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23 Comments
- nTensify, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19It's about time Microsoft buys some more innovation, they've been running low over the past few years.
- RegisteredUser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Anyone remember that episode of The Simpsons where Bill Gates "buys out" Homer's internet business? :-)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/83/Simpsons_5F11_Das_Bus.jpg - hasanahmad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Google doesnt have the money to buy Microsoft's infrastructure, even 25% of it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11New flash: Big-ass clueless companies buy smaller ones.
Just like Apple bought Final Cut Pro from Macromedia.
And it bought iTunes from some German company.
And it bought Logic from eMagic.
And it bought Shake from Nothing Real.
And Adobe merged with its co-moron in development, Macromedia.
Grow the ***** up. - chadu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5their cup runneth over. this with the stock buyback.... hmmm what's going on over there?
- plasmatic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This reminds me of that simpsons episode when Bill Gates comes to 'buy' Homer's company and ends up just smashing everything. I can't really remember what happend but it was funny :P
- dotnetnoob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3And Microsoft's purchase last year of collaboration-software company Groove Networks Inc. has become particularly notable because of the person who came with it -- Ray Ozzie, who has now succeeded Bill Gates as chief software architect, as part of the Microsoft chairman's transition to full-time philanthropy.
this is one interesting little nugget. whether you love Uncle Billy or hate him, you can't deny the fact that Windows and Microsoft + Intel pretty much bring computer to the mass from DOS to Windows 3.1 to Win95 and now Vista. Uncle Billy did what Steve Jobs couldn't or won't do by selling PC on cheap hardware that actually did quite a few amazing thing. you youngnuns probably don't remeber what old school software look like. it's not your pretty GUI based software today that everyone can pickup/learn quickly and heck Microsoft OS was pretty cheap if you compare Unix OS back in da day.
it's really sad that Uncle Billy is leaving in his prime, he is in what his late 40s? he is still healthy and on top of his game (biz wise) and it seem like Uncle Billy is like Mike (Jordan) leaving the game when he is still on top.
i guess that's a good thing. leaving Microsoft while Microsoft is not sinking yet...or maybe Uncle Steve can get the house in order. i hate to see a legend leaving in his prime tho...
love him or hate him, Uncle Billy is something. - dnaspydir, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3ok, so is there news hidden in there somewhere or what?
- dotnetnoob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2well..let's put it this way. you need to throw many ***** out there to see which one stick. who is to say that Windows/Office comobo will be their cash cow forever? Microsoft is too big to just stay in one area. this is why rail road biz back in industry revolution failed when they don't reliase rail road company are in transporting biz. when truck/airplane starting to take off, they can't compete because they don't throw any ***** out there to see which one stick.
Enron cooked their book, MS have enought cash to buy as many small companies as they want. heck they can even buy out RedHat and make it Windows Linux.
just think about why Google buy other companies that doesn't relate to search? - imjustsayin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2You do, of course, realize that Microsoft is worth twice as much as Google? This is true even at Google's currently artificially high stock price.
Microsoft also has several times more revenue, profit, and cash than Google. - nTensify, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Except for the fact that there's little or no more incentive to invent anything once you've been bought out by a fat, rich corporation. Sit back on your ass for the rest of your life and live off the interest from your acquisition (well, if you're high enough in the company to effect anything; if you're a low level pion coder, you're likely to get thrown into the Microsoft Resource Reallocation Pool and/or fired).
When competition is cutthroat, it's every man for himself, invent or be outpaced. When you're on top, all you've got to do is stay on top; do whatever your competitor's doing, even if it's half assed. As long as you've got a name like Microsoft on your side, your clients will keep purchasing your product regardless if it's crap or not.
If Microsoft were serious about helping invention/innovation, it'd invest in these companies instead. Don't buy them out, give them a set amount of funds based on a fixed goal structure. They meet the goal, they get more cash, Microsoft gets to say they helped in construction of it and the company keeps innovating (because it still has to). In fact, it'd make a hell of a lot of sense for Microsoft to spin off a computer and information technology venture captial fund much as Google has with its own Google.org funds. - Yez70, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2
I think I'll go get some MSFT stock now... - TheZorch, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Or, Uncle Billy knows something we don't. Perhaps that Microsoft isn't invulnerable. Mark my words, it is not an invulnerable company and with all of the problems they have having with Vista, their backstabbing of the digital music industry with the Zune, all the EU antitrust mess, and their idiotic fight with Google. They've spread too thin and when a company gets too big eventually it reaches a point where it could very easily fall. It happened to Kmart, Enron, Worldcom, and many many other companies who grew massive and look invincible but fell so fast and so hard. Not all that fell died, but like Kmart they won't be the same again.
- axemachine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yes, it's just better to make someone else product useless with your new OS upgrade instead and encourage developers that way. At least they are getting money for their effort this way.
- ThankTheCheese, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3I love the way Ballmer says "We are buying more companies than we have ever bought," like it's something to be proud of. How about you try and invent something yourself Microsoft?
- dotnetnoob, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4are you 12? Nothing wrong with buying invention.
- IcerC, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1If they find search techcrunch then bam!!! Windows owns the entire web2.0.
I think they need to start searching. They need live to outdo google, they need more! Hungry hungry silly ms. - imjustsayin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0It's just investment. Microsoft has a ton of cash, and it doesn't make sense to have it all sitting around as cash. Might as well have it working for them. Seems like pretty straight forward business to me.
- ramprage, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Something tells me that they didn't want to pay a lot of tax so they ended up finding all this cash at the year end and decided - lets just buy more products/companies so it shows up as a expense ;)
- Sagags, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I wonder how much longer intell google buys our microsoft
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4it's "shopping spree", not "buying spree"
- TH3W1R3D, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4Yeah thats true
- wtf00, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2hey microsft, if you in MOOD to spend some cash... send a check to me for 5k so I pay off my debt.. hehe.
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