Steve Ballmer

There were other clients at one point, by the way. So you really do want extensibility in your apps. In addition to your quote platform, you want to make sure you own first party app in addition to quote platform. And I think you can get stuck in the mud if you say we're just a platform company. And I think we got it into our corporate mindset that we were, quote, a platform company.

There were other clients at one point, by the way. So you really do want extensibility in your apps. In addition to your quote platform, you want to make sure you own first party app in addition to quote platform. And I think you can get stuck in the mud if you say we're just a platform company. And I think we got it into our corporate mindset that we were, quote, a platform company.

Far more than I ever intended. I mean, there were people telling me in the mid to late 2000s, well, we can't do that. We're a platform company. I said, yes, we can do that. Right? And by 2010, I was just frustrated with myself and my inability to get people out of the, we're just a platform company. And I think to this day, you have to think app with platform.

Far more than I ever intended. I mean, there were people telling me in the mid to late 2000s, well, we can't do that. We're a platform company. I said, yes, we can do that. Right? And by 2010, I was just frustrated with myself and my inability to get people out of the, we're just a platform company. And I think to this day, you have to think app with platform.

You have to think extensibility of the app and the quote platform. And I think we got caught on that. Maybe I got caught on it for a while, and I certainly got caught in my inability to tell people what the company needed to do because people had such a culture then of saying we're a platform company, we're a platform. And so now I go back to developers, developers, developers.

You have to think extensibility of the app and the quote platform. And I think we got caught on that. Maybe I got caught on it for a while, and I certainly got caught in my inability to tell people what the company needed to do because people had such a culture then of saying we're a platform company, we're a platform. And so now I go back to developers, developers, developers.

I'm trying to tell people at that time. that third parties really mattered. And you got different opinions inside Microsoft. And what event was this at? A developer conference, I think.

I'm trying to tell people at that time. that third parties really mattered. And you got different opinions inside Microsoft. And what event was this at? A developer conference, I think.

External developers. And who's Windows' number one client? Is it Office or is it all developers? You ask the Windows team, it's all developers. You ask the Office team, come on, you got to do for us what we need to do. You have to...

External developers. And who's Windows' number one client? Is it Office or is it all developers? You ask the Windows team, it's all developers. You ask the Office team, come on, you got to do for us what we need to do. You have to...

You have to be able to communicate that you really care about developers who are not your own, that you really want these things because they may think, oh, it's all about running Microsoft Office. And we just had to tell people, we want you, we want you, we want you, we want you. And I think we got caught in thinking it's all about third parties and not also about our first party apps.

You have to be able to communicate that you really care about developers who are not your own, that you really want these things because they may think, oh, it's all about running Microsoft Office. And we just had to tell people, we want you, we want you, we want you, we want you. And I think we got caught in thinking it's all about third parties and not also about our first party apps.

And that's where you say, are you a... The word consumer sounds like unserious. Are you for users and for enterprises, which really means IT departments? Or are you for users and not IT departments? And do you allow both all aspects of what you do to be extended by developers? That's the frame I believe in. You know, we had some issues over the course of where we went in the 2000.

And that's where you say, are you a... The word consumer sounds like unserious. Are you for users and for enterprises, which really means IT departments? Or are you for users and not IT departments? And do you allow both all aspects of what you do to be extended by developers? That's the frame I believe in. You know, we had some issues over the course of where we went in the 2000.

We can talk about that if you want to, but go back to 99, um, You know, come on. We need you guys on Windows. IBM's still selling OS2. Linux is right there on the horizon. It's coming like a freight train. Is the web starting to enter your psyche at all? The web's part of that, right? We're trying to get people to write for Windows Server. Good point.

We can talk about that if you want to, but go back to 99, um, You know, come on. We need you guys on Windows. IBM's still selling OS2. Linux is right there on the horizon. It's coming like a freight train. Is the web starting to enter your psyche at all? The web's part of that, right? We're trying to get people to write for Windows Server. Good point.

We're trying to get them to extend ActiveX controls. This is a heyday of Netscape, right? We're the part of the browser. So we were trying to get our browser to be a platform, a unique platform. Sorry, embrace and extend, I think is what we said. We'll embrace the internet and we'll extend with these ActiveX controls. We need developers to do ActiveX. We need them to do Windows Server.

We're trying to get them to extend ActiveX controls. This is a heyday of Netscape, right? We're the part of the browser. So we were trying to get our browser to be a platform, a unique platform. Sorry, embrace and extend, I think is what we said. We'll embrace the internet and we'll extend with these ActiveX controls. We need developers to do ActiveX. We need them to do Windows Server.

We're just sort of getting ready on .NET. And, you know, I have my own kind of wild style. And how do you end a speech? You tell people you love them, that you want them. That's sort of the call to action. And that's where I think the developers thing came. I mean, before that one, there was a different video that people sort of characterized. I love this company. No, it was my Windows video.

We're just sort of getting ready on .NET. And, you know, I have my own kind of wild style. And how do you end a speech? You tell people you love them, that you want them. That's sort of the call to action. And that's where I think the developers thing came. I mean, before that one, there was a different video that people sort of characterized. I love this company. No, it was my Windows video.