What is Digg?91 Comments
- LemonHerb, on 10/12/2007, -9/+25Try scrolling half a page down maybe?
- ckohler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18It's a common misconception, but Microsoft doesn't own any of Apple.
In 1997, Microsoft made a deal with Apple where by Apple would sell Microsoft $150 million in shares of non-voting Apple stock to Microsoft. In return Microsoft pledged to produce Office and other apps for the Mac up to five years and Apple agreed to make IE the default browser on the Mac. The deal also required Microsoft to sell the stocks at the end of the deal. In 2002 the deal ended and MS sold the stocks (at a profit).
Today, Microsoft does not own any significant amount of Apple and since non-voting stocks can't make business decisions they never had any real stake in the company. - cpawl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10It's a common misconception, but Microsoft doesn't own any of Apple.
In 1997, Microsoft made a deal with Apple where by Apple would sell Microsoft $150 million in shares of non-voting Apple stock to Microsoft. In return Microsoft pledged to produce Office and other apps for the Mac up to five years and Apple agreed to make IE the default browser on the Mac. The deal also required Microsoft to sell the stocks at the end of the deal. In 2002 the deal ended and MS sold the stocks (at a profit).
Today, Microsoft does not own any significant amount of Apple and since non-voting stocks can't make business decisions they never had any real stake in the company.
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Exactly.
Another reason Microsoft agreed to help "revive" Apple was to promote fair competition. Without Apple, Microsoft is indeed a true monopoly. Having Apple around is good business for Microsoft. - kowgod, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11What's so strange about it? It's a media outlet with a very targeted demographic. I'm not sure how Microsoft leverages it's investment in BET, but if you can craft a message aimed at the black community, BET would be an ideal outlet for that message.
Are you surprised that white Bill Gates owned Microsoft would invest in BET, or that black people might use Microsoft products and services?
Please explain, because I find your comment strange. - Edogz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Microsoft just bought shares of Apple. (That doesn't mean they OWN Apple, they just have investments in it.)
- gamerzworld, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Who in the hell put digg on there??????
*edit* I removed Digg from the list - SupaDawg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9BET? damn... thats a strange investment by Microsoft.
wicked find.
Digg - marnaq, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Google_Inc
- ollywompus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Here we go again, Digg edits ***** up Wikipedia.
Can't we, for once, just read the damned article withouth ***** editing it? There's no reason that there should be 10 edits from Digg people today just because we linked it.
-olly - info, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Missed one... The SCO Group.
;-) - info, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Yes... joking.
SCO Group is the company who said Linux infringes on their copyrights and started suing everybody a few years back. - Raian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Fat Nuts inc... nice one bill
- echeese, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Heh. I saw CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet (1998) in there.
- coneil, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7He wasn't asking, he was simply pointing out his fascination for the investment list versus the "asset" list as mentioned by the title.
If a Digger was a species, it would be a cannibal - Ilyanep, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Acquisitions_by_Google
- TheCount, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I don't see what's wierd about owning interest in BET. It kills MTV on a lot of levels. Their "TRL" show effectively brought MTV's TRL to its knees a few summers ago.
It's not about targeting a market, it's just a good investment. The channel grew exponentially a while back when everyone thought the whole concept was a joke. - ckohler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6You're wrong h2d2.
While Apple hadn't made a profit in years, it was still sitting on a nest egg of several billion in available cash options. The famous Time magazine article that came out right after the keynote read as if the "generous" $150M investment from the mighty Bill Gates was all that the struggling Apple needed to get back on its feet.
Isn't that a more compelling story than a deal about software tie-ins and out-of-court copyright infringement settlements? Because that's exactly what the real deal was about. Ultimately, the $150M investment was nothing but a proof to Wall Street that MS had a "vested interest" in Apple and solidified the agreement. That's all.
What you and so many others tend to miss is that what ultimately saved Apple wasn't the temporary stock Microsoft brought but a return of strong leadership to the company (via Jobs) and the run-away success of the original Bondi Blue iMac which was released just six months later.
I'll say it again... it's a common misconception. - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Hey, that's not complete...I didn't see a single Congressmen or Senators name on that list..
- Toshibi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yes, they are invested in Google.
- TheCount, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5and people wonder why Wiki will never be considered a valid source for anything research critical.
- MrCobaltBlue, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Forgot one: your soul.
- srneu71, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3They have a stake in Baystar which has a stake in SCOX.
- orbitalleader, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Microsoft itself lists its investments, along with press releases and more information:
http://www.microsoft.com/msft/InvestmentandAcquisitionsList.mspx
Many of the "investments" didn't actually involve cash and were more the lines of strategic partnerships. - tomvendetta, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Very nice. Any google?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2CTRL+F the page next time...
- meechp123, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Bill and Melinda Gates are strong supporters of the minority population. With the Gates Millennium Scholars Program and various investments (such as BET), The Gates' have shown interest in the minority community and I commend them for their efforts.
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Microsoft doesn't own anything on that list except for everything in the "Acquisitions" category (arguably they "own" the trademark on the names, but really this is more of a government lease.. they have to give it back after so many years or renew it).
However, since Microsoft happens to be one of the largest American companies, they have invested a lot of money in a lot of other companies. This is called "Diversification", and it is to insure that no one investment tanks and takes the business down with it. It also gives Microsoft a lot of clout inside of companies where they own 'voting shares', which is very important when your company is trying to jump into other areas of business (which Microsoft is always trying to do, especially since the only profittable area of their business is the Software Division, and even more specifically Windows and Office).
However, none of this is news, and every time someone on Digg links to Wikipedia, it not only costs Wikipedia money in bandwidth (and Wikimedia is already barely scraping by), it often slows down Wikipedia for those who are legitimately using it, and the practice should be terminated (either by Digg preventing links to Wikipedia, or by Wikipedia blocking the Digg referrer). Mozilla's Bugzilla has had to do the same thing with Slashdot, due to the frequency of people at Slashdot posting links to Bugzilla articles (which again, are usually not news, and are working documents of the company).
Let's at least /try/ to be a responsible site on the Internet. - hordak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2A lot of investments appear to have happened during the "dot com" era; so, a lot of those just carried over. That was a time when everybody and their grandmother had their fingers in some sort of investment.
- bobertfishbone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Interesting how the vast majority of these investments/acquisitions happened in or prior to 2001.
- kowgod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3NBC is in that list, as well as a Mexican television network. It's all just marketing and leveraging your connections to reach your target audience.
- phool, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2edit, someone already posted it about digg, who is f'n that up
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Ha ha. You said "Wang".
- MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1haha wikipedia link! I bet it's incorrect. Btw, aren't some of those companies that make spyware? o.O
- aguita, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I noticed that Digg (2004) was put into the acquisitions.
Edit:
Nice timing Gamerzworld. 8) - Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3actully its investing in radioshack doesnt own it probobly same for apple too
- tsupersonic, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Since 1994, Microsoft has acquired over 60 companies, including:
* Access Software (1999)
* ActiveViews (2004)
* aha! Software (1996)
* Altamira (1994)
* Apple (2006)
Oh oh, Apple? Someone must've edited it. Good they changed it - vanflyheight13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh good god, my ISP's a Microsoft underling!
- xelloss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Fat Nuts Inc
- terinjokes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3yes, apple...i remember something about a keynote not to long ago on the homepage
- Jams, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@adml_shake
Actually the report that published that was falsified, read a story about it the other day.. - appleswitch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Microsoft invested in google, their current sworn enemy and a company likely to force Microsoft to meet their final demise :D I love the irony
- mkjones, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeh, I noticed this with there Apple investment too.
Without the £150m Apple would have probably been in real trouble but as soon as they made friends with Microsoft in 1997 soon after we had the iMac and the new iMay style G4s. They never looked back since then. Microsoft really did them a favor and all of us as well.
It was nice of them to feed who are becoming there biggest threat to home desktop domination. - orangetiki, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I always have a hard time reading anything in Wikipedia. You never know if it's true or not. I.E. Adam Curry
- phad3rs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I had my fun with this one. ]:)
- SCARECR0W, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This pretty clearly shows the inherent problem in the concept of the Wiki.
- Jams, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Didn't Microsoft have dealings with SCO back in the Xenix days?
- mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2he's talking about the year being "2006". it's supposed to 1997.
- usermike2098, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1hey there's my name!
- minimaximus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, what a bunch of moronic, childish crowd you guys are (the ones editing the Wiki with all your stupid crap).
Grow up. -
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