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Microsoft At Middle Age
gordyf writes "The Seattle Times has an interesting article concerning Microsoft's current position in the market. It describes how its customers and parners are reacting to its heavy-handed tactics, and how 'you can point to Linux being one of the major drivers for this decade.' An interesting read."
...creating new software to entice people to buy more powerful computers
That just about says it right there.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
Turn the number backwards, subtract 1957 - the year DEC was founded. The number is now 21777.
Subtract 7491 from the number - this is the year Aleister Crowley paid a longer visit to hell, written backwards. It gives 14286.
Multiply the number by 002 - this is the symbol of greed, from right to left. It gives 28572.
Turn the number backwards, divide by 6 - the smallest perfect number. The number is now 4597.
Turn the number backwards, and add 1927 - the year Fidel Castro was born. The number is now 9881.
This number, read from right to left, is 1889, or the year Adolf Hitler was born.
No further questions. QED.
By home-improvement, I hope he means replacing that NT cluster he has running everything with a more reliable system. I figure he's got to be sick of getting locked out of the john at 3 AM by a system crash...
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
From the article:
Gates said he plans to retire "somewhere in my late 50s" but will probably remain associated with the company, perhaps in an advisory capacity, a role he described as "ongoing support."
So when will he be EOL-ed?
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
The little blurb at the side tells us that Mr. Gates' net worth is a bit over $50 billion. That's a lot of money, in fact, I've read estimates of the cost of constructing a small moon colony that run below that.
So think about this: if you had the chance to liquidate most of your assets, and then finance a moon colony how could you say no? Oh I'm sure there are more humanitarian things he could do with that money, but he isn't really doing that either. But come on, Bill, a *moon colony* you could do it!
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
I can see it now....
These articles make me sad. I mean, think about it. Doesn't Bill Gates seem like the type of guy you could kick back and watch LotR with? Seriously, he seems like your standard cool dork guy. I wonder how he could have ever sold out like that...
Oh yeah, the billions of dollars he's worth. I'd sell out too for some of that kinda loot. If someone gave me just $1 billion* I'd spend the rest of my life convincing people how cool Microsoft is.
*=obviously, I'm just kidding. My price would definately only be around the $1 million mark
all your base belong to us
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
"It describes how its customers and parners are reacting to its heavy-handed tactics..."
So.. what'd they do? Research gunpowder? Build more villagers?
If 27 is middle age, then I guess it's about time for me to buy a flashy new car and have an affair.
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
In competitors, agreed.
"...the responsibility we have to be excellent in our products, to be excellent with our customers..."
And to party on, dude!!
======================================
Writers get in shape by pumping irony.
God help us when they go through the teen years and start experimenting with drugs and plotting to kill us.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Mid-Life Crisis
Symptoms
During his 40's, if a man or women has been hard-working, the fruits of their labors-a home and family, material possessions-will probably surround them. Then, before anything dramatic happens, small nagging doubts may appear, perhaps followed by a series of dramatic, apparently irrational events leading up to great change. During it all, men and women ask themselves questions such as: Is this all there is? Am I a failure? Symptoms and behaviors during mid-life crisis can range from mild to severe, including:
- boredom and exhaustion, or frantic energy
--> MS will start releasing more and more software (like a new OS every other year)
- self-questioning
--> media will be flooded with samples of internal MS e-mails warning of Linux supremacy
- daydreaming
-->MS will start promising that US Government will write digital rights management into the constitution
- irritability, unexpected anger
--> MS will increasingly blast Linux and compare it to communism and anti-capitalism
- acting on alcohol, drug, food, or other compulsions
--> MS "campus" will turn into a real campus as in "Animal House"
- greatly decreased or increased sexual desire
--> MS will increasingly want to "interface" with non PC devices like handhelds, toasters, fridges, phones, etc...
- sexual affairs, especially with someone much younger
--> MS will court
- greatly decreased or increased ambition.
--> MS will counter sue all the continental USA on made up grounds... after all a week offense is a much better then a great defense.
from:
Men's Health
You will have to pry my proprietary software $$$ from my cold dead hands!
silly poster, don't you know BSD is dying?
Microsoft will be at old age, thus helping the viagra market!
Thanks a lot. Now I can't get rid of this image of Steve Ballmer doing a happy dance in a Viagra commercial.
Right, of course it's conceivable that the word 'Windows' is used to describe something other than Microsoft's Windows, like let's say, windows. Whereas for Linux, you just pretty much get linux... oh, and this thing (and I doubt it generates a lot of the hits)
sic transit gloria mundi
Microsoft also wants to provide a consistent, predictable experience for people who use its software on various devices.
I take it they mean it will crash once a day...
There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
most of us won't be able to afford it.
-- Lemmy
My prediction: In fifty years junior high school kids will be learning about the Gate's vaccine for Malaria. (named after the benefactor for the research)
After, of course, those schoolkids plunk down $25 for a 15-minute limited copy of the Gates Vaccine MS-PDF (tied to their computer at school - if they want to read it at home, it's $50 for the "extra license") on their Trusted Computing Tablet PC (c)
Too much slashdot i guess.
rm -rf /home/leia
So just legalize marijuana and you can fit linux into your analogy...
- the best crops are created through a community effort in cross breeding
- the only thing you'll have to actually pay for are the initial seeds (think CD's)
- works well in server environments (bong) as well as desktop (hash pipe) and portable (joint) implementations
- companies will initially be leery of this but inevitably everyone's going to have to wonder what this "linux" thing is that's becoming so popular
- a sense of kinship is felt among users (read: Free Love)
Direct away from face when opening.
Try googling for Wine.
It always makes me giggle when I think of all these prim middle aged ladies sitting on the interweb to look for the latest vintage, only to come across "A free implementation of Windows on UNIX". I can see the "WTF?" thought bubbles appearing now ;)
If XP is so stable, why were the major vendors all offering downgrade CDs with every new computer sold to business? Because XP was, and still is, a "real piece" not suitable for business users.
As for Office 2003 "offering usability improvements", this is the same old song and dance we've heard since the early '80's and Windows 3.0.
Anyway, if BSOD jokes are so '96, how come I've seen them in '98, ME, 2000, and XP? The only way to make Windows stable is to remove either the power cord or the end user.
Does this mean that Microsoft will go all out and start reinventing DOS just to try to get back into touch with its inner child, or will it finally keel over from a massive heart attack?
In MS own hometown The Seattle times doesn't use any MS products to host.. http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/?host=seattlet imes.nwsource.com