[ale] OT: if this won't make you want to puke....

[Jonathan Glass (IBB)]

Forgive my naïve/insane ramblings, I'm tired and it's bed time.  No one
should be up this late and try to compose a reasonable argument, but
here goes... <deep breath>

Actually, I believe that Microsoft has so far managed to avoid paying
income tax, and like Cisco, counts on refunds from the government as an
asset (accounts receivable?) 
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/4526.html
Now, I wonder: Are doing all this in response to the elimination of
these tax loopholes, and/or are they doing this to somehow screw their
customers/shareholders?  

I do agree with someone who posted earlier...Microsoft seems to be
poised to go on a spending spree.  Look at all their investments and
products, other than Windows/Office, and you'll see that they are
hemorrhaging cash, so they need to find some profitable companies to buy
up to shore up their bottom line.  If you recall, earlier this year
(Q2?), Microsoft posted record profits due to it's new licensing
racket..er, scheme..er, virus...thing-a-ma-jig.  But, at the time,
Balmer was concerned that this may be a bad thing b/c people are buying
software to avoid having to sign-up for the new Software Agreement.  Is
this a sign that maybe they've gone too far?  Hell, they can't even get
their foot in the door in the cell phone market sans forcing their
partners out of business.  Their products aren't good enough, nor are
they delivered on-time. Even banks might not be LEGALLY able to run XP
SP1 or Win2K SP3 (http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/1485861). 

Look at Europe, India, Africa and S. America (don't remember the
countries), turning to Open Source Software.  The Chinese gov't won't
run Windows (XP or 2K) because they thought it had some possible
bugs/back doors for the CIA (have to look that one up...), so they're
switching to Linux.

SGA just released a new "super-computer-in-a-box"
http://newsforge.com/newsforge/03/01/07/1712243.shtml?tid=23 running
linux, and Linux continues to scale and improve in all areas.

All-in-all, I believe Microsoft is watching their revenues slowly
decline from software, and with the new accounting rules, they're really
going to feel it.  With all their non-software ventures bleeding cash,
and facing a competitor they can't buy out to "embrace and extend" into
oblivion, they're facing (in my optimistic opinion) a bleak future.
Now, many companies and universities are forever locked into the newest
licensing scheme, and that is going to generate some steady revenue for
M$, but I think that Linux will continue to improve, and slowly move to
the mainstream with each easier-to-use interface, and begin to slowly
cut off the cash flow to the monopolist.  As someone else on this list
stated: how else can a monopolist make more money, other than raise
prices (and I add, force more-frequent upgrades).

Anyway, now that I'm WAAAYYY Off-Topic, I wish you all a good night.
<breathe again!>

PS, Yes I am composing this in Outlook on a Windows XP machine, but
that's only b/c I have to support them (actually, it's because I'm too
lazy to reboot my machine to RH8, and finish moving my checkbook over to
GnuCASH!).

PPS, Dang that GnuCash is tough to understand!  I wish I had taken more
accounting courses!

G'night!

Jonathan Glass
Systems Support Specialist II
Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience
Georgia Institute of Technology
404.385.0127 

-----Original Message-----
From: ale-admin at ale.org [mailto:ale-admin at ale.org] On Behalf Of Gregory
To: ale at ale.org
C. Johnson
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 7:47 PM
To: ale at ale.org
Subject: Re: [ale] OT: if this won't make you want to puke....


Mmm, not to fan the flames, but from a tax management perspective
dividends are the last thing these guys want.  They're sitting on a nice
fat pile of near-zero basis long term capital gains, which means they
pay "only" 20 cents on the dollar for every dollar sold, at their
discretion, in the market.

Dividends, on the other hand, are not discretionary and they're normal
income, which for these gus gets nicked at 40+ cents on the dollar.
This is almost certain to at least double, and more likely triple,
quadruple, or more their tax bill, Further, though Washington State has
no corporate tax, the Feds already got a 35% cut of MS's income.  This
means that for each dollar MS pays in dividends, the Gubbmint gets SIXTY
ONE CENTS!!!

Uncle Sam is the big winner here - Every year they win the Mirosoft
Lottery with numbers bigger than the biggest Powerball/Big Game/whatever
jackpots --- guaranteed.

-Greg


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Hubbs" <hbbs at attbi.com>
To: ale at ale.org
To: <ale at ale.org>
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 6:02 PM
Subject: Re: [ale] OT: if this won't make you want to puke....


Oh, and Paul Allen is trying to have a SETI radiotelescope built and
buy/maiontain a collection of WWII fighter planes.

These multimillionaires want to be so on more than just paper...

- Jeff

On Fri, 2003-01-17 at 17:58, Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> My guess would be that this is being done to facilitate a round of 
> acquisitions the likes of which the world has never seen.
>
> "And now, presenting the 2005 Microsoft 'My Corvette'..."
>
> - Jeff
>
> On Fri, 2003-01-17 at 15:22, Geoffrey wrote:
> > "Microsoft long had opposed calls from some shareholders to use some

> > of its cash hoard — now $43.4 billion — to pay a dividend. But 
> > Microsoft's board unanimously decided Thursday to pay a dividend of 
> > 8 cents per share after the stock split, chief financial officer 
> > John Connors said." . .
> > "Microsoft chairman Bill Gates (news - web sites), who would own
about
> > 1.2 billion shares after the stock split, would receive a dividend
of
> > $99.5 million."
> >
> > (Which is over 10% of the total dividend payout.)
> >
> >
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=528&e=1&cid=528&u=/ap/2
0030
117/ap_on_hi_te/earns_microsoft
> >
> > --
> > Until later: Geoffrey esoteric at 3times25.net
> >
> > The latest, most widespread virus?  Microsoft end user agreement. 
> > Think about it...
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ale mailing list
> > Ale at ale.org
> > http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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