Steve Ballmer: Android Ecosystem Is Wild And Uncontrolled, Apple Is High Priced And Highly Controlled

Tonight during Reid Hoffman’s interview with Steve Ballmer, the two talked about everything Microsoft. Now that Ballmer is talking about his competitors he let out a few bonzo words when it came to Google and Apple and the state of their phone ecosystems, especially when it comes to apps.

Ballmer called the Android ecosystem “wild,” “uncontrolled” and susceptible to malware.

He called the Apple ecosystem “high-priced” and “highly controlled,” further noticing that iPhones cost upwards of $1,000 internationally.

He truly believes that Microsoft can wedge itself between the two to be successful with diversity and organization. As Ballmer describes Windows 8, Surface and Phone, he says that the products have been done right and the company is working very closely with developers, unlike his counterparts at Apple and Google. Sure, Ballmer has said these types of things before, but he’s losing his mind tonight in only the way he can.

Have a listen (see the two spots I marked):

The Windows Phone is actually really nice, and there’s definitely a market for them.

At one point he said of Windows: “Wow, it just works!” And words don’t really describe his excitement. In the next breath, he got a jab in at the “Maps debacle,” clearly pointing at Apple.

Regarding the cloud, Ballmer said, and I quote: “Woooooooow” (listen to above audio clip). I honestly don’t even know how to spell what he said. He’s happy and I’m glad that Reid Hoffman is interviewing him. This all might sound like sour grapes, but I really want to understand Microsoft’s strategy and what it stands for as a company. I just don’t get it.

When Steve Ballmer discusses enterprise and the consumerization of it, he is completely calm and sounds like he knows exactly what he’s talking about. This is what Steve Ballmer knows. But when it comes to consumer products, it just sounds like he’s trying too hard. I wish he’d just be calm, cool and collected, talk about success and failure, and leave the crazy yelling out of it. And that’s coming from someone who loves crazy yelling. Basically, it went a little something like this gem from the archives:

Also, it was a cash bar tonight. I can’t wait to watch this show again next week.

In the words of Steve Ballmer this evening: “Yeah baby!”

Steven A. Ballmer is Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft. Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 and was the first business manager hired by Bill Gates. Since then, Ballmer’s leadership and passion have become hallmarks of his tenure at the company. During the past 20 years, Ballmer has headed several Microsoft divisions, including operations, operating systems development, and sales and support. In July 1998, he was promoted to President, a role that gave him day-to-day responsibility for running Microsoft. He was named...

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Reid Hoffman is a Partner at Greylock, and Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at LinkedIn. Reid joined Greylock Partners in 2009. His areas of focus include consumer Internet, enterprise 2.0, mobile, social gaming, online marketplaces, payments, and social networks. Reid likes to work with products that can reach hundreds of millions of participants and businesses that have network effects. An accomplished entrepreneur, executive and angel investor, Hoffman has played an integral part in building many of today’s leading consumer technology...

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Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook Air) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod, the...

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Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps, YouTube, and Google+, the company’s extension into the social space. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing...