14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s former CEO Steve Ballmer has recently purchased his very own NBA team for $2 billion (1.5 billion euro), thus deciding to retire from the software giant completely and focus exclusively on sports.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean that Ballmer is stepping away from Microsoft entirely, and in addition to being the number one individual shareholder, the former CEO is also planning to make his basketball team go all-in on products belonging to the Redmond-based software giant.
One of the first changes that he’s going to make to the LA Clippers is a switch from iPads most likely to Surface tablets, as he wants the team to ditch iPads and use Windows.
He said in a recent interview that the change from iPads to Surface would take place in the off-season, but revealed that some of the staff was already using Windows products.
Jealous of Apple
Speaking about the way he managed to push Microsoft into the mobile industry, Ballmer admitted that he would have wanted Redmond to be first company releasing a tablet and betting more on a smartphone operating system.
"And do I wish a higher percentage of today's mobile devices were ours and we had birthed that category? Yes, of course I do," he said.
But he still hopes that Microsoft has what it takes to succeed in the mobile industry, and although he’s no longer holding an active role within the company, Ballmer wants to continue helping his former employer to gain market share in the tablet and smartphone business.
Ballmer would bring Windows tablets for members of his NBA team, he confirmed, so the Clippers will become a Microsoft organizations altogether.
"Most of the Clippers on are Windows, some of the players and coaches are not," Ballmer said.
"And Doc kind of knows that’s a project. It's one of the first things he said to me: 'We are probably going to get rid of these iPads, aren’t we?' And I said, 'Yeah, we probably are.' But I promised we would do it during the off season."
It’s not at all surprising to see Ballmer pushing his team to Microsoft products, as he has always been a company loyalist who expressed his love for the software giant on every occasion.
Ballmer himself banned his family from using products manufactured by Apple, so it’s no surprise that the Clippers now have to switch to Windows.
Still wondering, however, how much time will pass until someone from the team tweets with an iPhone.