Techmeme: How Ballmer Missed the Tidal Shifts in Tech (David Pogue/Pogue's Posts)

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August 26, 2013, 1:10 AM

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Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Ballmer Departure From Microsoft Was More Sudden Than Portrayed by the Company — According to sources close to the situation, the departure of CEO Steve Ballmer from Microsoft last week was more sudden than was depicted by the company in its announcement that he would be retiring within the next year in a planned smooth transition.

More: Computerworld, TechSpot, SlashGear, Softpedia News, ZDNet, ABC News and Business Insider

Tweets: @pkafka, @lessien, @karaswisher, @carnage4life, @monkbent and @glennf

Ben Thompson / stratechery:

If Steve Ballmer Ran Apple — Bear with me, I know my premise is ridiculous. — Imagine Steve Ballmer was right now the CEO of Apple, with the same set of products and opportunities. Suspend disbelief about cultural clashes, or organization structure. Presume Ballmer could set the strategy …

More: AllThingsD, ParisLemon, GigaOM, Data Center Knowledge, BetaNews, The Verge, Softpedia News, TechnoBuffalo, eWeek, I4U News, GeekWire, Windows Phone Central, Tech Trader Daily, WinBeta, BGR and InfoWorld

Tweets: @lukew, @bradwilson, @lorcand and @ncrow

Thanks:@monkbent

David Pogue / Pogue's Posts:

How Ballmer Missed the Tidal Shifts in Tech — By now, you've probably heard: Steven A. Ballmer will soon be stepping down as chief executive of Microsoft. — It's supposedly a voluntary retirement, but that holds about as much credibility as a public official's leaving a job “to spend more time with family.”

More: Hal's (Im)Perfect Vision, New York Times, GigaOM, Paul Krugman, NYT Bits, Bloomberg, New York Times, New York Times, CITEworld, The Verge and ActiveWin.com. Tweets: @bussgang

Aaron Levie / TechCrunch:

Microsoft's Next Era — Editor's note: Aaron Levie is CEO and co-founder of Box. Follow him on Twitter @levie. — Moments like this happen only once a generation in the technology industry. — The announcement of Steve Ballmer's retirement from his post as CEO of Microsoft puts an end …

Tweets: @liggs and @fxshaw

Lauren Goode / AllThingsD:

The Ballmer Product Pipeline Shows a Very Mixed Record for Microsoft

More: MIT Technology Review, Digits, kickingbear and CNN. Tweets: @rupertmurdoch

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple said to have tested 64-bit 'A7′ chips for iPhone 5S, 31% speed increases reported — As Apple's iPhone 5S event approaches, some new details about the new device's internals are emerging. Clayton Morris has claimed on Twitter that the iPhone 5S's A7 processor is …

More: CNET, MacRumors, AppleInsider, iDownloadBlog.com, Ubergizmo, App Advice, VentureBeat, iMore, everythingiCafe, TechnoBuffalo, Phones Review, Mashable, iClarified, GigaOM and memeburn

Tweets: @claytonmorris, @claytonmorris and @markgurman

steve cheney:

On Apple's A7 Processor — There was a rumor today that the iPhone 5S will be powered by an A7 processor which is dual core, 64-bit and 31% faster than the subsystem in the current iPhone 5. — While people speculate on the innards of the chip, it's a good time to take a step back and look …

Tweets: @drbarnard and @lessien. Thanks:@monkbent

Nick Bilton / NYT Bits:

Disruptions: A Blogger Mocks the Denizens of Silicon Valley — SAN FRANCISCO — Sam Biddle may have one of the easiest jobs in technology journalism. That is, easy if you have the stomach for his line of work. — Every morning, he wakes up in his Brooklyn apartment, checks Twitter on his smartphone …

Tweets: @anildash, @davewiner, @mike_ftw, @romenesko, @paleofuture, @mikeisaac, @glennf, @paleofuture, @dangillmor and @sarahw. See also Mediagazer

David Meyer / GigaOM:

NSA hacked into encrypted UN communications, leaked documents show — The NSA successfully cracked the encryption guarding the United Nations' internal videoconferencing system, according to documents seen by Germany's Der Spiegel. — The publication reported on Sunday …

More: Reuters, Washington Wire, Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Agence France Presse, Associated Press, TechCrunch, The Verge, Guardian, The Switch and Bloomberg

Tweets: @bernardkeane, @wpboon, @csoghoian, @csoghoian, @dhh, @csoghoian, @teamcymru, @hale_razor, @mrthomashart and @kaepora

Austin Carr / Fast Company:

Why Yahoo and Apple Want Foursquare's Data — This week, BuzzFeed reported that Yahoo was in talks with Foursquare about a possible data-sharing deal. The news comes just months after Apple senior VP Eddy Cue was said to be in discussions with Foursquare to integrate its location data into the Apple's mapping service.

Tweets: @fastcompany

Nellie Bowles / San Francisco Chronicle:

Burning Man becomes a hot spot for tech titans — “Burners” dance through a car wash complete with bubbles as thousands attend Burning Man at Black Rock, NV., on September 2, 2009. Click through the gallery to see more of our favorite images of the art, costumes, theme camps and fire sculptures from the Playa.

More: The Verge. Tweets: @rezendi, @rogerkirkness, @mikeisaac and @marinakukso

Somini Sengupta / New York Times:

The Pentagon as Silicon Valley's Incubator — SAN FRANCISCO — In the ranks of technology incubator programs, there is AngelPad here in San Francisco and Y Combinator about 40 miles south in Mountain View. And then there is the Pentagon. — In the last year, former Department of Defense …

More: Politico and Valleywag. Tweets: @ggreenwald and @digiphile

Quentin Hardy / NYT Bits:

VMware Killed the Past. Can It Claim the Future? — VMware is a 15-year-old tech company with a market capitalization of $36 billion. Next week, it will host 21,000 customers in San Francisco and will start to find out if that means it is young or old. — “It's a statement of our success …

Tweets: @digiphile

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

The Truth About Marissa Mayer: An Unauthorized Biography — On the morning of Thursday, July 12, 2012, Yahoo's interim CEO, Ross Levinsohn, still believed he was going to be named permanent CEO of the company. — He had just one meeting to go. — That meeting was a board meeting …

Om Malik / GigaOM:

No Henry, you need to get real about Yahoo. Here are the facts

More: Quartz. Tweets: @daveg, @chrismessina, @mattbuchanan, @gigaom, @ianbetteridge, @hblodget, @shaig, @emilychangtv, @jank0 and @bonanos

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