Microsoft Asks Fed For Bailout

snydeq writes "Microsoft requested on Tuesday some $20 billion in bailout funds from the federal government, claiming that as the company controls an overwhelming share of the OS market, it is too big to fail. Low adoption rates for Vista, the ensuing ad campaign trying to convince people that they really do like Vista, and the increased need for development resources to rush Windows 7 to market to make people forget about Vista have necessitated the bailout, the company said. 'We want to make it absolutely clear that this is not a crisis of mismanagement,' said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a prepared statement. 'This is simply a crisis of dollars — a crisis of not having enough dollars coming our way.'"

Comments

They are, ghowever

[geekoid]

trying to use bailout money to build a bridge between their campuses.

Yeah, that sounds like an AF joke, but I read it a day or two ago.

Re:They are, ghowever

[GaratNW]

The bridge in question connects one publicly accessible area to another publicly accessible area where there are limited ways to get across the freeway in question. While Microsoft accounts for about 40% of the expected traffic on the new bridge, they [i.e. Microsoft] are actually footing the bill for approximately half the cost of the bridge. Those bastards! Fleecing the public by paying half of something that is a publicly owned structure that will provide a few hundred jobs for 2 years, that they won't own but will be able to benefit from, and will encourage people to WALK rather than drive everywhere. How dare they. And it's a shovel ready project. Yah.. horrible idea.

Oh sorry. Slashdot. My bad. Go on with your uninformed hating.

Re:They are, ghowever

[jonnythan]

It's a bridge that connects two public roads and will reportedly do a great job lessening congestion on the other nearby bridge.

Despite people billing it as a "Microsoft bridge" it's not. It's a public bridge on a public road. I think Microsoft is being kinda generous by offering to pay for a huge chunk of it.

Re:They are, ghowever

[Anonymous Coward]

Meaning "It's a public road and the public will use it".

The counter-argument is absurd and very akin to this: "Why should we, cityfolk, build a highway that goes around the city? The people who benefit most are the people driving on it!"

The people who benefit are also the people who have reduced traffic on their roads as people use the new infrastructure.

Just because Slashdot hates Microsoft doesn't mean this is absurd.

Re:They are, ghowever

[GaratNW]

The city of Redmond recognizes it and wants it, probably 50% of the tax revenue for that city derives from Microsoft and it's employees. Microsoft recognizes the value and wants it, hence footing half the bill. It eases up congestion on the TWO other overpasses across the freeway in the area (there's a third well away from the campus, apartments and tons of housing throughout that area that rarely gets used). So yes.. there are literally thousands of homes, people at businesses (not just Microsoft, though they are the ONLY business directly contributing), and public and private transit that can use, as well as the numerous bike and foot commuters in the area. As I said. Uninformed. You just want a reason to hate them. The fact that you've got your underwear in a bind about obfuscation code done in a beta build of an OS over 25 years ago is possibly the saddest justification for MS hate I've seen on Slashdot in a long time. So no, I don't need an explanation. You need a Xanax.

Re:They are, ghowever

[jonnythan]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/31/bridge.microsoft/index.html

"We're not a one-company town," [Mayor] Marchione says. "Our traffic studies show that Microsoft traffic would be about 42 percent of the bridge, yet Microsoft is paying for about 50 percent of the bridge, so we think we are getting fair value."

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith wrote: "As the largest employer in Redmond, Microsoft takes its responsibility to the surrounding community seriously. We have spent over $50 million to assist the City of Redmond and other local governments with street construction, transit facilities, water and sewer facilities and fire equipment."

"Any time you can include the private sector in funding transportation projects, it's a win-win situation," Ennis explains. "The state has a monopoly on our roads system. Even if Microsoft wanted to pay for this project on their own, legally they are required to work with the public sector."

Re:It's April 2 now

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny things, time zones.

Re:But it is true

[westlake]

We know that MS is getting a new federally funded bridge

Redmond is getting a new bridge and Microsoft is paying half.

Redmond has a population of around 46,000.

Microsoft employs about 30,000 full time workers and owns or leases around 8,000,000 square feet of - presumably taxable - office space in or near the city.

Re:It's April 2 now

[Achromatic1978]

Uhh, you realize that all April Fool's Jokes are meant to be done by 12PM on April 1?

Re:wait a minute here...

[maxume]

GM's single biggest problem is that they have huge health care and pension obligations to fund (lots of jackasses on TV 'simplify' this down to an hourly labor cost of ~$70, which is pretty disingenuous). Their vehicles are generally of market equivalent quality (they do make too many different vehicles), they just can't sell anywhere near the number of cars required to meet their obligations.

25 years ago, the union would have done well to demand that GM pay them enough so that they could meet their desired future compensation goals, rather than agreeing that GM was likely to keep growing forever and accepting promises to fund pensions and healthcare.

Re:It's April 2 now

[mqduck]

I've never heard that in my life. But the One True Source of All Knowledge enlightens us:

'Traditionally, in some countries, the jokes only last until noon: like UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool".[1] Elsewhere, such as in Ireland, France, and the USA, the jokes last all day.'