspected os2 could be the winner because it came from ibm but we couldn't just like stop for three or four years We couldn't make the mistake we sort of made in the thing that became Vista.
So we kept going with Windows. We kept going with OS 2. And then May 1990, they come along and shoot us. I was out running with my wife. Wait, IBM shot you? Yeah, they divorced us.
So we kept going with Windows. We kept going with OS 2. And then May 1990, they come along and shoot us. I was out running with my wife. Wait, IBM shot you? Yeah, they divorced us.
No, no, no, no, no. They had a new leader by then, a guy named Jim Canovino, and he was getting frustrated with us because we were still selling windows. We were still promoting windows. I mean, look, this was our first antitrust problem. I don't know if you guys know this, is the FTC at the time thought we and IBM were working to divide the market. Because we had done some positioning.
No, no, no, no, no. They had a new leader by then, a guy named Jim Canovino, and he was getting frustrated with us because we were still selling windows. We were still promoting windows. I mean, look, this was our first antitrust problem. I don't know if you guys know this, is the FTC at the time thought we and IBM were working to divide the market. Because we had done some positioning.
What's Windows good for? What's OS 2 good for? We and IBM had done that. And then they said, no, you guys are colluding. And that's when we first got attention from antitrust authorities.
What's Windows good for? What's OS 2 good for? We and IBM had done that. And then they said, no, you guys are colluding. And that's when we first got attention from antitrust authorities.
That came with the DOJ. This was an FTC case, and they started it in basically 90, just as we were getting, I think 90, maybe 89, as we were getting our divorce. My wife and I were remodeling our house. We were living in a condo. We stopped on a run, used a restroom or something. I pick up the Wall Street Journal, and I read that IBM's divorcing us.
That came with the DOJ. This was an FTC case, and they started it in basically 90, just as we were getting, I think 90, maybe 89, as we were getting our divorce. My wife and I were remodeling our house. We were living in a condo. We stopped on a run, used a restroom or something. I pick up the Wall Street Journal, and I read that IBM's divorcing us.
I pick up the Wall Street Journal and I read that IBM's divorcing us.
I pick up the Wall Street Journal and I read that IBM's divorcing us.
We still had something called the 640K barrier. You couldn't speak to more than 640K of memory. We didn't break the 640K barrier. Until I think Windows 3.1, which I want to say was 91 or 92.
We still had something called the 640K barrier. You couldn't speak to more than 640K of memory. We didn't break the 640K barrier. Until I think Windows 3.1, which I want to say was 91 or 92.
We're still pipsqueak to IBM. And remember, we have no enterprise presence. And IBM has all dominant enterprise presence.
We're still pipsqueak to IBM. And remember, we have no enterprise presence. And IBM has all dominant enterprise presence.
Interesting. Single copies. Some hobbyists and end users. Somebody who says, hey, I really want to use a spreadsheet. And a lot of users in enterprises. So it wasn't going through IT. You'd have a user that would buy a PC on the expense account, probably for the department, buy a copy of Windows, buy a copy of Excel, like at an Egghead Software. It was a software retailer at the time.
Interesting. Single copies. Some hobbyists and end users. Somebody who says, hey, I really want to use a spreadsheet. And a lot of users in enterprises. So it wasn't going through IT. You'd have a user that would buy a PC on the expense account, probably for the department, buy a copy of Windows, buy a copy of Excel, like at an Egghead Software. It was a software retailer at the time.
And bring them in and use them. And then IT started to get...