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40 Comments
- randyzaia, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26I assume you mean woot for the class action lawyers that will actually get all the money.
- greenlight2001, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24***** the RIAA
- slor90210, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Hey, I'm from Sioux City too (morningside)! The School System is seriously screwed up here. Have some highlights:
- Typing "dir" in DOS circa 1996 was accessing secret info. We had to exit the Program Manager (Windows 3.1) before shutting down. But god help you if you type DIR out of habit when you see a c:>. I almost got prosecuted.
- My school (about 1300 kids) had the entire school running over a single ISDN line.
- The "Gateways" were off-limits because they had "The Internet!" Oh noes!!!
- The 386's ran Netscape for the web, but the new Pentium II's were for Card Catalog Only -- which was a VT100 application in Microsoft Telnet.
- Our programming class was supposed to be visual basic 3, but the teacher didn't know how to do it, so we ended up doing spreadsheets instead.
- I was thrown out of typing class for cleaning the mouse out (removing the ball and cleaning out the crap on the rollers).
- We once got the money for new computers, but they made us sit on the floor because they took up too much space. Eventually, they got money for larger desks. It was a really well-thought-out plan.
- The computer teacher was also the football coach: a 7 foot tall behemoth who would hit the ESC key harder and harder until it broke. Same thing with monitors that wouldn't turn on.
- I told the network administrator that I had root on his server, and he didn't believe me. - Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9except the Really Intentionally Annoying Association is not a company
- whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -11/+20This is almost as idiotic as the EU.
No one is forced into anything, you can chose to use something else. - Poco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7The voice of the Iowa education system ^^^
- scoreloot, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10@Elbridge
The RIAA is more deserving of this action, at least Microsoft does something useful AND provides a service. Microsoft may not be everyone's favorite OS, but its the most popular, and has brought many of today's innovations to light. Not hunted down its customers and sued them. - andydumi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Half of it goes to the educational system to purchase software for schools, which means it goes right back to MS as school will likely purchase vista and the new office...
It could be worse. - Szandor, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8"So ***** all of you intellectually challenged asshats who lash out at MS because of your own insecurity about your low IQ."
You were doing okay until, for some reason, you had to put this sentence in your comments.
And it's "their" not "there", Mr. High IQ. - zoxx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6meriwiz79:
Yes, they should especially fix the English departments. Perhaps they could teach proper grammar.
Remember, you didn't fail; the system failed. - orabox, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9For your information, This lawsuit was when Microsoft ran over the industry in the 90's. Their anti competitive practices are well documented.
- Piyh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I live in Iowa. It is very boring. We have a lot of corn. NOW WE GET MONEY!! Eat it Las Vegas.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5nice, thats the "genuine advantage" we have all been waiting for! haha
- InfidelAl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yes I was joking, but I still don't understand the reason for the swipe at Microsoft. You gave examples of the competition that exists for their products in Iowa. With said competition they could double (or more) their prices and you'd still have the same option to go out and buy other products. I don't think it's right that the government can force a private company to make an item for a price that the government sets.
- tropicdog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I'm also from Iowa, yes we have Internet, Apple computers and Linux too. I know you are probably just kidding but, had to say it anyway.
I'm not sure about merlwiz79's posts, don't let the grammar fool you into thinking it's all like that here. Historically Iowa has ranked very high in quality education (Google around for standardized test score comparisons) I'm not sure we are as highly ranked as when I went to school here, I suspect the education systems here and elsewhere have let some standards slide a little over the last 20 years. Just like anywhere, some school systems are not as good as others. Perhaps Sioux City is one of those. I live closer to Des Moines and the schools around here are pretty good.
While Iowa is generally the least known about state of all the states (usually confused with Idaho or Ohio) I'm glad we have stepped up against a huge corporation like Microsoft. Typically Iowans are regarded as pretty congenial and conservative. Taking a swing at Microsoft goes against this image a little bit but, I think it should help illustrate to other states that there is a need to fight the good fight and we have. - ElbridgeGerry, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5The RIAA's next.
- clyde2801, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4You didn't have to tell us you were a computer programmer. We could tell from your poor socialization skills.
- seetheforest, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Is this heaven? No... it's Iowa!
- InfidelAl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3asforme1, I wish I had more diggs to give you.
- radiofrequency, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5This was a jury trial. If Microsoft was truly in the wrong, a jury of Iowans would surely have found them not guilty, not liable, and Microsoft wouldn't have had to pay a dime or even legal fees. I really don't understand the people who are here defending Microsoft. Are you employees? Why would you support a corporation that ripped off its customers?
- InfidelAl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3How did it rip them off? By charging more than a small group of people think they should have? As I've said before they can charge whatever they want. It's entirely up to you whether you purchase their product or someone elses. But to purchase their product AND complain that they charged too much is just asinine.
- anastrophe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3$180 million.
isn't that, like, stealing Bill Gate's lunch money? - Yorn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I live in Iowa. I probably won't take part in this, Microsoft's bullying of the market and subsequent failure to fix security issues is what got me my last two jobs.
- bpmox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2well, seeing as how the schools would have squandered money on that anyway...
- aloser, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Which "city" in Iowa are you talking about?
- Pr0v0st, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I'm from Iowa, and I think this lawsuit is stupid. So I'm left with a moral dilemma: should I take the money anyway?
- VaporBro, on 10/26/2007, -5/+6"For claims up to $100 over the Internet (or $200 via snail mail), customers will not need to provide a proof of purchase, but they will need to sign a document verifying that the claim is accurate."
That's Hella tight...Woot for Iowa INDEED: - gerkin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The world's simplest business plan in action:
1) do whatever you want to ensure you have no competition
2) fight it for years when you get sued for unfair business practice
3) pay out for the class action suit
4) continue running your business exactly the same way (go back to step #1)
Sounds like a perfect solution to me. It works, MS has proved it all over the world. - clyde2801, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Break the law, pay the fine. If you don't want to pay the ticket, don't speed.
Redmond could crap on a plate and serve it to you people, and you'd probably ask for seconds. - Dasickninja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Pray tell, exactly how is one anticompetitive when there is no viable and cheap alternative, if there is one at all? MS is a monopoly simply because most other companies aren't stepping up to the plate to take away market share. The only ones doing such are Google and Apple. (Can't really compare Linux, as much as I love the awesomeness that is Ubuntu and all its flavors, most school districts are going to want something that is a standard and comes with definite support)
But like others said, can we please go after the RIAA and Co next? - euro22, on 12/17/2008, -1/+2I used to live in Iowa City and the school there was top notch. We had 5 computer labs filled with brand new Dells (with LCD monitors), good library and campus, and faculty was excellent as well.
- Ballresin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I'm from Iowa, too, near the Okoboji area. It's interesting to see Iowa get anti-Microsoft action, since we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. I am an Apple user, so this doesn't affect my wallet, but is definitely worth watching.
If I had money to put a bet out, I'd say Apple and Microsoft will trade some serious market share by 2010.
I'd say Microsoft will languish to 85%, Apple 13%, Linux 2%.
Maybe a stretch for Linux. We'll see.
This is based off of the idea of a 30% rise in market share from Q1 '06 to Q1 '07 in computer shipments continuing this trend. - asforme, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Yes, we get money because we can't make an informed decision on a software purchase. The really fun twist to this story would be if MS took the Wal-Mart approach and refuse to do business in Iowa from now on, including refusing to sell to Iowa retailers or provide support for Iowa customers. It shouldn't matter, you guys really wanted to use other products right? But big bad MS wouldn't let you. Lets see the schools deal with a forced switch to Mac or Linux.
By the way, I'm typing this in Linux, I'm not a MS fanboy, I just hate the idea of punishing a successful business because it's customers were stupid. - tymme, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Wisconsin has given the same award. http://wistechnology.com/article.php?id=1997 provides the ruling, but I can't find the copy of the ruling I've been mailed.
- clyde2801, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3So, should the lawyers get the money, or Bill Gates? That, my friends, is what they call an ethical dilemma.
- redavni, on 10/12/2007, -10/+7Just another example of idiots who don't understand how computers work are doing there best to make sure America doesn't stay #1 in the software business.
Whether you like it or not, Windows is the most complex piece of software ever developed by the human species. It probably contains more lines of code than every book written by every human on earth in the last 15 years.
My first PC was an Apple II+, I dual bootted DOS/Slackware for years, I used OS/2 to run a 2 node BBS back in the day. Before SLIP/PPP was invented I dialed into various types of Unix boxes to connect to the Net for years. I even ran Deskview (sp?) for a bit. I have used Windows since 95B (Memphis), and haven't looked back.
Based on my experience, I submit that until recently (after MS invested $100M in Apple a few years back) there has never been a viable competitor to Windows for the average person. Not because of economics. but because Microsoft was the only company with enough money to invest in developing software.
So ***** all of you intellectually challenged asshats who lash out at MS because of your own insecurity about your low IQ.
p.s. I am an American, and a computer programmer. - webo1224, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0http://www.greatdogsite.com
- josef44, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2If I wanted to be buried, who would I speak with?
- hdtroll, on 10/12/2007, -11/+5Woot for Iowa!
- InfidelAl, on 10/12/2007, -12/+5What, do they not sell Apple or Linux products in Iowa? Or maybe they don't have Internet access in Iowa so they can't download the free apps that do the same functions as those in Office.
This decision is just absurd...
This will teach you companies to be sucessful!!!
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