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Microsoft CA Settlement Claim Forms Hit Mailboxes
mattOzan writes "So I got my Standard Claim Form in the mail today from the California State Superior Court, as I assume many other California residents did as well. This is the mechanism to get a chunk of the US$1.1 billion settlement Microsoft reached with the state of California for their anti-trust lawsuit. All the legal details (PDF) can be obtained online.
Some of the fine print: the money will be doled out as vouchers based on what qualifying MS software you or your company obtained between 1995 and 2001 (nothing for 'server computers' or Macs). Two-thirds of all unclaimed money will be given to low-income California schools for computer purchases, and vouchers may also be donated to charity."
Given that Apple has so much of a huge market share in schools, one has to wonder if vouchers good for MS products are a way for MS to start claiming some of that Apple market share as an intended/unintended side effect. One really wonders when you see the quote from their counsel...
Either way, it's a good thing. Any extra computers in schools that need them are better than none at all. Even a few Commodore 64s or TRS-80s would be preferrable to having nothing.
Microsoft is really going to feel that one, since the computer store is the one who'll end up losing the $. Nice work.
And what kind of computers and software will they be buying? Considering how schools are going from Apple to stupid, chances are they'll be Windows boxes.
If that's the case, great deal for Microsoft. Hand Microsoft their money right back to them and increase their mind and market share. What a brilliant way to settle a dispute.
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If M$ is allowed to pay that 1.1 billion using the retail value of it's software, then that's not even going to start to hurt them, given their profit margins on software. I don't know what the cost for M$ to produce a bulk CD is, but I'm betting it's waaaay lower than the retail price for the software on it. And most of the software would be one CD + a bunch of license keys, anyhow.
Does everything include nothing?
Whatever the financial aspects of this case (and one has to assume that whatever the settlement, it will be trivial compared to Microsoft's costs in other areas, such as fire-fighting the Linux guerilla bushwars), it is a definite victory for the market to have a solid verdict against Microsoft.
Being convicted of being a "monopolist", with random near-irrelevant punishments hurts no-one. But being convicted of stealing from the consumer and being told to give something back, that's something else.
I believe this is a landmark moment, akin to the first judgements against big tobacco, and with a similar future impact.
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two thirds of the unclaimed money will be given to charity. Let me guess, in the name of Microsoft, so they can claim that money back as a tax write off. If it were donated in the name of the people that did not claim, fine, at least they can recieve 1/3 of that back. but this goes all to microsft. reminds me of the simpsons. "with the tax loophole swe only pay $3 a year" or something. total crappo.
FFFA: "Q: What can the vouchers be used for? (Top)
A: You can exchange your vouchers for cash by submitting proof of purchases you made after July 18, 2003 of the following computer products: Any desktop, laptop, or tablet computer made by any manufacturer...."
Ok, so since 99.9% of these computers have Windows on them, usually with Works and a few other things, I have to AGAIN get stuck with software I don't want?
Great... I wonder how much this "Settlement" is going to make microsoft in sales of Windows...
or make Lexmark on sales of anti-trust printers...
Given that Apple has so much of a huge market share in schools,
I realize I live out in the backwoods (of north caorlina no less) but in all my years of public schooling i never saw one apple in a school or community college lab.
Note to apple: Your products are expensive. Many many schools do not have money to throw around. Perhaps big city schools can afford to get apple only labs...but smaller ones often cannot. And there is a lot of backwoods between the east and west coast.
If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
You learn how to talk with people way earlier on. If by age 12 you're kid doesn't know how to socialize... well you might as well just tatoo "weirdo" on his forehead.
A lot of people with ADD or learning disabilities, myself included, often don't learn how to have positive useful interactions until they're much older.
I think this actually is a problem. There are a lot of things that would be useful to learn in school that aren't taught because they're considered taboo subjects. Things like ethics, morality, fairness, dealing with emotions, and social skills. They get some mention in kindergarten of course ("Play fair", "Share", "Don't hit someone if you're mad at them") but at that age kids really don't have the emotional maturity to understand and incorporate the information, or to understand why it's important.
I think that's why you see a huge boom in the self-help industry, with people desperately trying to figure out why they can't motivate themselves, or feel depressed or isolated, etc. It's only as grown ups that people are trying to become better individuals, where they have the opportunity to do so.
As you point out in your post, computers aren't hard to figure out. I think that the overall health of this country would be better if our schools focused as much time and attention instilling ethics, morality (yes, this *can* be done without religion!), responsibility, and civic awareness in our kids as they do trying to teach them computer skills. Since software and technology change so rapidly anyway, the key is just to give them enough exposure to computers so they're not nervous or afraid around them.
As someone working in a tech-related field, I find the #1 problem with people unfamiliar with computers is that they're afraid and nervous around them and so they don't use the same common sense they'd use in the real world. So, they won't trust a stranger knocking on their door but might give their credit card in an e-mail thinking that their bank sent it to them. As long as kids don't fear computers (10 minutes a day sounds about right, although you could probably get by with even less), it should be fine.
My concern is that if there is too much emphasis on computers, then other skills that are much more timeless are ignored. I also think that there's much less emphasis on critical thinking and personal analysis in high school, since the assumption is that all the smart/well-off kids are going to college anyway.
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