I think he was emphasising the fact that they need to keep on the game companies' good sides, otherwise their hint books are 'thin on information, late to market and useless to gamers'.
However, it does read as if he cut & pasted that straight from a company press release. A friend of mine works in PR, and says it's amazing the amount of stuff he writes that he sees verbatim in newspapers and magazines in the weeks and months after a particular release goes out...
For any question which begins "Can Microsoft really afford...", the answer is usually 'Yes'. Some quick Googling revealed that they have "over $30 billion in cash reserves, with $40 billion expected by the end of the year" (I think that's a 2001 quote -- whatever, it's definitely north of $30b).
I think his major contention would be that it would be bad for Microsoft's business model to strip Windows down.
The point they were pressing all through the trial was that if following the law was bad for Microsoft's business model, then the law was unjust and should be changed. (Since they've been found guilty, they've moved the goalposts -- now any remedy that is bad for their business model is unjust and should not be imposed.)
Now if that doesn't fit the dictionary definition of hubris...:/ I thought that the entire idea of antitrust legislation was not specifically to take away a monopoly, but to make it impossible for that monopoly to be used to injure consumers & society at large -- and to take away any ill-gotten gains accumulated through abuse of said monopoly powers. And Microsoft are complaining because their main cash cow might be forced to donate slightly less blood in the future?
Yeah, but apparently the editors post to maximize revenue, which is front-page pageviews (and adviews) (This is what inspired the Blackout). So you'd imagine they'd be wanting exclusives, or at least to be the first site propagating these sorts of stories to a wide audience.
Back on topic: after seeing SWI:TPM, nothing Lucas does will get me to see another of his films. Unless maybe he does that Jar Jar Binks snuff film that people have been proposing.:/
Too true. I'm just intrigued that you didn't leave when they were bought out by Andover, or then when Andover were bought by VA Linux... erm, VA Software now, I think.
(Although things do seem to be getting worse now, that could just be coincedence... money has been the main reason for the editors to be running this site for a long time now.)
I agree that splitting the content will probably not be for the benefit of the community, but I think the benefit of the community has not been uppermost in their minds for a while. Look at the statistics that CmdrTaco posted that prompted the Blackout -- what he's most interested in are the casual readers, because they make up most of the ad revenue.
Oh, and I didn't join the Blackout because now I'm renting out my sig space. I have a job to do.:) (Seriously, I don't see much point to it... I don't think any action by comment posters will change the direction the business is taking.)
I'd rather the/. admins posted drunk than under the influence of money; alcohol at least has the saving grace of removing inhibitions.
I don't know; I saw a lot of uninhibited greed in the dotcom years...:)
... no, I'm not Stanley. But if it's any consolation, I am quite bearded and reclusive at the moment...:)
I wouldn't have been surprised if he had faked his own death, though, to try and get 10 years or so of peace... would have fit his personality as far as I can see. (I chose the nick well before he died, BTW:)
Yeah, I know what you mean about correctness, I'm just a stickler because I have a high reading speed and typos and misspellings make me stop and check. Annoying.:) (Couldn't resist pointing out the error, though, and I imagine Bill would get a laugh out of it. Maybe it was intentional by the guy who posted it.:)
He's saying that they're not the dominant player in those other industries, and that penalties that affect their performance in (e.g.) game consoles for sins committed in the OS arena are unjust.
(I'd argue that their ability to enter these other markets only developed because of their long and sustained abuse of monopoly power in the OS field, and thus crying about that is like a drug boss whining that the police have taken his car and house as well as all his money -- but then I've hated them since long before it was fashionable.:)
Seriously, those OEM agreements where "if you sell a box, it must include Windows and cannot include any other OS" are, and have always been, anticompetitive as hell. I'll be very glad if this sort of provision is never seen again (from MS, or anyone else.)
This sort of behaviour is legal if you're not a monopoly, I imagine. (Good luck keeping your customers, though -- if you're not a monopoly they'll have other choices, and won't take too kindly to behaviour like this).
Yeah, but I linked to scoop.kuro5hin.org because the rating system is so much better than Slashdot's. You have to separate the content from the engine here. One's a cultural thing, the other one essentially statistical in nature.
The funniest thing I've heard lately was this; coming from a guy who bought XP and is waiting to install it because some of his old flight sims don't work:
"I'm going to wait until Microsoft releases a fix - they don't work now on XP"
Why doesn't he expect the game publishers to release patches? Or keep an old DOS or Win 3.11 partition around to play these games on? What is this Windows-user attitude that MS is responsible for everything that happens on the PC and will always act in accordance with their wishes?
Don't bother replying, I'm just spouting off at the inhumanity of it all.:)
Yeah, but you'll get the same things you always did for your non-payment; what's changed there? Is it an objection to the two-tiered nature of the content? Why is nothing better than something in that case?
These aren't rhetorical questions; I really want to know why you feel like this.
Interesting to see you taking your own advice there; that book was actually by Bill Bryson.
As good an argument for proper spelling as I can imagine: you've just attributed that quote to someone else. This might have been fine in the days when there weren't that many writers, but these days anyone can write and get those words out to the world, just like I'm doing now.:)
Not necessary, no, but it does help protect against programmer error. As an Amiga user (pre-emptive multitasking, no memory protection in the OS (because not all machines had MMUs)) I got to know the Guru Meditation error very well indeed:)
Slashdot Mirror
I think he was emphasising the fact that they need to keep on the game companies' good sides, otherwise their hint books are 'thin on information, late to market and useless to gamers'.
However, it does read as if he cut & pasted that straight from a company press release. A friend of mine works in PR, and says it's amazing the amount of stuff he writes that he sees verbatim in newspapers and magazines in the weeks and months after a particular release goes out...
For any question which begins "Can Microsoft really afford...", the answer is usually 'Yes'. Some quick Googling revealed that they have "over $30 billion in cash reserves, with $40 billion expected by the end of the year" (I think that's a 2001 quote -- whatever, it's definitely north of $30b).
Okay, I tried (not very hard) to restrain myself...
:)
But I have to post this link.
I use Gnome, but I replaced the foot on the panel with the Debian logo anyway.
Really? Please cite the last time someone went to jail for violating the GPL.
Ah, Slashdot. Where even the Redundant is Offtopic. :)
This guy, or just a fanboy?
Slovakia's not all that far from Bulgaria... but still, I doubt it's the same person.
I know I'm weird, but I were channel-hopping and came across this, I'd be hypnotized. I'd be in the zone. I'd be THERE.
Blip..... blop. Blip.... blop. Blip.... GOAL!
Blip..... blop. Blip.... blop ---> ad infinitum.
That being said, seeing a foot on my desktop makes me think that something stinks.
:)
Maybe you should wash your feet more often.
Have you gone back to 1 million BC and tried impregnating a cavewoman?
Yes.
I could tell you more, but I'm afraid I'd have to kill you.
:)
I think his major contention would be that it would be bad for Microsoft's business model to strip Windows down.
:/ I thought that the entire idea of antitrust legislation was not specifically to take away a monopoly, but to make it impossible for that monopoly to be used to injure consumers & society at large -- and to take away any ill-gotten gains accumulated through abuse of said monopoly powers. And Microsoft are complaining because their main cash cow might be forced to donate slightly less blood in the future?
The point they were pressing all through the trial was that if following the law was bad for Microsoft's business model, then the law was unjust and should be changed. (Since they've been found guilty, they've moved the goalposts -- now any remedy that is bad for their business model is unjust and should not be imposed.)
Now if that doesn't fit the dictionary definition of hubris...
Bah.
Only if we charge money for it.
:&
If we don't, does that make us sluts?
If it means less boy-bands in his films, yes.
Yeah, but apparently the editors post to maximize revenue, which is front-page pageviews (and adviews) (This is what inspired the Blackout). So you'd imagine they'd be wanting exclusives, or at least to be the first site propagating these sorts of stories to a wide audience.
:/
Back on topic: after seeing SWI:TPM, nothing Lucas does will get me to see another of his films. Unless maybe he does that Jar Jar Binks snuff film that people have been proposing.
Once there's money involved, things go bad.
:) (Seriously, I don't see much point to it... I don't think any action by comment posters will change the direction the business is taking.)
/. admins posted drunk than under the influence of money; alcohol at least has the saving grace of removing inhibitions.
:)
Too true. I'm just intrigued that you didn't leave when they were bought out by Andover, or then when Andover were bought by VA Linux... erm, VA Software now, I think.
(Although things do seem to be getting worse now, that could just be coincedence... money has been the main reason for the editors to be running this site for a long time now.)
I agree that splitting the content will probably not be for the benefit of the community, but I think the benefit of the community has not been uppermost in their minds for a while. Look at the statistics that CmdrTaco posted that prompted the Blackout -- what he's most interested in are the casual readers, because they make up most of the ad revenue.
Oh, and I didn't join the Blackout because now I'm renting out my sig space. I have a job to do.
I'd rather the
I don't know; I saw a lot of uninhibited greed in the dotcom years...
... no, I'm not Stanley. But if it's any consolation, I am quite bearded and reclusive at the moment... :)
:)
:) (Couldn't resist pointing out the error, though, and I imagine Bill would get a laugh out of it. Maybe it was intentional by the guy who posted it. :)
I wouldn't have been surprised if he had faked his own death, though, to try and get 10 years or so of peace... would have fit his personality as far as I can see. (I chose the nick well before he died, BTW
Yeah, I know what you mean about correctness, I'm just a stickler because I have a high reading speed and typos and misspellings make me stop and check. Annoying.
It's just you.
He's saying that they're not the dominant player in those other industries, and that penalties that affect their performance in (e.g.) game consoles for sins committed in the OS arena are unjust.
:)
(I'd argue that their ability to enter these other markets only developed because of their long and sustained abuse of monopoly power in the OS field, and thus crying about that is like a drug boss whining that the police have taken his car and house as well as all his money -- but then I've hated them since long before it was fashionable.
Seriously, those OEM agreements where "if you sell a box, it must include Windows and cannot include any other OS" are, and have always been, anticompetitive as hell. I'll be very glad if this sort of provision is never seen again (from MS, or anyone else.)
This sort of behaviour is legal if you're not a monopoly, I imagine. (Good luck keeping your customers, though -- if you're not a monopoly they'll have other choices, and won't take too kindly to behaviour like this).
Maybe we can combine the two.
:)
"Spent billions in stealing."
Yup, that sounds about right. Expect to see me at (+5, Insightful) within minutes.
Yeah, but I linked to scoop.kuro5hin.org because the rating system is so much better than Slashdot's. You have to separate the content from the engine here. One's a cultural thing, the other one essentially statistical in nature.
The funniest thing I've heard lately was this; coming from a guy who bought XP and is waiting to install it because some of his old flight sims don't work:
:)
"I'm going to wait until Microsoft releases a fix - they don't work now on XP"
Why doesn't he expect the game publishers to release patches? Or keep an old DOS or Win 3.11 partition around to play these games on? What is this Windows-user attitude that MS is responsible for everything that happens on the PC and will always act in accordance with their wishes?
Don't bother replying, I'm just spouting off at the inhumanity of it all.
Yeah, but you'll get the same things you always did for your non-payment; what's changed there? Is it an objection to the two-tiered nature of the content? Why is nothing better than something in that case?
These aren't rhetorical questions; I really want to know why you feel like this.
Interesting to see you taking your own advice there; that book was actually by Bill Bryson.
:)
As good an argument for proper spelling as I can imagine: you've just attributed that quote to someone else. This might have been fine in the days when there weren't that many writers, but these days anyone can write and get those words out to the world, just like I'm doing now.
I like the Slashdot moderation system. It is the best system I've seen
Maybe you should look around a bit more.
Not necessary, no, but it does help protect against programmer error. As an Amiga user (pre-emptive multitasking, no memory protection in the OS (because not all machines had MMUs)) I got to know the Guru Meditation error very well indeed :)