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

[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: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.'