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Microsoft's Facebook Lust: It's Just Like High School

wired.com — If you hang around the tech industry long enough, you realize: It's just like high school. These grown men and women may have millions or billions of dollars, but it's the same old set of dramas on a bigger canvas. Which seems exactly the way to view the action these days around the Microsoft-Yahoo-Facebook ordeal.

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  • ZakNicola, on 05/08/2008, -7/+15FaceBook is a hottie now and Steve can't get her now.. hahaha great twist on the story.
    • dafragsta, on 05/08/2008, -2/+13A hottie who can't keep her mouth shut and has no concern for privacy. I just found out about the beacon thing today. It kinda freaked me out.
      • jimthenglishman, on 05/08/2008, -1/+9i remember that… i was on a website and it told me it was posting something on my facebook…
        i said "the hell you are" and blocked beacon immediately…
    • matt.rubin, on 05/08/2008, -0/+53myspace is the slut that everyone has done and is sick of now cause she is full of HIV and viruses
      • blakeage, on 05/08/2008, -3/+2but she's the most popular slut. i'd also argue that facebook is equally a whore
  • vikblazin, on 05/08/2008, -9/+6are you saying that high school doesn't end?
    *****...
  • sure13, on 05/08/2008, -10/+1In other news, water is wet.
  • Knossos, on 05/08/2008, -17/+3Bowling For Soup - High School Never Ends?
  • wezman2, on 05/08/2008, -8/+5Zuckerberg has no interest in selling. Never has, not going to say never will, but certainly won't until it's very obvious that Facebook has peaked.
  • jordanmerle, on 05/08/2008, -9/+6What does facebook sell again?
    • madchedar0, on 05/08/2008, -3/+11Advertisement space to a young, hip demographic with disposable income
      • jordanmerle, on 05/08/2008, -2/+8College students have disposable income? Since when?
        • tech42er, on 05/08/2008, -1/+2Wow. Please tell me you're not in marketing. College students are one of the most prized demographics due to their disposable income, brand loyalty, and lack of major expenses.
          • jordanmerle, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1If by disposable income you mean credit. To have disposable income one must have a source of income which the vast majority of students do not. Sure they get money from their parents but not many work, at least not from my experiences at UCI, UCLA, and UCSB. I agree that they might be a prized demographic on your other accounts but this is not do to "disposable" income.
    • dafragsta, on 05/08/2008, -4/+5Advertising and $1 novelty icons under the guys of drinks, chocolates, t-shirts and other stupid ***** that people buy for $1. Oh, wait, you are one of those naysayers who doesn't think the internet has a business model yet network TV does. What do they sell again?
      • jordanmerle, on 05/08/2008, -2/+5Worse yet, right now Facebook is a friggin Ponzi scheme, with Facebook's venture-funded apps partners making money primarily by selling ads to, um, Facebook's other venture-funded apps partners. And voila, like that, everyone's making money! Can you say shell game? Moreover, Facebook itself is being propped up and kept alive by the Borg, simply so it can serve as a thorn in Google's side. And frankly the Borg will be happy to keep this thing alive and to help Z-Boy and his backers make obscene billions as long as Facebook saps energy from Google and distracts them and draws away their talent. Z-Boy, clever fellow that he is, is happy to serve as the Borg's proxy in its war against Google, so long as he's richly compensated, which he will be. He spotted a war between giants and cleverly turned that to his own advantage. Well played, kid.

        -Secret Diary of Fake Steve Jobs

    • colto, on 05/08/2008, -2/+4page views
    • danubecities, on 05/08/2008, -0/+15They sell your privacy.
    • BlueSkyfish, on 05/08/2008, -1/+4Information. Companies want to know what types of people buy certain things so they can market them more effectively. Information selling is a multi-billion dollar industry, in case you don't know.
    • erietta, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1It sells really un-targetted advertisements.
  • eminiguy, on 05/08/2008, -9/+2MS at it again? Boy, that does show that these fellows are desparate, doesn't it? Well, what do I care? As long as their sleazy wet hands stay off Yahoo!, they can do whatever they want.
    • anillop, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1How is this an act of desperation. They have tons of cash and need to spend it. You obviously have no idea what desperation means.
      • eminiguy, on 05/08/2008, -1/+1Yep, English is my third foreign language and I am retarded, so I agree: I have no clue what desparation means. I hope that makes you feel much better. If you have no arguments, arguing your case by saying others are clueless is a classic example of desparation. But again, what do I know? BTW, the cash you are talking about can also be spent on innovation. Ever thought about it?
  • ndiderrich, on 05/08/2008, -8/+1Myspace is corrupting the youth.
  • ladbroke, on 05/08/2008, -6/+23Ugh. This seems so pointless. Can MS get out of this game and just concentrate on making a decent new OS? Pretty please?

    At a certain point you have your fingers in so many pies that you end up not eating any of them, you just end up ***** up a whole bunch of perfectly good pies that other people were perfectly happy eating.
    • Melun91, on 05/08/2008, -0/+4Interesting. I'd never thought about fingering pies before... but now it seems strangely appealing.
      • DCstewieG, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2Somebody please tell me "American Pie" isn't really that old....
    • ternaryworks, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2This is most certainly one of the single best quotes I've ever read.
    • etx313, on 05/08/2008, -0/+3The people working on Windows are not the same people trying to buy web properties.
    • grumpyrain, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1My 2c, this move is probably just talk. What do you think will happen to Yahoo!'s share price now that Microsoft have spent a large chunk of the money originally earmarked for Yahoo! on some other company?
  • RicardoWilliams, on 05/08/2008, -4/+2blah blah blah...
  • mimigins, on 05/08/2008, -3/+4So instead of just Facebook harboring personal data, Microsoft can have it too...
  • GopherGod, on 05/08/2008, -4/+2I personally like the idea of mixing somehow in some combination... Facebook/Exchange/Outlook/Windows Mobile/Hotmail.... setting up events... ect... getting email within facebook... never updating contact info for friends, letting them do it themselves. I would like to see what would happen personally.
  • mrloco, on 05/08/2008, -3/+2Funny that facebook is a bit like high school.
  • SuperJimmyJimbo, on 05/08/2008, -2/+23good thing Digg isn't anything like High School
    • gasin, on 05/08/2008, -0/+3I am so grown up that I am gonna digg you up! ;)
    • SirWho, on 05/08/2008, -0/+8Shut up NERD! *Kisses hot girlfriend *Throws football
  • sure13, on 05/08/2008, -3/+1graveyard FTW
  • sfgeek, on 05/08/2008, -8/+11If MS gets facebook, I'm deleting my account the day the deal is done. I don't want MS getting a shred of my info or a penny of my dollar. They've made the industry the epic suck that it is now, the last thing the world needs is more exposure.

    MS hires plenty of smart people that seem to turn insta-dumb as soon as they absorb the culture. It's a shame.
    • GopherGod, on 05/08/2008, -3/+6What do you think Google does with your info? And why would you trust them? Because their slogan is "Don't be evil?" Please....
    • skiblur, on 05/08/2008, -3/+0Exactly. They hire hella smart people. What they fail to realize is that innovation requires smart AND CREATIVE people. So the ubergeek super number cruncher may be able to solve impossible equations, but it doesn't do jack for improvements or consumer benefit when the person has the personality of a rock.
    • Feej, on 05/08/2008, -1/+1Wow, did you copy/paste your comment from one of the many MS / Yahoo threads?
  • JasonCox, on 05/08/2008, -0/+7Except unlike high school, this chick will actually make you money instead of sucking your wallet, not you, dry and then running off and getting gangbanged by the football team.
    • SpookyPig, on 05/08/2008, -0/+3=[
      you just brought back some bad memories
    • synwolf, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1I dunno...that sounds like a pretty accurate description of MySpace to me.
  • Modestexcuse, on 05/08/2008, -2/+2I despise Facebook. I use digg to keep up with my friends. (ok, let it fly!)
  • HarleyQuinn, on 05/08/2008, -1/+1So, if we combine the Facebook CIA Money Trail Conspiracy. Microsoft's new USB Tool for Law Enforcement. Border Searches of Laptops. The fact that (unfortunately) most computer users do use a Windows based PC. You have the making of a great Conspiracy Theory. FUN!
  • Mr_Lyle, on 05/08/2008, -1/+5As soon as you get outta high school, you quickly realize that life is exactly like high school. There are the same dramas, the same bullies at works. ***** bosses replace ***** teachers as authority figures. Nothing changes. It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor or what your job is. It's all the same on a different canvas. If you're in high school and some adult authority figure tells you "highschool isn't life" feel free to confidently tell him "***** you, you're wrong"
    • zerobackup, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1Amazingly I find the axact opposite is true. In high school you're foced to see all of these assholes every day. After you get out you're free to move within any social circle you like, and you're not forced to hang out with people you don't get along with. As for the ***** boss thing, you'd be surprised how easy is it to deal with an ***** boss. If you just hunker down, do your job, and ignore ll the dumb ***** they say. You can have a great time at work!
      • Mr_Lyle, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1I agree with what you're saying but I find it just strengthens my point. At work you also have to see your ***** coworkers and bosses on a daily basis. And like in school, after it's over, you're not forced to hang out with them and you just move around within any social circle you like. It's the same thing. And you're right about ***** bosses too but again, you get the teachers off your back by hunkering down and doing your work and ignoring the rest of the crap. It's pretty much just like high school, hehe.
    • tech42er, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2Yeah, the band sucks but the song is just so ***** appropriate:

      4 Years you think for sure
      That's all you've got to endure
      All the Total Dicks
      All the Stuck-up Chicks
      So superficial, so immature
      Then When you graduate,
      Ya take a look around and you say "Hey Wait!"
      This is the same as where I just came from,
      I thought it was over, Aw that's just great.

      The Whole Damned World is just as obsessed
      With who‘s the best dressed and who's having sex
      Who‘s got the money. Who gets the Honeys,
      Who‘s kinda cute and who‘s just a mess

      And you still don't have the right look
      And you don't have the right friends
      Nothing changes but the faces, the names, and the trends
      High School Never Ends
  • FredFredrickson, on 05/08/2008, -0/+3Must be a slow day at wired.
  • Hangly, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2High school is an appropriate analogy for business, politics, and every other human activity I can think of.
  • lopla, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1I use facebook but hate that the owner is a Bushbot rightwinger. Now MSFT is about to take over? Salt in the wounds. Time to find another network.
  • ITFeed, on 05/09/2008, -0/+0Hahaha pretty hilarious. Maybe Steve should date digg just to make facebook and Yahoo jealous.
  • znicket, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Isn't this just a ploy? They feign interest in Facebook for some weeks before coming back to Yahoo with an ever lower offer than before? Yahoo will have, by then, a lower stock value and perhaps some changes in the leadership.
  • pudds, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1I feel dumber having read that.
  •  

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