Slashdot Mirror
Falling Microsoft Income Endangers Yahoo Bid
Dionysius, God of Wine and Leaf, points out a new wrinkle to Microsoft's pursuit of Yahoo. The most recent quarterly results, which saw Microsoft's earnings drop by 6% from the previous year (revenue from Windows alone was down 24%), have caused the stock to dip. This has reduced the value of the cash-and-stock offer from its original $44B to something nearer $40B. Yahoo, of course, has maintained all along that the original offer was lowball. A business professor is quoted: "Whatever leverage [Microsoft] built up in the last few days could be slipping away."
Nuff Said
Anyone who was around during the dot-com era remembers how it was H-1b limits that caused the crash of that wonderful era. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Seastead this.
Lets all say that together, shall we? "Falling Microsoft Income" Beautiful........... Do I get two more wishes?
There is one fallibility in your logic. You're assuming that Microsoft is something of an Enron - that all of their value comes from their stock. This is simply false.
Microsoft's value comes from their assets, their market power, their product reach, and their ability to throw money at problems until they get something people will buy. Might I remind you that Microsoft keeps something like $30 billion in cash - instant liquidity - at all times. Microsoft can take a stock hit and keep on chugging. Don't make the mistake of underestimating Microsoft's business prowess - again, they are no Enron.
You're scenario is simply a fantasy adopted and spread by people that hate Microsoft because of their success and supposed lack of innovation. Might I remind you that a lot of the reason computers have been able to advance as quickly as they have is because we have a single majority platform. Software and hardware can compete on that universal platform instead of between multiple incompatible platforms. There is a reason we like standards. Don't forget that.
It is the falling revenue that hubris is set in motion. It is by the gook of management that self-destruction acquires speed, the product line acquires bloatware, the bloatware becomes a warning. IT is by falling revenue alone that hubris is set in motion.
Maybe we deserve this world ?
Besides which, I cannot agree with your statement one bit - Microsoft makes damn good mice and joysticks!
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Because, outside the US of A, there are still some people who understand humour. Inside the US of A, of course, you can't even spell it.
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.