Ballmer and Kutaragi "don't matter," says Business 2.0
In addition to running a list of the top-50 people who do matter (including Blizzard's Mike Morhaime), Business 2.0 compiled its counterpart as well: a list of "10 people who don't matter" in business.
Included in this dubious roundup are both Microsoft CEO Steve (FrankenSteve) Ballmer and Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken (what'd he say?) Kutaragi. While Ballmer's role at Microsoft clearly affects the relatively isolated Xbox group, Kutaragi's role at SCE is much more entangled. Business 2.0's criticisms of Kutaragi are, therefore, rather pointed:
"Remember the Betamax debacle? Sony seems to have forgotten all about it. Under Kutaragi, who is the power behind Sony's PlayStation videogame consoles, the company is launching another format war with its Blu-Ray high-definition videodisc, the successor to the venerable DVD. Unfortunately, the PlayStation 3, which was supposed to put Blu-Ray into millions of living rooms, is months late and hundreds of dollars more expensive than competing consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo - largely because it includes one-of-a-kind technologies like Blu-Ray. The delays and cost overruns are likely to make both the PS3 and Blu-Ray nonstarters."
Ouch! So Sony gets rapped on their knuckles, Microsoft gets detention, and Nintendo ... well, looks like Satoru Iwata and co. managed to go unnoticed, like the shy, likable kid who sat at the back of the classroom.
