[ale] Ha! You were right! (was RE: [ale] Dan Gillmor on Microsoft)

[John Wells]

I have to find this humurous. Back a few months ago, we were involved in a
discussion about job postings, which turned into a discussion about
off-topic posts, which turned into a discussion about creating a new OT
list.  Some oracle (can't remember who) said:

Look, this is how it goes at Ale.
- For awhile it's relatively quiet (OT posts down).
- All of a sudden, we'll get a period of high amount of OT posts.
- Invariably, someone will suggest creating an OT list.
- Much OT discussion about whether or not to create the OT list occurs.

This cycle seems to repeat itself indefinitely.

Good call. ;-)

John

George Johnson said:
> It does sound like a good idea to start another list with discussions on
> the antics of the likes of M$.   This would be a good way to keep each
> other informed on what is going on.  Discussion of issues like these is
> what starts movements to counter these things and we cannot have enough
> of those.
>
> george johnson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dow Hurst [mailto:dhurst at kennesaw.edu]
> Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 2:02 PM
> To: jcphil at mindspring.com; ale at ale.org
> Subject: Re: [ale] Dan Gillmor on Microsoft
>
>
> We need to start a ALE-depressinglyMS mail list so those who want to get
> depressed can just read that list.
> dow
>
> Jim wrote:
>
>>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>Hash: SHA1
>>
>>Microsoft is reporting record profits from the last quarter, which they
>> attribute largely to their new, extortionary licensing scheme. I
>> thought htese words from Silicon Valley columnist Dan Gillmor were
>> worth sharing
> with
>>everybody on the list:
>>
>>Microsoft Piggy Bank Tops $40 Billion
>>Posted by Dan Gillmor
>>
>>What happens when a monopolist raises prices? One guess.
>>
>>Microsoft hit the jackpot in the most recent quarter, ringing up a
> staggering
>>$4 billion profit on sales of $7.7 billion. I hope reporters covering
>> this story note some of the subtleties, including Microsoft's strategy
>> of not counting some of the profits until later years and its continual
> accumulation
>>of cash.
>>
>>As of Sept. 30, Microsoft had gone over the $40 billion mark in cash
>> and short-term investments (effectively the same). Think about that --
>> $40 billion.
>>
>>What is Microsoft going to do with this money? They can't spend it fast
> enough
>>internally, and the top shareholders, who control the company, refuse
>> to issue dividends (this saves Bill Gates et al billions in taxes).
> Prediction:
>>Once Microsoft is out from under what's left of the antitrust case,
>> it'll
> go
>>on a strategic investment and acquisition spree the likes of which you
> cannot
>>even imagine.
>>
>>The monopoly continues, unabated, and could even grow stronger.
>> Innovation
> is
>>almost dead in desktop software, where Microsoft has sucked the
>> financial oxygen out of the system. The company's behavior doesn't
>> improve. It's no coincidence. Too bad we no longer have a government
>> that's willing to
> enforce
>>the antitrust laws, and technology buyers who feel so trapped they
>> won't
> even
>>consider alternatives. Life, circa 2002.
>>
>>http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/dan_gill
> mor/ejournal/4307752.htm
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>>iD8DBQE9sDgzmqVh/g13CaoRAosSAJ9WiQpg3aW2fGT6r6+o43BOhI7hPgCeJIdU
>>XDvuBM1d0rR70aTwhMO+ly8=
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>>
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>>
>>
>>
>
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