Back after a long weekend (on both ends) with family and friends. I wanted to touch on this now older news...

Microsoft's Ballmer Throws Down Gauntlet Against Apple

These quotes stood out as odd in Ballmer's statements.

We are trying to make absolutely clear we are not going to leave any space uncovered to Apple

We are not. No space uncovered that is Apple’s.

But we are not going to let any piece of this [go uncontested to Apple]. Not the consumer cloud. Not hardware software innovation. We are not leaving any of that to Apple by itself. Not going to happen. Not on our watch.

There's a real danger with this line of thought. An obsession over what a competitor is doing can cause you to lose focus on what you should be doing. Do you really want to challenge a competitor on every front? Should you not choose what you know you can do well and do that, rather than have your competitor force you to consume resources following into markets you may not be prepared for?