Stephen,
On the 'other' MSFT thread, something was brought up about how much MSFT spends in R&D. Get a load of this (from InfoBeat)
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Microsoft high-tech investing mammoth
Over the past three years, Microsoft Corp. has invested $3 billion
in high tech start-ups. By comparison, all the venture capital
firms in the U.S. invested $4 billion last year, according to
Thursday's San Francisco Chronicle. From WebTV, to Apple Computer,
to RealNetworks, to Vermeer software, Microsoft is on the grow,
and not without critics. "Microsoft is very simply treacherous,"
said venture capitalist Neil Weintraut. The 21st Century Fund
executive characterized Microsoft's investing strategy as
"borrowing" ideas from startups or threatening their operations.
"There are precious few instances in which Microsoft has invested
in a company in a healthy way," Weintraut said.
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Regards,
Rich |
