[citation][nom]hellwig[/nom]You don't see 98% as artificially inflated? I argue that you couldn't get any group of tens of thousands of people to agree 98% on ANYTHING (even if you hand picked them)! Sure, Steve is a smart guy with a tremendous track record, but I am finding it hard to believe that 98% of employees there approve of his work. Besides, look at the recent firingresignation of Papermaster. He didn't fit in with the way Apple was being run? Despite Antenna Gate, the iPhone 4 is still selling very well, exactly how wasn't he fitting in?As for Balmer, I've seen the guy talk, he's very, well, lively. I just thought he would be able to motivate his employees to his way of thinking a little more. Microsoft is still very successful under Balmer, even if their stock price is stagnantsteady. By the way, if you play on the stock market, complaining that a stock price is steady or slow moving is like complaining about how the blackjack dealer keeps giving you 6's. Its called gambling for a reason.[/citation]
I don't see numbers as artificially inflated because they are higher than I would like or expect, no. This is a true or false statement, there is no middle ground, 98% doesn't mean they're devoted to Jobs' cause it means that 98% feel positively about him and that's it. Apple has 18k employees, Papermaster represents one employee in a VERY small subset of the entire company, being a senior vice president. In fact, if ALL of the VP's disagreed with Jobs, that wouldn't even show up in this poll...and those are the people who would work closest with Jobs. You have to know that probably 99% of the company has never even met Steve Jobs, right?
I'm not referring to stock prices with Balmer, I'm talking about Microsoft's loss of many markets that they did/could/should dominate while under his leadership. He's made some statements in recent years that showed he lacks foresight into the direction of the consumer industry. Microsoft has lost those markets because they are being reactive rather than proactive. In terms of mindshare, Microsoft has lost a lot.
In my personal opinion, Balmer is a great guy with a passion for his work. He's definitely a great leader but he's no Bill Gates. I really don't want to talk smack about him because I know I'm no better than he is at it, but I do see where Microsoft could do better as far as the CEO. I also know why Microsoft employees feel the way they do about him, especially the ones with enough tenure to have predated him.
You won't find that at Apple, the original guy is there with that company right now and he's doing things that are making his company extremely successful. He's always got his company's back, even if directly in the face of the consumers (which he's insulted for on this very comment thread). At some point, people have to ask themselves why they believe they know what it's like to be an Apple employee or consumer when they obviously are neither.
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