Micosoft’s rambunctious CEO is shooting off his mouth again. TimesOnline is reporting that Ballmer believes social networks like FaceBook are just a fad, this of-course comes on the heels of reports last week that Microsoft may be interested in owning a piece of FaceBook.
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.
Looks like Steve is totally out of touch with the present. Although it is true that FaceBook was “born” on a college campus most FaceBookers these days are in the older 30+ demographic. Another point Ballmer fails to recognize is the fact that a lot of the “younger people” who use these social networking sites are now graduating from college and entering the workplace. These folks are not going to all of a sudden change their habits and decide not to use social networking sites anymore. In fact one would think the exact opposite will take place.
There can’t be any more deep technology in Facebook than what dozens of people could write in a couple of years. That’s for sure.
It’s all about usability and using existing technology effectively Steve. Yeah, on the surface FaceBook is “just” a website where people post content for others to see, so from a technology standpoint there is nothing really exciting or innovative about it. The value however is in the concept and the fact that you can meet new friends and contacts and continue to maintain friendships in one nicely integrated fashion.
Once again it sounds like Ballmer and Microsoft are trying to justify missed opportunities. It is pretty obvious social networking sites are here to stay. They may evolve like everything else and maybe FaceBook might (or not) be a major player in this space going forward. I think it is pretty ignorant to pass this off as a mere fad!
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facebook is a fad most likely…
http://misanthropytoday.wordpress.com/2007/07/25/will-everyone-please-stfu-about-facebook/
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