PDA

View Full Version : Microsoftie gossip ..



JustinMoco
December 31st, 2007, 03:58 PM
Due to my location (Thames Valley) I know alot of Microsoft Employees. Besides alot of "Jokes" about "Edsel" in the last few weeks there has been some real FEAR among some people. Friends of my Daughters where both parents work for Microsoft, the mother wispered to my wife that there were rumours of layoffs at microsoft.

Other softies continually assure me that the technologie cycle will speed up again ..

Has anyone else heard stuff like this ?

Mateo
December 31st, 2007, 04:07 PM
... I hope you're not taking joy in the fact that some people might be losing their jobs....

Toffeeapple
December 31st, 2007, 04:18 PM
the end is nigh..

doomed.. doomed.. we're all doomed..

JustinMoco
December 31st, 2007, 04:40 PM
... I hope you're not taking joy in the fact that some people might be losing their jobs....

None whatsoever :) Especially since there is a massive IT skills shortage in this country, I couldn;t see any of them unemployed for long.

I'm more interested in how the computer industry is changing ..

On the other hand .. I'd love to see the person who thought up the paperclip thing queueing up outside the dole office ..

shingalated
December 31st, 2007, 04:46 PM
I <3 doom...

LaRoza
December 31st, 2007, 04:49 PM
On the other hand .. I'd love to see the person who thought up the paperclip thing queueing up outside the dole office ..

What is a dole office?

And what is this paper clip you speak of?

tdrusk
December 31st, 2007, 04:56 PM
And what is this paper clip you speak of?

Maybe the one in office?
This one?
http://www.clipstr.com/videos/TheMicrosoftOfficePaperclip/

Toffeeapple
December 31st, 2007, 04:57 PM
What is a dole office?

And what is this paper clip you speak of?

Dole office = unemployment centre = benefits office = social security office ..

Paper Clip = little piece of metal that you use to hold a few pieces of paper together..

Toffeeapple
December 31st, 2007, 04:58 PM
now I have 13 beans.

LaRoza
December 31st, 2007, 05:11 PM
Dole office = unemployment centre = benefits office = social security office ..

Paper Clip = little piece of metal that you use to hold a few pieces of paper together..

I was joking about the Paper clip, as I am a Linux user and don't use office.

I didn't know about the dole office (that phrase), since they are in the USA, I imagine they would "line up" a the "unemployment office". :)

kamaboko
December 31st, 2007, 05:15 PM
None whatsoever :) Especially since there is a massive IT skills shortage in this country, I couldn;t see any of them unemployed for long.

I'm more interested in how the computer industry is changing ..

On the other hand .. I'd love to see the person who thought up the paperclip thing queueing up outside the dole office ..

There's not a massive IT shortage in the US. I know several people that lost their IT jobs to outsourcing and are still looking for work. Most of them have certs and experience (10+ years) up the yen yang. They' are very qualified.

markusf21
December 31st, 2007, 05:17 PM
I would love too see Microsoft go belly up. Not because I want to see all those people out of work but because it would mean one less evil empire. Besides as stated above, those people would not be unemployed very long.

kamaboko
December 31st, 2007, 05:22 PM
I would love too see Microsoft go belly up. Not because I want to see all those people out of work but because it would mean one less evil empire. Besides as stated above, those people would not be unemployed very long.

If MS went **** up, it would bring the world to a grinding stop. Think about all the government agencies, small business (around the world), and international corporations that use it. A friend of mine writes financial software programs for major hospitals in the US all based on the MS platform. Without that software these hospitals would stop.

LaRoza
December 31st, 2007, 05:25 PM
If MS went **** up, it would bring the world to a grinding stop. Think about all the government agencies, small business (around the world), and international corporations that use it. A friend of mine writes financial software programs for major hospitals in the US all based on the MS platform. Without that software these hospitals would stop.

....if MS went knees up, it wouldn't be as you said. The software they are using would suddenly disappear.

It would be difficult to transition, yes, but they could work with it for a while.

Many places still use Windows 2000, and using XP and Vista for the transition period (up to 10 years) wouldn't be so bad.

Also, other software companies would still produce.

LinuxMonk
December 31st, 2007, 06:07 PM
....if MS went knees up, it wouldn't be as you said. The software they are using would suddenly disappear.

It would be difficult to transition, yes, but they could work with it for a while.

Many places still use Windows 2000, and using XP and Vista for the transition period (up to 10 years) wouldn't be so bad.

Also, other software companies would still produce.

You're exactly right. Always amusing how people start predicting the end of the computing world if anyone mentions a future without Micro$oft. For all those people who work there: yes I would feel for them. They'd have a rude awakening when they went to work for other software firms who were competing with MS. "What, no huge marketing dept.?"

LaRoza
December 31st, 2007, 07:13 PM
You're exactly right.

I love hearing that....

If MS were to suddenly disappear, there would be problems, but nothing that couldn't be managed.

markusf21
December 31st, 2007, 07:20 PM
MS going belly up would not be the end of the world. Windows would still be around for a while. This would just mean that Linux and Apple get bigger.

HermanAB
December 31st, 2007, 07:21 PM
Software doesn't wear out. Even if One Microsoft Way gets nuked by friendly space aliens today, it will be a total non-event to most people in the world.

jeffus_il
December 31st, 2007, 07:22 PM
It would be good for windows, no code changes, and logically no added bugs ...

Methuselah
December 31st, 2007, 07:22 PM
Of course microsoft wan't suddenly disappear, just eventually become less relevant. All monopolies that are not state endorsed tend to lose their grip after a while (even sometimes state endorsed entities go away when the state itself kicks the bucket). The causes can range from change in government legislation, to unexpected competition to fatigued and discontented users.

graphikeye
December 31st, 2007, 09:04 PM
Well if Microsoft were to dissappear off the map other companies would most certainly step in to fill the gap. And yes, Microsoft has been outsourcing for quite a while now so I wouldn't be surprised at the lay-offs.

HermanAB
December 31st, 2007, 09:19 PM
They should start the lay-offs in the Vista department. MS is a mainly a software marketing company. They are hopeless at software development.

allforcarrie
January 1st, 2008, 07:05 AM
They should start the lay-offs in the Vista department. MS is a mainly a software marketing company. They are hopeless at software development.
how true.

macogw
January 1st, 2008, 07:54 AM
Due to my location (Thames Valley) I know alot of Microsoft Employees. Besides alot of "Jokes" about "Edsel" in the last few weeks there has been some real FEAR among some people. Friends of my Daughters where both parents work for Microsoft, the mother wispered to my wife that there were rumours of layoffs at microsoft.

Other softies continually assure me that the technologie cycle will speed up again ..

Has anyone else heard stuff like this ?

WTF is "edsel"?

Erdaron
January 1st, 2008, 08:47 AM
Wikipedia says Edsel was a Ford brand of cars made in the late 50s, which is considered one of the biggest blunders in American automotive history. It was such a tremendous failure, the brand was killed after just two years of production.

I've heard before that Microsoft used a lot of temporary hires on their projects. So I can imagine that once a large project is out of the gates, those temporary hires are no longer needed...

Tundro Walker
January 1st, 2008, 10:36 AM
You guys need to read more Sun Tzu, and stop letting your current opinions force you into thinking in absolutes.

Look at it this way. Just because a computer gets a minor virus on it, doesn't mean you totally destroy the computer. No. Sun Tzu's philosophy was that it's more work and effort to scrap something and start from scratch then it is to salvage what you can and start from there.

MS seems like a "big corporate evil", because they've cut some corners on some things, and they're focus (under Ballmer) has shifted from getting technology to everyone to milking those now loyal (locked in) consumers for as much as they can.

However, for a while in the 80's / 90's, Apple was the same way. It started out as an innovative company under Jobs, then he brought in some CEO / MBA types who focused on profit-maximization, which included cutting corners and trying to hock shoddy products to make a quick buck. But, Jobs came back in later, booted out the jerks that almost ruined Apple, and today, he's turned it into a revolutionizing force in the portable music industry.

Microsoft is the same way. It doesn't need to "go away" or "get shutdown". It just needs to be redirected. Think of it ... MS already has a huge corporate infrastructure, R&D, support, planning, consumer market, etc, etc. It just needs to redirect to something that's more positive in the consumer eyes. So, instead of focusing on lawsuits, picking on open-source / freeware, FUD, and producing shoddy products knowing their customers will have to suck it up, they need to instead cut down on the middle-management red-tape, start taking some accountability for their actions, and fix problems.

That's always easier said than done, though, especially if you were a single worker at MS. It's not like you go to work everyday thinking "boy, I sure hope I can do something lackluster and crappy to **** off my customers today." No, people go to work to do something productive and fulfilling. But, you can only do so within your realm of influence. If the company's overall goals are to fleece customers and pick on little guys, then, guess what...

I'll get off the soap-box now. But I just wish more folks would stop using this "fire-sale" mentality when it comes to everything, from programming ("screw it, they need to delete all that code and start from scratch!"), to business ("Microsoft just needs to go out of business and all the world's problems will be solved"). It's not so black-and-white, and fire-sale / anarchy mentality always ends up causing more work and frustration in the end if it really does come true.

popch
January 1st, 2008, 10:57 AM
Sun Tzu's philosophy was that it's more work and effort to scrap something and start from scratch then it is to salvage what you can and start from there. .

Sun Tzu should stop postulating in absolutes. It usually is more attractive to salvage than to discard and re-do from scratch. In some cases it is not. Hence the turn of speech 'throwing good money after bad'.



However, for a while in the 80's / 90's, Apple was the same way. It started out as an innovative company under Jobs, then he brought in some CEO / MBA types who focused on profit-maximization, which included cutting corners and trying to hock shoddy products to make a quick buck. But, Jobs came back in later, booted out the jerks that almost ruined Apple, and today, he's turned it into a revolutionizing force in the portable music industry.

Microsoft is the same way. It doesn't need to "go away" or "get shutdown". It just needs to be redirected. Think of it ... MS already has a huge corporate infrastructure, R&D, support, planning, consumer market, etc, etc. It just needs to redirect to something that's more positive in the consumer eyes. .

While those tidbits about the IT industry are essentially true, they do not cover the whole of it. In that time span one of the most powerful players in that market dwindled to insignificance, to be replaced by an upstart.

Before: IBM
After: MS

(somewhere between: SAP)