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DarkLordoftheMonkeys

Micro$oft's philanthropism

Rating: 2 votes, 1.00 average.
18 Comments
by
DarkLordoftheMonkeys
, 06-23-2010 at 11:57 PM (914 Views)
There is a fund called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) that delivers laptops to children in developing countries. OLPC is funded by several technology companies, including Google, AMD, Intel, and Red Hat. Since the start of the project, OLPC computers have shipped with Linux installed.

Now Micro$oft is "teaming up with" OLPC to "provide a Windows platform for the children" (paraphrase). Now, there are two possibilities for Micro$oft's motives for doing this:

1. They have a genuine interest in helping out. This seems unlikely as the kids will get their laptops either way, Windows or not. M$ is not actually supplying the laptops, just changing the OS.

...or...

2. They want to increase Windows's already monopolistic market share by spreading it to another market, over Linux. I wouldn't be surprised by this, seeing as Linux has been #1 on M$'s hit list for almost a decade.

Overall, the kids involved stand very little to gain by having a different OS (with the exception of maybe better Flash compatibility). The only party that really benefits in a substantial way from this move is Micro$oft. Yet everyone is cheering the action and championing Micro$oft's "philanthropism" and acting like it's a selfless act of pure generosity.

This is just another example of M$'s hypocritical use of butter-up tactics to win the hearts and minds of a group of people (in this case, those who care about helping the poor), and then brainwashing them. They're all for giving poor kids access to technology, just as long as it's theirs.

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Updated 06-24-2010 at 09:14 AM by DarkLordoftheMonkeys

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Comments

  1. Alexander's Avatar
    Yes, so a company wishing to donate computer devices to children, just because they run Windows (the operating system designed by the company at hand wishing to donate) it should be scrutinized?

    Your posts against Microsoft are truly lacking anything worth communicating.
  2. Guest's Avatar
    Microsoft is not donating anything. They are doing this for their own benefit.
  3. Alexander's Avatar
    Do you know what the term "Business" means? If all businesses were squeaky clean tree-hugging do-gooders then maybe this would seem more wrong.
  4. atheium's Avatar
    If i were you, id stick to posting about Microsoft ACTUAL ****-ups. your going a long way to pull out what you believe to be dirt, yet its only you and anyone else who frantically hates Microsoft. to the indifferent this blog just looks like the result of a personal vendetta, your just TRYING to find flaw. there ARE things that Microsoft is doing that IS ****** up, yet this isn't one of them.

    this.
    is.
    marketing.
  5. DarkLordoftheMonkeys's Avatar
    Again, might I state that M$ is NOT providing laptops. They are merely pushing to change the OS that they run on.

    Don't you see what they stand to gain from it? Let's say OLPC keeps using Linux. If that's the case, then these kids will grow up using a non-Windows OS, so when the countries start to actually develop some more, more people will buy computers, and since Linux is what they grew up using, they're going to buy computers with Ubuntu on it or something, causing Windows to lose market share. Micro$oft can't allow this, so they want to do what they did in the 80s and 90s - push their software on kids especially so that people grow up using, and become hardwired to use, Windows, thus making them a whole lot more money.

    I don't think you've seen it, but this reminds me of that episode of Star Trek DS9 where Quark (the Ferengi mercinary) is using a facade of charity to win back customers from the El-Aurian barman. In the end it is shown he doesn't really care about the children he is supposed to be helping, just profits.
  6. DarkLordoftheMonkeys's Avatar
    Here's the difference between Micro$oft and normal philanthropism:

    Philanthropist: Here, poor person, have some food, because I know you're hungry.

    M$: Here, poor person, give me whatever food you already have so I may dispose of it and replace it with some of my own food that I stole from someone else, then kill the person who gave you food first. BTW, when you actually do make it, I want you to continue buying my food.
    Updated 06-24-2010 at 09:36 AM by DarkLordoftheMonkeys
  7. Guest's Avatar
    I really don't think this is a big deal. As far as I know, most of the laptops are still being donated with the default Linux OS.
  8. atheium's Avatar
    it isn't a big deal. all this blog post has done for me is lower my interest in the posters blog.
  9. DarkLordoftheMonkeys's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by atheium
    it isn't a big deal. all this blog post has done for me is lower my interest in the posters blog.
    That's okay, you don't have to like me. I have my opinions, many of which are controversial and result in arguments between me and other people. I believe that nations and the world should be controlled by all people, not just those with lots of money, but some people take it as an attack against capitalism, I guess.
  10. atheium's Avatar
    well isn't that cute.
  11. DarkLordoftheMonkeys's Avatar
    Isn't it cute how people describe anyone who pi$$es them off as cute?
  12. Alexander's Avatar
    I find the usage of dollar symbols cute, in a 12-yearold-thinks-he's-cool kinda way.
  13. DarkLordoftheMonkeys's Avatar
    I used the dollar sign symbols there because, in case you didn't notice, CodeCall censors out vulgar words and swear words. If I hadn't done that, it would have just shown up as a bunch of asterisks and no one would be able to tell for sure what I actually said.
  14. Alexander's Avatar
    Microsoft is a censored word? Wtf?
  15. atheium's Avatar
    darklord, your my favorite joke on codecall
  16. DarkLordoftheMonkeys's Avatar
    I use the dollar sign because it's the symbol for Microsoft's sole purpose of existence.

    Remind me again, why are you attacking the way I spell something? Are you out of other arguments or something?
  17. atheium's Avatar
    no argument here, we just think your cute.
    -pat pat-
  18. Alex3k's Avatar
    Microsoft does have the sole purpose of money, they have attacked many companies visiously (sorry about the spelling) including Netscape however this post shows two things in my opionion:
    1) microsoft as atheium said is marketing their product
    2) as DarkLord said they are looking out for their selves more than others simply becuase as previously stated they want profit in the long run and microsoft has been caught out countless times for controlling a monopoly of that market.