CEOh-SNAP: Ballmer Says the Internet Wasn’t Designed for the iPhone
Steve Ballmer, whose company produced the single most internet-hostile program in history — Internet Explorer 6 — has the stupefying temerity to state:
Let’s face it, the Internet was designed for the PC. The Internet is not designed for the iPhone. That’s why they’ve got 75,000 applications – they’re all trying to make the Internet look decent on the iPhone.
Okay, Granted, Ballmer is likely looking at that Internet through a “compatibility-mode” colored screen, locked into SilverLight or ActiveX plugins, with ill-rendered box models and complete lack of support for anything approaching modern HTML5, and CSS support, so he probably doesn’t notice that stuff actually rendered using Web standards (Wikipedia it, Steve!) looks just fine on the iPhone.
Since Windows Mobile 6.5, brand new in 2009, uses Internet Explorer 6’s previous-century rendering engine (spare us the — it’s not the same as desktop IE6 — a poor browser by any other name hurts the web as badly), and Outlook 2010 (!) is transitioning to Word as its HTML email renderer (?!) we’re sure he has no clue what the internet is supposed to look like anyway.
But still, even for Ballmer, this is one ham fisted quote. The reason the iPhone has 85,000 apps is because it’s a modern, highly usable mobile device that developers want to develop for.
(For the record, what became the modern Web was designed on NeXT, the precursor to Apple’s OS X, the mobile version of which powers the iPhone, with computing power and screen real-estate we’re guessing might just be competitive with desktop power a couple decades old. B’okay Steve?)
[AP via Business Insider via Gizmodo]
October 21st, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Well, I thought this guy could not say anything to reaffirm his idiotic behavior and his lack of knowledge for anything good in life.
Yes, the internet wasn’t designer for the iPhone. Thank God in January 9th, 2007, Apple announced something that would totally redesign how we VIEW internet.
Yeah, that’s right, it was none other than the iPhone. Suck that Ballmer, suck it hard and slow.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Somebody get the aloe cuz Ballmer just got burned!
October 21st, 2009 at 10:44 pm
1 – Way to copy Engadget.
2 – Way to come off as secure in response to this jealous moron. Instead of whining why your gadget is awesome why not just smirk and “walk away”, confident in your knowledge that this guy’s an idiot?
WAAAAIIIT, I think I get it now. This type of post is used to fire up the fanboys in an effort to get lots of comments and page views.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:47 pm
another fanboy post.. shocker.. typical apple people.. cant just shut the **** up..
October 21st, 2009 at 10:49 pm
@drew – We’re an iPhone enthusiast site. If you come here looking for iPhone-bashing, you miss-typed “wmexperts” or “crackberry” in your browser. Your bad, not ours.
@jbrandonf – Um, Engadget doesn’t seem to have posted on it yet, but I’ll take that as an awesome compliment none-the-less! Thanks!
October 21st, 2009 at 10:51 pm
@Drew J apparently neither can Ballmer.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Steve Ballmer just got pwned!
October 21st, 2009 at 10:59 pm
he has somewhat of a point though. how many apps are just repackaged versions of a website to be more usable on the iphone…
October 21st, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Well, he is partially correct. The web was not designed for the iPhone — the web was designed to be a cross platform, open, standards based place to exchange ideas and information.
However, the iPhone WAS designed for the web — the modern, standards based, graphic rich web. Windoze, on the other hand, has never been designed for the web. It has been consistently lacking in standards implementation. The decision to use Word as the HTML rendering engine just proves how out of touch Microsoft is with the current web.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:04 pm
It’s Steve Ballmer. What do you expect? The guy’s an outspoken moron. I miss Bill Gates. He was at least more dignified and didn’t talk out of his @ss.
@jbrandonf – you’re dead on. They probably named their site theiphoneblog to get page views too. They’re shameless. Idiot.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:08 pm
The “internet” wasn’t designed for anything in particular. Everything has been designed around it, including the modern PC environment, web browsers, web-based applications, the cloud, as well as the mobile environment (i.e. the iPhone).
Could this guy be anymore of a clown? Probably… What is sad to me is that this idiot reflects the overarching thinking at Microsoft, which holds such a narrow-minded and backward view of the internet. It’s indicative of a company that refuses to adopt standards (like HTML5), because, quite frankly, they just don’t get it. At all.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Isn’t this the same guy that laughed at the very idea of the iPhone and said it would never work?
October 21st, 2009 at 11:16 pm
So then that makes about… hmmm, 74990 more things that the iPhone can do compared to a Windows Mobile phone.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Some people just need to burn in hell. He is one of them.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:43 pm
And Internet Explorer wasn’t designed for the Internet!
Unless, of course, all of the hacks we constantly have to write, to make it display consistently with all other browsers, were an intentional part of its pathetic design..
What a total waste of space he is.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Yes, this is technically considered a “fan-boy” site or blog. But when you take a good look at the PC sites, there are far more “fan-boy” sites out there that are named very simply also. And is there a problem with naming a website that people can ACTUALLY remember, is catchy and WILL get hits. It is the goal of EVERY—SINGLE—WEBSITE—OUT THERE!!! Why wouldn’t you want to get hits on your website!?!? It’s a no brainer. And yes I am talking about you JBrandonf. And you too Drew J. Here is the definition of a blog (you know like The iPhone Blog perhaps.) http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog?wasRedirected=true And you can bet your sorry complaining @$$ that I did this on my iPhone. I read the story. I commented on the story. I laughed at how ironic the story is (in a way). And I like the story. And I did it on my iPhone. The. End.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:05 am
To anyone who may be astounded by my previous commnt: Sorry if I lost my sense of reality on earth! Its just terrible when people come here and complain “Oh look, another ***** * **** *** **************’*** fanboy site! And their lame posts. And “they” only comment like that on the posts that are meant in good humor or the most part. And it ticks me off. So I appoligize if anyone was offended; EXCEPT- JBrandonf. Lmao… Were always here for backup am I right?!? Just give us a tweet Rene and we’ll come. Pun possibly intended.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:12 am
Come OOOOON Rene, you know what I mean…
CE-Oh Snap? From Engadget’s CEOh-no-he-didn’t?
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:24 am
I love it when people bash on “apple fan boys” on apple related websites. Really? C’mon kids…
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:30 am
@jbrandonf: yeah, we’ve been using CEOh-Snap for a long time, though I’m certain Engadget’s probably been using their’s longer (they’ve been around longer, after all), but I hadn’t seen there’s when we came up with ours. Again, I’ll take it as a compliment
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:35 am
Typical Ballmer, he does it again. The guy just continues to spout off like a douche
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:44 am
@jbrandonf please leave this office, grab ur books, install norton ghost on ur PC, fold in your chair, and NEVER return.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:02 am
Another confirmation that TIPB is just an apple fan-boy site. I’ve actually watched the interview on CNET, and he has a good point. For such a modern Internet device, why does the iPhone need a Facebook app, or Pizza Hut App? Actual computers do not, and that is because the Internet is still built around the PC.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:32 am
@Rene Ritchie
I’m understand that the site covers apple products. But my biggest problem with The iPhone Blog is its mentality. To use a sports team metaphor, this site is really like an iPhone “cheerleader”, whereas every other site on The Smartphone Experts is like a local sports writer. Still promoting the team, but at least some attempt at objectivity.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 am
Take it how you like Rene…its your blog. Although I’m sure Engadget is feeling a little more flattered.
I actually WAS going to take this blog off my RSS feeds but since you all want me gone…that’s not happening.
Commenter is right though, do you see Crackberry posting videos of people dunking iphones in beer? Precentral? I absolutely LOVE how iPhone geeks get SOOO defensive on the internet. Finding a regular iPhone user who actually realizes that competition is good and who doesn’t equate the gadget in their pants with the size of another gadget in their pants is rare.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 am
Sometimes I like iPhone format sites and sometimes I like full web sites, it’s still built to work on my iPhone, apps just make it a little easier sometimes. I surf a ton on my iPhone so yes the web works just fine most of the time, no flash but I will say I don’t even like flash that much, it comes in handy for some things but mostly I just like a clean site that’s easy to read.
And yes I do like my Apple products, I have spent lots of money and I feel it’s well worth it, it’s great to like what you spend your money on. Does Apple do everything right? Nope but 99% of the products I am satisfied with. Do I expect Apple to satisfy everyone? Nope, because there is way to many politics to satisfy everyone. So I will continue to like my Apple products and if that’s a fan boy then I guess I’m a fan boy but I would call it a satisfied customer that takes up for the products he uses. If you like a windows use windows I don’t care, I tell people all the time don’t switch if your satisfied (just because you heard apple product are easy doesn’t mean you will like it). So really why do you come here if your not a interested in Apple stuff, it’s mostly about Apple stuff. You know like the iPhone (theiphoneblog.com).
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:10 am
This is the same tool that laughed when the iPhone came out. How does it feel to have such a limp product that it went from basically the only game in town to the laughing stock of the smart phone market. M$ needs to dump this guy fast if they ever hopes to be anything other then a has been.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:12 am
^ Sorry, but there is nothing objective to take from his remarks because they’re just outright wrong.
If the internet was so conducive to the desktop, then why do we have native, desktop applications? By Ballmer’s logic we shouldn’t need any – after all, the internet was apparently designed for the desktop. Obviously the internet is the preferential end of any end-user experience. Right? No, not necessarily.
As it stands, we have a plethora of native applications for the desktop, often favored for a variety of reasons including (but not limited to) stability and security – some of the same reasons that developers for iPhone generally prefer native apps to web apps (not unlike the end user, who seems to prefer native apps – probably for the exact same reasons).
Sorry, but Ballmer’s opinion is simply a misinformed one. I’m not criticizing him as an Apple “fanboy” either – I’m just criticizing him as someone who doesn’t have his head in the sand.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:13 am
jbrandonf is cool, he’s gonna stick around for a while and just try to bug people that’s a Apple hater for ya!!
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:14 am
FYI that statement was directed at Random, who is also wrong.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:44 am
It’s funny but Internet was NOT designed for PCs. The Internet is a global computer network. Is every computer a PC? In Ballmer’s eyes, maybe.
If Ballmer meant that Internet was designed for the PC Web browser then he’s also off the mark. You can kill all the browsers in the world and there still will be Internet.
What’s even funnier is that the world’s first web server and the world’s first web browser was developed in 1990 using the NeXTStep OS, predecessor of Mac OS X.
With release of the iPhone Steve closed the circle by developing the first mobile “Internet hog” based on Mac OS X.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:49 am
I have 160 apps, only about 5 are website related. Certainly a device with a smaller screen benefits from having a redesigned app sometimes – but it’s the iPhones ability to behave much like a desktop browser that is one of it’s major selling points.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:55 am
I actually chose to move to the iPhone from my WiMo device because of it’s browser. Even running opera on WiMo doesn’t compare to safari on the iPhone in my opinion.
I use my iPhone for business and a great deal of that is via web browser.
I won’t say that it’s a laptop replacement but it’s good enough I rarely carry my netbook around anymore.
As far as IE… I hate it – develop a site that works in firefox, opera, safari – then load it in IE and cry as you have to write special CSS just to make the site display right.
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:20 am
Bloody hell will you all shut up.
If you look at the homepage theres a story on windows 7 launch and even a thread for people whove upgraded etc etc.
Hows that apple fanboy?
And there is a point in apps over the browser.
Apps can be a lot more interactive than a webapp , the example Random brought up about the iphone app is bullshit, how exactly are you supposed to upload pictures in mobile safari? and in fact your PC cant do it without some kind of flash or active x addin!
Face facts ballmer hates iphones and will trash talk them till the cows come home because he knows the os is 1000x better than winmo, and i really doubt wm7 will be any different and as for multitasking most people dont give a ****! sure we could use replying from the text popup rather than switching apps but that will come eventually its an evolving os! and you can do it via jailbreak anyway
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:54 am
The Internet was not designed for the iPhone. Good thing the iPhone was designed for the Internet. Anyone try an Acid3 test in the iPhone? (100%) How about IE8? (20%). Um.. yeah.
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:12 am
That might have been the case but then again the internet wasn’t designed by Microsoft (thank god) or we would be for ever waiting for updates and crappy applications that keep crashing.Why can’t fools like this realize that the internet has evolved and so must everything to survive.
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:35 am
Jbrandonf, Commenter,
Um, Crackberry and PreCentral.net have both run video contests to give people phones who ran over, shot, blended, and otherwise destroyed iPhones (among other things).
This might not have been the post for you. If not, apologies, and hope you find another of greater value.
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:48 am
This ballmer is on drugs….
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:58 am
fail.
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:12 am
The internet wasn’t designed for the iPhone, but it wasn’t designed for Windows / Windows Mobile, either.
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:47 am
Must’ve missed those Rene.
Brian, surprisingly I’m an ex-iPhone user who switched to the Pre because of the GOOGLE voice debacle and att’s overall shyttyness running their network. I have an iphone in my pocket right now actually, providing me with my media collection. As soon as the Pre gets a podcast downloader my transition will be complete. Basically I don’t hate the device, I hate the people behind the device.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:25 am
Trying and succeeding brilliantly. The internet wasn’t designed for any mobile device. Ballmer makes no point here. And, correction, closer to 90,000 apps actually!
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:41 am
“the single most internet-hostile program in history — Internet Explorer 6″
Such a nonsense. IE6 was released in 2001. That was not the internet we know now. You appearently don’t remember other browsers from that time.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:16 am
You know what actually always amuses me? Someone who does NOT have an iPhone calling an iPhone owner a “fanboy”
I think the world of idiots and morons needs to actually LOOK UP and refresh themselves with the definition of what a fanboy is.
If anything i am a fanboy of GADGETS. I’ve owned tons of Cel phones… literally. When the iPhone came along, i stopped switching around, and i stuck with it, there was nothing else better.
The MOMENT, now the exact MOMENT a better phone comes out? I’ll be jumping ship.
Truth is that hasn’t happened yet, All the while weve got idiots going back and forth calling names, maybe people should stop and actually compare these phones without bias’ism.
In case you didn’t know to be a fanboy is to Love and STICK with a product “even though it still sucks” Which is NOT the case with the iPhone, the #’s speak for themselves.
Maybe a fanboy would accuratley be someone who still has a BB Storm?
Yes i believe that’s the true definition of fanboy.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:17 am
When are MS shareholders & their Board going to have the guts to toss this guy out? One insane comment after another makes one wonder if this guy a) is on something, b) out of touch, c) has somehow caught Larry Ellison’s arrogance, or d) all of the above.
I’ve been telling friends for a couple years now that Ballmer is just wrong for MS at this time. He may have been fine as CEO in another time, but definitely not now. If I was Gates, I’d probably choke on or spit out whatever I was eating/drinking at the time of reading this quote… and thinking, “Tell me Steve didn’t just say that?!”
Gates… this guy, whether he’s a friend or not, is driving your baby into the ground… time to do something drastic about it.
Even though I’m a huge Apple fanboy, having converted in Jan. ‘08 (thank goodness), I’d like to see MS succeed as competition is most often a good thing. But, honestly, they are not leading (re: innovation, not market share) in any area right now (unless you want to count the overly expensive and limited distribution MS Surface).
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:46 am
Let’s just ask Al Gore what the Internet was designed for!!
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
You guys fail at posts now, I think I’ll stop going on tipb bye.
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:34 pm
@ rene ritchie .. i have an iphone .. but you guys beat off to anything that remotely competes with this dam phone.. the ONLY reason i even come to your *** site is to see if theres updates and such.. get a life and some putang *****
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Sh*t … if the internet wasn’t designed for the iPhone, the internet was clearly never designed for WindowsMobile. MobieIE on my Blackjack II was the WORST.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 am
jbrandonf my step son has a Pre, you know what he wants? It’s not the Pre. I don’t think the Pre is bad but you can’t beat the iPhone at the moment. I think it’s funny that people hate Apple because they set limitations for their products, do you really think they could just let everyone do what they want? Networks wouldn’t withstand all the traffic and people would be overloading the genius bar with problems. Apple is known for making their products work right and I believe that is why there are so many restrictions on their products, they want the product to work right and with few problems.
Just jailbreak and unlock if you want almost total freedom, I don’t think any phone company is going to give total freedom. You have to make it happen for yourself.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:10 am
Monkey boy is quite wrong.
As mentioned, World Wide Web Designed on NeXT workstation, the technology was developed by Steve Jobs’ company and merged into Apple OS X.
Further more, inventor of WWW is a Mac user http://obamapacman.com/2009/08/world-wide-web-inventor-tim-berners-lee-uses-apple-mac/