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A Former Microsoftie Forecasts Microsoft Doom
Chris Holland writes "Jeff Reifman, a columnist for Seattle Weekly, has written a toe-curling editorial analysis of Microsoft's past and current missed opportunities, contrasted with its financial success, while covering in fair depth some of the most serious threats to their business model. Beyond the many choice quotes, I've found this article to be a very interesting read from somebody who has not only been on the inside, but also significantly developed his professional career thru Microsoft solutions."
This guy is definitely a real wizard hacker!
Even techno-geeks like me get annoyed by Windows. I'm tired of spending the first 10 minutes of my day rebooting just so I can get to work. Microsoft Outlook 2003, the latest version of the company's e-mail and calendar software, hangs for me about once a day, requiring me to restart my PC. I also have a problem with Word 2003: Whenever I bullet a line of text, every line in the document gets a bullet. Asking Windows to shut down is more of a request than a command--it might, it might not. And recently, Internet Explorer stopped opening for me.
In other words, TAKE A COURSE IN MS OFFICE! No, you are not a techno geek if you cannot get your windows machine stable. Especially if you cannot start IE anymore. My god, what a dweeb.
?The ability to log in to all our favorite Web sites with one password.
Security/privacy risk
?Spam blocking for our e-mail accounts.
?Calendar sharing with colleagues and friends to schedule meetings.
Privacy risk
?Automatic address book updates for all our contacts.
Privacy/virus risk
?A virtual hard drive on the Internet for sharing files, photos, and music with our friends and access to these files via the Internet while traveling anywhere in the world.
Privacy risk (if you're dumb enough to use it)
?Synchronization of our Internet bookmarks across all our computers.
Privacy risk
?Online profiles of personal information that we could choose to share with Web sites and social networks.
Privacy risk
?Regular backup of files to a storage site on the Internet.
Privacy risk
?Regular application and system- security updates.
Security risk
?One-step migration of files and programs to a new computer.
Security/privacy risk
Sorry dude, but you're still living in MS World.
This was to prove the point that mods don't read anything before they mod. It is blatant abuse of a flawed system. The OP (possibly you) logged in with a different account and modded all my posts down to -1 but by that point the damage was done and the account posted a new comment to this story thus negating the mods done to my "Troll" trolls. Now the OP will suffer a Karma hit to amuse me and the flawed system will go on. I am the troll and you figured it out. Horray for you.
Go back to giving Gates his morning blow job, you cunt bubble.
No problem. Next time one of your euroneighbors decides that your land would make a nice annexation, we'll hang back until we get this "English" problem straightened out.
Truly, you and the moderators deserve death for abusing such a terrible analogy. Really, it's just as big of a sin as killing another human being.
Bonus points for reducing 13 million human lives killed in concentration camps to "a few hundred thousand." Revisionist history is taking root, and it's GPLed. But hey, we're railing against MS here, so let's play fast and loose with facts, and equate their "limiting your OS choice" (because they don't let you buy a Mac or install Linux on your PC, right?) to the Nazis.
I think you need to revisit your history lessons. You've lost touch with reality.
I am no friend of Microsoft, but... You are saying a 100% mark-up for software is bad. Just because a company's numbers are in the billions does not nessesarily mean they no longer have a right to make money on their profit? And considering that the basic materials for a software product are cheap, and that the basic technology for Windows and Office has already been developed, I'm surprised the ratio isn't higher. We live in a capitalist world where you are allowed to squeeze as much as the market will bare. And, there is a realistic alternative, it's called Linux. And the desktop is just fine.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
dress codes are not an abuse of human rights.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
"Why are Microsoft products so endlessly frustrating to use? Even techno-geeks like me get annoyed by Windows. I?m tired of spending the first 10 minutes of my day rebooting just so I can get to work. Microsoft Outlook 2003, the latest version of the company?s e-mail and calendar software, hangs for me about once a day, requiring me to restart my PC. I also have a problem with Word 2003: Whenever I bullet a line of text, every line in the document gets a bullet. Asking Windows to shut down is more of a request than a command?it might, it might not. And recently, Internet Explorer stopped opening for me. "
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Hey, Windows trolls, HERE IS THE TRUTH! Read it and weep, suckers!
Mod this flamebait, mod this troll!
Is that all you got, huh? Are you nuts? Come at me!
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
And the fact that a few hundred thousand people died in the Nazi concentration camps does not make it any less wrong for Microsoft to deny me the right to choose what software I use.
Oh...My....God. Microsoft does not deny you ANYTHING. You are free to put Linux or whatever is left of BEOS on your PC. Everytime someone uses the word "Nazi" to disparage someone else they are disrespecting all of the people who suffered in Nazi Germany. I'm so sick of hearing it, especially from the "liberal left".
Every time you call George Bush, Microsoft, Pat Buchanan, or whoever else you want to bash a Nazi you are taking away from the true meaning of the word Nazi. You are making what they did and what they stood for look not as bad.
You can dance around the topic all you want, and leftdot can mod you up but Microsoft is not Nazi Germany and you are a fool to equate them in any way.
You are a hippie. There are accepted standards of behaviour in society. Wearing jeans and tshirt and visible tattoos and facial pericings is not acceptable if you are a Fortune 500 CEO, a Prosecutor, or President. It is not acceptable in many other areas in life either. In the REAL WORLD you must do things even if you don't like them. It's just the way it is. You must learn to take orders before you can give orders. Now, finish high school, grow up, and stop listening to punk rock.
I'm posting this so that you (the moderator) have some context to consider twitter and not mod him up whenever he posts his filler preformatted rants about installing Knoppix or whatever that unfortunately get him karma every single time and allow him to continue posting his trademark toxic crap (read on) day in and day out. You may consider this a troll - I consider it community service. And I ain't kidding.
If you're a /. subscriber, I invite you to look through some of his posting history. I guarantee that you'll be hard pressed to find someone that is more "out there" than twitter. You'll also probably notice he's got quite an AC following. Don't just read his posts, make sure you go through the replies.
To get an idea of what I'm talking about, check this post out. I mean, this is an article about email disclaimers, right? The parent of the post is complaining about the ads in the linked page and so on, and twitter actually goes off on a rant to blame it on Microsoft and recommend Lynx. WTF?
Here's another. In this post twitter not only calls the OP a troll but attempts to "tell it like it is" while making some vague argument about "GNU". Yes, if you're confused, you're not alone. The reply (modded +4) proceeds to simply destroy his bogus argument. You will notice he did not reply. This is what some people call "drive-by advocacy". A sort of I'll just leave you with my thoughts here and move on to the next flamebait kind of deal. In fact, he almost never replies because he knows that his fanatical arguments simply do not hold up to any sort of discussion. It's not that he's chosen the wrong cause - he's just going at it in a completely wrong way.
More? Just read though this post and the subsequent replies. I guess this stands on its own.
More? Bad spelling in astounding conspiracy theories, more offtopic FUD and uninformed "I'm right, look at me" rants, promptly proven wrong. Worse even, twitter wants to be RMS, apparently (that first one is a winner). I mean, really. You think?
FUD, FUD, FUD, FUD, offtopic FUD
I'm posting this so that you (the moderator) have some context to consider twitter and not mod him up whenever he posts his filler preformatted rants about installing Knoppix or whatever that unfortunately get him karma every single time and allow him to continue posting his trademark toxic crap (read on) day in and day out. You may consider this a troll - I consider it community service. And I ain't kidding.
If you're a /. subscriber, I invite you to look through some of his posting history. I guarantee that you'll be hard pressed to find someone that is more "out there" than twitter. You'll also probably notice he's got quite an AC following. Don't just read his posts, make sure you go through the replies.
To get an idea of what I'm talking about, check this post out. I mean, this is an article about email disclaimers, right? The parent of the post is complaining about the ads in the linked page and so on, and twitter actually goes off on a rant to blame it on Microsoft and recommend Lynx. WTF?
Here's another. In this post twitter not only calls the OP a troll but attempts to "tell it like it is" while making some vague argument about "GNU". Yes, if you're confused, you're not alone. The reply (modded +4) proceeds to simply destroy his bogus argument. You will notice he did not reply. This is what some people call "drive-by advocacy". A sort of I'll just leave you with my thoughts here and move on to the next flamebait kind of deal. In fact, he almost never replies because he knows that his fanatical arguments simply do not hold up to any sort of discussion. It's not that he's chosen the wrong cause - he's just going at it in a completely wrong way.
More? Just read though this post and the subsequent replies. I guess this stands on its own.
More? Bad spelling in astounding conspiracy theories, more offtopic FUD and uninformed "I'm right, look at me" rants, promptly proven wrong. Worse even, twitter wants to be RMS, apparently (that first one is a winner). I mean, really. You think?
FUD, FUD, FUD, FUD, offtopic FUD
If Microsoft is a monopoly then please explain this whole Linux and OpenOffice.org thing to me. I was under the impression that they were an open source alternative to Microsoft Windows and an open source alternative to Microsoft Office respectively.