the only people still trying to propagate the idea that the xbox is a failure are the sony fanboys
I wasn't aware that Sony had any fanboys. I've never used a PS3, and even if Sony didn't exist, the Xbox would still be a multi-billion dollar hole in Microsoft's balance sheet.
And as to "paying dividends", where exactly do you think the money to pay dividends comes from? I'll tell you where it comes from, profitable divisions, that's where.
MS Office and Windows are profitable divisions. The revenues they generate should be paid out as dividends, not spent on ego trips like the Xbox. Ballmer has wasted billions of his shareholders' money on lines of business that will never break even. Going cash-flow positive for a year or so doesn't make it profitable, it makes it potentially profitable if and only if that positive cash flow persists until the investment is recouped. As I mentioned above, MS needs twenty Halo-sized hits to get Xbox out of the red.
In the meantime, it distracts the company from addressing the fundamental flaws in their core business. Longhorn failed to ship. Vista was a two-year rush job that landed in the market with a muffled thud. They've got nothing in the pipeline to make Windows 7 any more interesting to customers than XP was. Apple and the Linux vendors are eroding their market share. These are all symptoms of Microsoft's management having a bad case of "Oooh! Shiny!", and wasting their time, money and attention on ego trips.
What you'll find after thinking about this for more than 10 seconds
Ah, there we go. If you don't know what you're talking about, then go for the ad hominem. Very classy.
you'd have them piss away more billions on a potentially unprofitable division
How in the world do you infer that from anything I've said?
MS should be sticking to the knitting, and paying dividends. Xbox, online services and Zune are all distractions that will never be worth the time and money spent on them.
I wouldn't go quite that far, but he should shut down his unprofitable ego-trip ventures like the Zune and the Xbox.
MS's problem is that they're fixated on competition, not customers. They got into search because they thought they had to compete with Google. They got into online services in the first place because they thought they had to compete with AOL. Same with Zune and Apple.
Most stings involve a police officer setting up a 'date' with one of these posters and then springing the trap.
As a taxpayer, this bugs me about as much as the war on drugs. I want the cops to be concentrating on dangerous criminals. Burglars, muggers, murderers, and of course, politicians. Two people exchanging sex for money doesn't endanger me in any way.
Slashdot Mirror
SURFACE! Now that is fairly innovative, is it not?
Nope.
Google "Jeff Han".
-jcr
But what you fail to understand is that not only will the profit persist, but it will probably grow.
For how long? Another year?
Wishful thinking, nothing more. Nintendo's eating their lunch.
-jcr
"Irrational hate"?
Project much?
-jcr
the only people still trying to propagate the idea that the xbox is a failure are the sony fanboys
I wasn't aware that Sony had any fanboys. I've never used a PS3, and even if Sony didn't exist, the Xbox would still be a multi-billion dollar hole in Microsoft's balance sheet.
-jcr
And as to "paying dividends", where exactly do you think the money to pay dividends comes from? I'll tell you where it comes from, profitable divisions, that's where.
MS Office and Windows are profitable divisions. The revenues they generate should be paid out as dividends, not spent on ego trips like the Xbox. Ballmer has wasted billions of his shareholders' money on lines of business that will never break even. Going cash-flow positive for a year or so doesn't make it profitable, it makes it potentially profitable if and only if that positive cash flow persists until the investment is recouped. As I mentioned above, MS needs twenty Halo-sized hits to get Xbox out of the red.
In the meantime, it distracts the company from addressing the fundamental flaws in their core business. Longhorn failed to ship. Vista was a two-year rush job that landed in the market with a muffled thud. They've got nothing in the pipeline to make Windows 7 any more interesting to customers than XP was. Apple and the Linux vendors are eroding their market share. These are all symptoms of Microsoft's management having a bad case of "Oooh! Shiny!", and wasting their time, money and attention on ego trips.
What you'll find after thinking about this for more than 10 seconds
Ah, there we go. If you don't know what you're talking about, then go for the ad hominem. Very classy.
-jcr
It seems that you missed the phrase "long term" in the question I was responding to.
-jcr
you'd have them piss away more billions on a potentially unprofitable division
How in the world do you infer that from anything I've said?
MS should be sticking to the knitting, and paying dividends. Xbox, online services and Zune are all distractions that will never be worth the time and money spent on them.
-jcr
I wonder where the long-term smart money is.
In gold.
-jcr
Shutting down what is now a profitable division because in the past it lost money is silly.
Only if it's more profitable than other things MS could be doing with the capital they have tied up in it.
-jcr
Damn it, hit the submit button when I meant to preview.
I would say that their failure to recognize that their days of being a growth stock are over is just one of many examples of management incompetence.
-jcr
their share price is largely a reflection of their shitty dividend policy
I would say that their failure to recognize that their days of being a growth stock is just one of many examples of management incompetence.
-jcr
Actually, that division is currently making money.
Only if you don't count the billions already pissed away. Xbox needs about twenty more HALO-scale hits before it breaks even.
-jcr
It's not true by any measure.
Guess again. MSFT shares have been declining since Ballmer got the job.
-jcr
Try clicking on the five-year link. The three-day chart doesn't tell you much.
-jcr
I wouldn't go quite that far, but he should shut down his unprofitable ego-trip ventures like the Zune and the Xbox.
MS's problem is that they're fixated on competition, not customers. They got into search because they thought they had to compete with Google. They got into online services in the first place because they thought they had to compete with AOL. Same with Zune and Apple.
-jcr
I'm pretty sure the mouse came from Xerox PARC.
No, Doug Englebart invented it at SRI.
-jcr
Your simple answer ignores the fact that microsoft is underperforming the rest of its industry. Occam's razor doesn't require tossing away facts.
-jcr
I can't imagine how or why anyone could accidentally pipe all user input through a root shell. This is one for the WTF of the decade.
-jcr
Learn some social skills.
That's advice you would do well to take, troll.
-jcr
You didn't ask for a particular recommendation, smart ass.
-jcr
Sure, thousands of people.
-jcr
So you think if McCain won, he would also have worsened the depression.
Yes, definitely.
-jcr
Pimps are kept in business by the ban on prostitution. Legalize it, and they'll have to find another way to make a living.
-jcr
Most stings involve a police officer setting up a 'date' with one of these posters and then springing the trap.
As a taxpayer, this bugs me about as much as the war on drugs. I want the cops to be concentrating on dangerous criminals. Burglars, muggers, murderers, and of course, politicians. Two people exchanging sex for money doesn't endanger me in any way.
-jcr
Well, not quite. It continued for a short while further under Truman.
-jcr