Ballmer: "Apple is only a $500 logo"

Steve Ballmer is making a pretty regular habit of putting his foot in his mouth on Apple’s success.  He was this week quoted by Techflash as saying:

Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction.

The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment – same piece of hardware – paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that’s a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.

The bad news for Microsoft?  We aren’t paying that extra $500 for the hardware. 

While Apple hardware is the best you can buy, there are other companies that are making some pretty good machines.  People who can afford it often choose the MAc because Microsoft’s offering is substandard.