4 ms·

I work for NASA. Our budget is like $25B. We’re definitely inefficient and wasteful, but we still do a lot of new things. Just not nearly as much as we could.

I work for NASA. Our budget is like $25B. We’re definitely inefficient and wasteful, but we still do a lot of new things. Just not nearly as much as we could. Microsoft’s operating budget was like $123B last year. There are bugs in office products that have been there for years What exactly are they doing with all that money?

diarrhea 3y ago
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jdm2212 3y ago
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- notjoemama 3y ago
  Ah, no, but point taken. I can't think of an example myself because I don't know how Nasa functions. Besides that, I think the valid critique (without the subtext) is, it's probably not a good comparison to measure a very large companies failings to a much smaller companies failings because their size is a definitively weighted factor in the outcome. The caveat that I would add, is Nasa is publicly funded and it's probably ok to ask the question in the public interest. For private companies like Microsoft, just stop buying their products.
  - oskarw85 3y ago
    "Just stop buying their products" is silly answer when those products are epitome of corporate IT offerings. Especially where people doing "the buying" are completely different than people doing the support. On the contrary - criticism should be loud, clear and persistent. Being private company does not make you immune to criticism.
sundarurfriend 3y ago
Funding the current AI revolution, for example? https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/22/microsoft-invests-1-billion-in-openai-in-new-multiyear-partnership/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/22/microsoft-invests-1-billio... https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/23/microsoft-invests-billions-more-dollars-in-openai-extends-partnership/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/23/microsoft-invests-billions... https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-talks-invest-10-bln-chatgpt-owner-semafor-2023-01-10/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-talks-invest-10...
- throwaway290 3y ago
  MS is not "funding AI revolution", it is throwing a lot of money to OpenAI (which may as well be considered part of MS considering how much they owe it) to let it keep prices artificially low so users get addicted while it bleeds those money. Simultaneously trying to carve a moat to get some ROI on those money later.
mistrial9 3y ago
you the user are not the customer, management and legal are the customer. You the user, are last, and least, in the priorities.
- krono 3y ago
  Based on my own dealings with Microsoft from such a management role over the years: The only customer Microsoft seems to care about or is really even cognizant of its responsibilities towards, is Microsoft itself. Every single one of its products and services exists solely because and only for as long as some division of Microsoft believes it requires those specific things and whatever they're meant to evolve into over time, in order to manage its increasingly complex and ever expanding internal operations. It's like a snake eating its own tail.
reportgunner 3y ago
> What exactly are they doing with all that money? Paying for ads and for developers that make ads I suppose.

diarrhea 3y ago

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jdm2212 3y ago

[flagged]

notjoemama 3y ago
Ah, no, but point taken. I can't think of an example myself because I don't know how Nasa functions. Besides that, I think the valid critique (without the subtext) is, it's probably not a good comparison to measure a very large companies failings to a much smaller companies failings because their size is a definitively weighted factor in the outcome. The caveat that I would add, is Nasa is publicly funded and it's probably ok to ask the question in the public interest. For private companies like Microsoft, just stop buying their products.
- oskarw85 3y ago
  "Just stop buying their products" is silly answer when those products are epitome of corporate IT offerings. Especially where people doing "the buying" are completely different than people doing the support. On the contrary - criticism should be loud, clear and persistent. Being private company does not make you immune to criticism.

sundarurfriend 3y ago

Funding the current AI revolution, for example? https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/22/microsoft-invests-1-billion-in-openai-in-new-multiyear-partnership/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/22/microsoft-invests-1-billio... https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/23/microsoft-invests-billions-more-dollars-in-openai-extends-partnership/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/23/microsoft-invests-billions... https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-talks-invest-10-bln-chatgpt-owner-semafor-2023-01-10/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-talks-invest-10...

throwaway290 3y ago
MS is not "funding AI revolution", it is throwing a lot of money to OpenAI (which may as well be considered part of MS considering how much they owe it) to let it keep prices artificially low so users get addicted while it bleeds those money. Simultaneously trying to carve a moat to get some ROI on those money later.

mistrial9 3y ago

you the user are not the customer, management and legal are the customer. You the user, are last, and least, in the priorities.

krono 3y ago
Based on my own dealings with Microsoft from such a management role over the years: The only customer Microsoft seems to care about or is really even cognizant of its responsibilities towards, is Microsoft itself. Every single one of its products and services exists solely because and only for as long as some division of Microsoft believes it requires those specific things and whatever they're meant to evolve into over time, in order to manage its increasingly complex and ever expanding internal operations. It's like a snake eating its own tail.

reportgunner 3y ago

> What exactly are they doing with all that money? Paying for ads and for developers that make ads I suppose.