Towards A Wiki World
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| There are other industries too that are beginning to discover the potential
| of mass collaboration. Take the Linux operating systems. "Today it dominates
| the world for medium and large computers and there are 150,000 Open Source
| application projects around the world today," says Tapscott.
|
| [...]
|
| Initially Microsoft viewed all this as a threat, whereas IBM
| didn't. "Microsoft argued in the past that this is communism: that you put
| everything out in the commons where it is shared publicly like Linux. And
| does that undermine the legitimate way of companies to make profits? Doesn't
| that threaten the foundations of capitalism?" says Tapscott. IBM did a smart
| thing: instead of fighting Linux, it embraced it. "They gave hundreds and
| millions of dollars of code to the Linux community. The result was they saved
| themselves a billion dollars a year in developing and maintaining a
| proprietary operating system. They created a platform Linux whereby they have
| a multi-billion dollar industry," says Tapscott. The lessons are clear:
| either you conform to this changed world or be prepared to get hurt.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/Towards_A_Wiki_World/articleshow/2791685.cms
http://tinyurl.com/2ugmot
The budget drain will continue and get worse as long as Microsoft insists
on /dumping/ Windows and turning a blind eye to copyright infringement. It
can't compete against Linux and still be profitable.
Related:
Yahoo's Way Out
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| Microsoft will have to go into debt to buy Yahoo—at least $10 billion by
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| reasonable estimates, assuming the deal is half cash and half stock and
| Microsoft wants to leave some operating capital in the bank. That debt is the
| weakness in Microsoft's offer. A year ago—even a month ago—the debt wouldn't
| have been much of a problem. But there's a huge credit crunch going on in the
| US right now that got a whole lot worse in just the past week.
|
| Banks are seeing real problems in areas like LBO, or leveraged buy-out, debt
| that along with problems with commercial mortgages and bonds are putting a
| real squeeze on credit. I'm sure Microsoft is a good credit risk, but there
| still has to be money to lend. And Microsoft might look like a whole lot less
| of a good risk should the company have to borrow more to buy Yahoo.
`----
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/corporate/yahoos_way_out.html?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535
Microsoft's Last Big Beat: Internet Domination or Death
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| What can $44.6B USD mean? Well, for Microsoft (MSFT) it may mean the cost of
| survival.
`----
http://seekingalpha.com/article/63876-microsoft-s-last-big-beat-internet-domination-or-death?source=yaho
Will Microsoft Survive the Next 10 Years?
,----[ Quote ]
| I am not really an expert in this but when I read all the negative
| headlines and articles I ask myself if Microsoft really will survive
| the next 10 years.
|
| [...]
|
| I am pretty sure that the Open Source Community, the new Ubuntu,
| Google and of course Apple are those companies that are ready for
| our century and they will get more and more people that know what
| they really want.
`----
http://websquirrel.blogspot.com/2007/03/will-microsoft-survive-next-10-years.html
P. Graham: Microsoft is Dead
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| A few days ago I suddenly realized Microsoft was dead. I was talking
| to a young startup founder about how Google was different from Yahoo.
| I said that Yahoo had been warped from the start by their fear of
| Microsoft. That was why they'd positioned themselves as a "media
| company" instead of a technology company. Then I looked at his face
| and realized he didn't understand. It was as if I'd told him how much
| girls liked Barry Manilow in the mid 80s. Barry who?
|
| Microsoft? He didn't say anything, but I could tell he didn't quite
| believe anyone would be frightened of them.
`----
http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html
|
|
