Steve Ballmer promoting Windows 1.0 in 1986

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miletest@reddit

I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, and by gum it but them on the map.

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notneb82@reddit

How does someone look like they are 55 years old for 40 years?

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This guy is a laughable joke. How ANYBODY took this My Pillow sounding guy seriously is beyond me, but here we are. I'm sure it had to do with Steve Jobs being a much better salesman than him or Bill but still... holy shit.

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MedicGoalie84@reddit

Because he made a parody of an infomercial I'm not supposed to take him seriously?

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lu3mm3l@reddit

No, because he was a sweaty cokehead asshole that appeared in everything MS over the years. I’m glad he’s no longer in the spotlight. Cringe Mf

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VohaulsWetDream@reddit

Question from a non-us resident: why Nebraska?

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sheldonator@reddit (OP)

I believe at the time you had to pay extra to have a 1-800 number just for Nebraska residents and Microsoft chose not to pay for a separate number just for Nebraska.

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NS-10M@reddit

Microsoft chose not to pay for a separate number just for Nebraska

I'm not sure you could say that, because this ad is not real. It is an internal Microsoft joke.

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gcc-O2@reddit

I agree it comes across as a joke, but I think it's a parody of a real thing of "800 numbers" (inward WATS) handling interstate and intrastate calls differently... they may be picking on Nebraska as a joke but I recall it being typical for a business to advertise their number as something like: 212-xxx-xxx; Outside NY: 800-xxx-xxx

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sheldonator@reddit (OP)

Thanks for the correction!

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vukasin123king@reddit

Iirc, Nebraska was a state with most airforce bases and ICBM silos during the cold war, so there was a crapload of phone lines going into it. During the 90's they started being used as 1-800 lines, but connecting phone lines from Nebraska would require extra infrastructure and thus be more expensive. Most 1-800 lines didn't support Nebraska, or used a different phone number for it.

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pateandcognac@reddit

Psh, weak performance from Steve. He's not even breaking a sweat!

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WaveNomad@reddit

Yup he was a bit low on coke that day

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PJdiesAlot@reddit

When bill gates is the cool one.

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RootHouston@reddit

This is always circulated as being some real ad, but it's been confirmed to be a joke many many times. It was never put out there to advertise Windows.

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sheldonator@reddit (OP)

Thanks for the info, I thought it was real

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RootHouston@reddit

Don't feel bad, because of the way it's been disseminated, I thought it was too. We should get the word out, 'cause this is one of those internet myths that isn't dying for some reason.

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NS-10M@reddit

For those who don't know: it's not a real ad. It's a funny video made for cheering up Microsoft employees at an event.

https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Steve-Ballmer-say-except-in-Nebraska-at-the-end-of-the-Windows-1-0-ad

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sheldonator@reddit (OP)

Thanks for this!

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MilkSlow6880@reddit

He kind of looks like Steve Martin and the lead singer of Men at Work had a baby.

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PXAbstraction@reddit

How this guy came to be in charge of one of the world's largest companies for so long still baffles me.

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red_nuts@reddit

And yet, Microsoft is one of the world's most valuable companies, and this strategy seemed to work just fine. It's almost like the companies that become the legends are just random, and the leaders of those companies could be morons and it doesn't count.

Or maybe, the value of companies is actually created by the workers, and the leaders and owners are just parasites.

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Reggie_Jeeves@reddit

Ummm... Bill and Steve WERE the workers. If you don't think those guys worked their balls off, you need to crack open a history book.

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BlacksmithNZ@reddit

Roommate with Bill wasn't it?

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eric987235@reddit

Friends from Harvard. I'm not sure if they were roommates but they played poker a lot IIRC.

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MedicGoalie84@reddit

Why?

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rtplor@reddit

Rumors say that he was ruling corporate sector well.

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Stooovie@reddit

I miss this guy

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c0burn@reddit

Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers

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sheldonator@reddit (OP)

Obligatory Steve Ballmer at .NET presentation: Developers Developers Developers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxbJw8PrIkc

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