When Google Love Breeds Steve Ballmer Hate
By DONNA BOGATIN • May 4th, 2008 • Category: BIG PICTUREWelcome to technology armchair quarterbacking 2.0! DOES BALLMER NEED TO GO????
NO, it is not Bill Microsoft Gates that flays the indictment, nor a Microsoft staffer and not even (presumably) a Microsoft shareholder, but the “co-editor” of TechCrunch that baits a blogosphere lynching of the Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, by blog “poll.“
Michael Arrington created the “co-editor” label for Erick Schonfeld with the self-effacing claim, “I always hire people better than me.” Schonfeld’s “source” for his Ballmer pre-obituary is firmly in the TechCrunch hearsay tradition , however:
According to one secondhand account that leaked to us yesterday before the deal was called off…
Arrington though is publicly distancing himself from his “co-editor”:
Wow, Erick. Your poll options remind me of the “so when did you stop beating your wife” jokes. In yesterday’s Gillmor Gang we talked about what, if anything, Microsoft did wrong in the negotiations. Overall it seems they were handled as well as could be expected right from the beginning.
I mean, seriously, how about “He’s played this perfectly from start to finish” and it isn’t over yet.
Seriously! Google’s best blogosphere friend, Search Engine Land, hails a serious analysis of the breakdown of Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo, although the headline and 60+ paragraphs of virulent Microsoft baiting and Google pumping suggests otherwise:
“Ballmer foolish, Microsoft’s $5 billion mistake”: As you’d expect, Ballmer brings out the legal threats…Microsoft continues to play a dangerous game…Imagine a court case where Google comes in and argues that Microsoft is trying to limit Google’s ability to partner with people on ads because those ad revenues are in turn fueling Google’s ability to offer software to people for free.
Danny Sullivan assures though, “despite what I write,“ some of his best friends are Microsofties!
Steve Ballmer is NOT seeking best blogosphrere buds, though, nor is he begging on behalf of Microsoft for unrequited Yahoo love.
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