Microsoft on Microsoft Crime

I can't help but laugh when Bill Gates' programs don't get along. I came to work this morning to find this message: "To help protect your computer, Windows has closed this program." Not so funny you say? Funny to me, because the program that was forced to close by Microsoft Windows was itself a program from - you guessed it - Microsoft Corporation.

Hey, Softies. Yeah, you guys in Redmond. The ones who squandered the world's largest market cap and who probably still have more cash on the balance sheet than you should. Is this the 21st century version of GM's planned obsolescence?

I'm convince that there would be one quarter to one third as many tech support staff if we all had Macs. And likely a lot less road rage.

What's the point of this? Perhaps that we all need to take a look at what's in conflict in our lives and the places in which we live and really be honest with each other about making better choices that are good for ALL of us. Because in the end we all pay one way or another. Take the example of health care in Arizona. 20% of us don't have insurance. Not because we're lazy and don't want to work, but because it is out of reach of a family of four with a $60,000 household income. These citizens may even be working harder to practice healthy living than the rest of us just to stay out of the system. What is a fact, however, is that their treatment is much more expensive and much less likely to avoid chronic illness when they do enter the health care system at the local emergency room.

The costs come out of all of our pockets, reducing our GDP, bogging down our hospitals and, worst of all, clouding our perception of the root cause that requires attention. Don't be fooled. We can do better, without embracing any of the knee-jerk reactions that have been offered in the past. The track record on these is also clear. Not much has changed in decades.

That goes for Microsoft too.