The Death of HD-DVD and Why Microsoft is Dying

[ZenfoldorVGI]

Bodhesatva said:

 

Vista isn't a failure by economic standards. By image standards? Maybe, but that's all in the ether anyway. I personally have negative feelings about Vista but there is no real hard evidence to suggest it's a failure in business terms.

Most of what he's saying isn't refutable because it's vague. Take this, for example. "Microsoft’s monopoly power is dissolving, and its ability to create anti-competitive partnerships and exclusive alliances is also falling apart." Geez, I guess that might be true, but what proof do we have? I can give some evidence to the contrary: Microsoft profits are up up up, and they're making more money now than ever before.

He also had to correct himself about the Xbox/Xbox360 comparison, and used shipment data, not sold data, to compare the 360's second to its first year (the 360 actually seems to have sold more consoles to consumers, but shipped less because they stuffed the channel the Christmas prior). So when he does get specific, he's often explicitly wrong or at least misleading.

But there is one, big, major error here that I can point to specifically and say this is wrong: "The reality is that Microsoft is forced to falsify reports and color numbers because reality doesn’t support the illusion of Microsoft’s unquestionable market power."

Let me make this clear -- falsifying financial reports is a serious charge and has legal consequences for a publicly traded company. There is no indication that Microsoft has done any such thing, and he provides no evidence whatsoever. As for "coloring the numbers?" That's back to vagueries. Every company "colors their numbers." Every.single.one. It's like saying "Microsoft tries to beat out it's competition, even if they don't have a superior product."

 

Nice analysis. I also don't think MS is falsifying financial reports.

 

My bigger concern is that the company has become a developer of inferior products, like the 360(RRoD) and Vista(Vista copyright tech, and vista's attempts to exclude the use of anything that doesn't make MS money), and uses those mediums to push its trademarks in an effort to tax the industry, instead of innovate it.

 

As for their press releases, they're obviously bullshit, but bullshit to the point of being illegal, I think they hover just on the "legal" edge of that line.