microsoft is funny
I use Windows XP on my laptop, I admit it. But my servers run Linux, and a Microsoft CD will never come anywhere near a machine of great importance (like a server). I am not a Microsoft fan, but I don't think they're a complete and utter evil empire. They've done some crappy things and they should get what's coming to them, but "evil" isn't the right word to be throwing about given the current global climate. Anyway, there's a
news article that I found particularly amusing. The gist of it is this: Microsoft is whining that their legal bill is too high, and consumers could suffer.
So, their legal bill is "too high" because they settled a lawsuit regarding
overcharging customers for software. Here's a thought -- don't overcharge in the first place. What else? Oh, those pesky patent suits (which they lost) and some little anti-trust fine from the EU. Microsoft is blaming their legal costs for a 38% decrease in profits last quarter. Now, I only averaged a "B" in my accounting and finance related classes, but I do know that profits are not revenue. MSFT revenue decreased about 10%, and
cost of revenue decreased about 55%, so that gross profit decreased less than 1%. Yes, there are plenty of other numbers to deal with, blah blah blah, but the point is, they still managed net income of 1.3
billion. What do you think they're most upset about: that they got caught and had to settle/were fined and had to pay out of their coffers, or that they realize they wouldn't have had nearly the same sort of revenue stream if they
hadn't engaged in the practices that led them to the lawsuits in the first place? Hmm.
