100 replies to this topic

[Chambolle]

Actually, we've been hearing it from Microsoft all summer.

You haven't been hearing squat from Microsoft. Lees says a tablet should be a PC. Big surprise. Big whoop. His content-free comment was a big nothing. Further, Lees runs mobile. Sinofsky run the Windows division. Nothing leaks from Sinofsky's division. Until now ...

Because MSFT just started their BUILD conference. There are now 5000 Windows 8 Samsung tablets in the wild (with developers). It's real. And it's coming in 2012. It wouldn't be fun for MSFT if they didn't give Apple a big fat headstart. Hey iPaperweight, do you hear the earth trembling? That's the Windows 8 juggernaut on your tail.

Some people are unwilling to go out on a limb and make a call. Not Chambo.

I'm not sure I have 36 months for the stock to rebound. Can you move that schedule up a bit?

Just sit back, earn your big fat dividend (a soon to be increased dividend, at that) and be patient. You won't regret it in the longterm. An enterprise value of $180b that yielded $27b of cash flow last year. You do the math. Investors are effectively saying that MSFT will implode. Chambo's response: Negative!

Nearterm, PC units are indeed looking ugly. But Windows has one billion users. That's a billion with a b. An installed base like that don't disappear quickly. Heck, effing mainframes are still around. Microsoft over the long haul: Chambo likes.

What are you going to do? Invest in T-bills? MSFT yields more than T-bills and the Uncle Sam will go bankrupt before MSFT does. I normally charge for advice like this. You owe me dinner.

[tsquare]

What are you going to do? Invest in T-bills? MSFT yields more than T-bills and the Uncle Sam will go bankrupt before MSFT does. I normally charge for advice like this. You owe me dinner.

I've been holding my stock (and added to it) since '95 or so. Sadly, my sis and Dad both sold their first year stock way too soon. But thanks for the confirmation. Talking to the home-town team here.
I'll happily buy you dinner in 36 months - if you can collect. And if you can't, the stock price won't make any difference to me.

[GG Mora]

Didn't MSFT launch an mp3 player that was destined to take down the iPod? Just sayin'.

[Chambolle]

Microsoft and music - it sounds strange to me. It has a funny ring to it, doesn't it? It was in interesting sideline for them. Just entertainment.

Microsoft and operating systems - this is their heart and soul. This is their beating, pumping heart. If they screw this up a la Vista, they could be toast. The market will pass them by. Enormous chips are on the line for the boys from Redmond. Long ago, CEO Ballmer called Windows 8 the company's biggest risk ever. Ballmer will be so gone if Windows 8 doesn't come out of the Gates quick and get early traction. This is the case study that future Harvard B-School students will be studying for years to come. Gentlemen, place your bets, the roulette wheel is spinning. Gentlemen, start your engines.

(Frankly, just between me and you, it's a coin toss.)

[g.johnson]

Microsoft and operating systems - this is their heart and soul. This is their beating, pumping heart.

Then why are they always so fucking awful? DOS was a poor copy of RT11 that couldn't even handle multitasking. No one remembers Windows 1. All Windows 2 was was a file browser with a fish application that you had to quit to run any real program. After ten years of trying Windows 3 actually worked (fanfare). But then they had to deal with networking with the result of the dog that was NT. Vista, of course, was a disaster even by Microsoft standards.

[Daniel]

Wifey has an IPAD, I have the Mac Air.. The IPAD is a glorified Iphone.. The Mac Air is a computer.. The mac air is super portable.. A little large than an IPAD but, neither will fit in your pocket.. If you have an Mac Air Book, an IPAD is a nice companion but, it does not replace a computer.. If you have to choose between a computer and an IPAD, I don't think it's a discussion..

[g.johnson]

I use them for different things. The Mac Air is a real computer as you say, and I use it as such. But It's horribly clunky as an ebook reader and is more than is necessary for email, which is what I use the iPad for, especially on vacation.

[Daniel]

I use them for different things. The Mac Air is a real computer as you say, and I use it as such. But It's horribly clunky as an ebook reader and is more than is necessary for email, which is what I use the iPad for, especially on vacation.

True, true.. Miss A uses it as a reader as well..

[Stone]

Microsoft and operating systems - this is their heart and soul. This is their beating, pumping heart.

Then why are they always so fucking awful? DOS was a poor copy of RT11 that couldn't even handle multitasking. No one remembers Windows 1. All Windows 2 was was a file browser with a fish application that you had to quit to run any real program. After ten years of trying Windows 3 actually worked (fanfare). But then they had to deal with networking with the result of the dog that was NT. Vista, of course, was a disaster even by Microsoft standards.

Yet look how the world has changed riding on the back of MS operating systems.

[g.johnson]

Microsoft and operating systems - this is their heart and soul. This is their beating, pumping heart.

Then why are they always so fucking awful? DOS was a poor copy of RT11 that couldn't even handle multitasking. No one remembers Windows 1. All Windows 2 was was a file browser with a fish application that you had to quit to run any real program. After ten years of trying Windows 3 actually worked (fanfare). But then they had to deal with networking with the result of the dog that was NT. Vista, of course, was a disaster even by Microsoft standards.

Yet look how the world has changed riding on the back of MS operating systems.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

[Chambolle]

Windows - a billion users with a b. A billion people think it's the best thing.

Who's better? How many users do they have? Oh, the marketplace is just a mirage, right?

Maybe this stuff is difficult. Maybe supporting every single permutation of third-party hardware devices and software (tens of thousands of each) with forward compatibility ain't easy.

Why don't you just start an operating system company and show us how it's done.

[Anthony Bonner]

Windows - a billion users with a b. A billion people think it's the best thing.

Who's better? How many users do they have? Oh, the marketplace is just a mirage, right?

Maybe this stuff is difficult. Maybe supporting every single permutation of third-party hardware devices and software (tens of thousands of each) with forward compatibility ain't easy.

Why don't you just start an operating system company and show us how it's done.

chambo you of all people should recognize the futility of arguing with Apple-hadis. More likely to change minds in the West Bank then you are in those who bow to cupertino.

[Wilfrid]

You haven't been hearing squat from Microsoft. Lees says a tablet should be a PC. Big surprise. Big whoop. His content-free comment was a big nothing. Further, Lees runs mobile. Sinofsky run the Windows division. Nothing leaks from Sinofsky's division. Until now ...

I can't help it if you haven't been paying attention. Windows 8 is more clearly geared to tablets than PCs, and - Lees point - Microsoft is aiming to create an OS that is platform-agnostic, for desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile. That's where we need to see if they can deliver.

Not a leak. A preview from last June:



eta: Actually, this is a better link for what Lees said ("A single eco-system..." etc).

[g.johnson]

Windows - a billion users with a b. A billion people think it's the best thing.

Who's better? How many users do they have? Oh, the marketplace is just a mirage, right?

Even Adam Smith didn't believe that crap. Mind you, he had a brain.

Maybe this stuff is difficult. Maybe supporting every single permutation of third-party hardware devices and software (tens of thousands of each) with forward compatibility ain't easy.

Why don't you just start an operating system company and show us how it's done.

Unix managed it in 1973 and it's still going and growing.

[Anthony Bonner]

Unix managed it in 1973 and it's still going and growing.

remind me to start teaching my mother UNIX