Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently decided to depart as one of Microsoft"s board of directors, which fueled speculation that Microsoft was planning to acquire the streaming movie and TV service. While those rumors have proven to be unfounded, at least so far, that doesn"t mean Hastings doesn"t have opinions about the company or its recent products.
AllThingsD.com reports that Hastings, in comments made to Dow Jones reporters and editors, said while he likes Microsoft"s new Surface tablet, he feels that it "kind of doesn’t matter" how successful Surface itself turns out to be. Hastings feels that it"s more important to Microsoft that Windows 8 is successful.
He stated:
They’ve got 350 million PCs that will be sold next year, and they’ll all have Windows 8 on them. So there’s a huge installed base for people to write Windows 8 applications. And then that kickstarts the application cycle that makes it valuable.
Hastings also feels that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer knows what the company has to deal with in terms of its challenges, stating, "He is unbelievably self-aware, self-critical, smart. He’s the last guy to be in any little bit of denial." If Windows 8 is a success, Hastings feels " ... that takes away a big fear — if they do. And if they don’t, it’s a different battle."
Source: AllThingsD.com | Image via Netflix