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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ToySoldier who wrote (10509)	9/3/1998 1:50:00 PM
From: ericneu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

> Good alternative Eric, but, your kidding yourself if you dont think that Gates and his inner circle have not hinted or even directed all MSFT staff to do their part to up-hold the company image in whatever means possible and to whatever sources they have access to. So any MSFT employee who posts here is doing so only because they've been told to? This implies that MSFT employees 1) aren't interested enough in finance to be here of their own volition and 2) don't care enough about the company to discuss it unless they're ordered to. I'd say that both are invalid conclusions. > Sorry, your being naive if you think this message has not gone down through the ranks. Of course you would not ever hear that from a MSFT employee though. Maybe some MSFT employees are willing to discuss MSFT of their own volition? You're certainly not giving them much credit as people. Facts: 1. I work for Microsoft. This shouldn't be news, I've disclosed it several times before. 2. I haven't received any communications telling me to defend the company publicly. 3. I'm more than willing to discuss MSFT in public of my own volition. I don't need someone to tell me to do it. 4. I've been posting here since before I came to work at Microsoft, and intend to continue to do so in the future as time permits. 5. None of my managers have any idea that I post here. I doubt they've even heard of SI. 6. I'm a member of SI because I hope information here will make me a more successful investor. Any other motives attributed to me are the figments of other people's imagination. - Eric

To: ToySoldier who wrote (10509)	9/3/1998 2:27:00 PM
From: Phil Melemed	Respond to of 74651

I am a Microsoft employee. I have not been directed to do anything regarding MSFT public relations except to keep from disclosing confidential information and to keep from discussing issues where I have material impact. I believe that we are actually somewhat encouraged to stay OUT of forums like this one. I am here because I have a fair amount of my portfolio in Microsoft stock, and a fair amount of stock options. Do you think that Microsoft employees don't need investor information? As an employee, I am pro-Microsoft. As an investor, I am more of an agnostic. There are lots of places for me to put my money, I just need to determine how much of it to keep in my employer's stock. Personally, I wish that the Pro-Microsoft and Anti-Microsoft folks would just keep quiet unless they had relevant investor information. Regarding the craftiness of Mr. Gates: You are kidding yourself if you think he cares about what is posted here, unless it is libel. You are kidding yourself if you think Mr. Gates wants the bulk of his employees to spend their time defending Microsoft or protecting its "honour" (quoted because I question the concept, not the spelling.) Mr. Gates has instructed employees to not get distracted by the DOJ stuff and instead concentrate on doing the various jobs they were hired to do, in support of growing our company and its products. You are the naive one for thinking that someone who runs as large and complex a business as this while keeping up with all the detailed technical info and trends would waste much time on minor stuff like this forum. (From a practical point of view, having all the employees, many of whom only know about their day-to-day business, actively going out and representing the company as its agents would be a very risky approach. I would expect that the PR-opaganda arm of the company would be making more pointed and specific moves that could be planned and tracked.)

To: ToySoldier who wrote (10509)	9/3/1998 3:43:00 PM
From: Gerald Walls	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Good alternative Eric, but, your kidding yourself if you dont think that Gates and his inner circle have not hinted or even directed all MSFT staff to do their part to up-hold the company image in whatever means possible and to whatever sources they have access to. That means the lowly MSFT developer or even Office Worker that has an account on SI finds it to be his/her duty to defend the MSFT honour and put down anti-MSFT posting, comments, etc. they hear. If Gates hasnt done this then he is not the crafty spin-doctor that I gave him and his company credit for. Sorry, your being naive if you think this message has not gone down through the ranks. Of course you would not ever hear that from a MSFT employee though. Yes. All companies do this. Every day I get messages from the CEO of Honeywell telling me to defend the company in the Litton suit or the American Airlines suit, etc. Not. All questions are to be referred to the PR people. Period. Do you listen to Art Bell's "Dreamland" radio show? Or think that the X-Files is a documentary series? Was Hillary right about the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy? How many times do you get directives from management to talk up your company every chance you get? Why is it a given that Microsoft operates this way? Convenient that "you would not ever hear that from a MSFT employee" since everyone denying something obviously means that they all must be lying.

To: ToySoldier who wrote (10509)	9/6/1998 3:53:00 AM
From: mozek	Respond to of 74651

Toy, You are quite good at demonstrating your cluelessness with posts like that. Microsoft employees defend Microsoft because they believe in the company. People who join Microsoft from other companies quickly develop the same loyalty, one that comes from inside not from some executive, Bill or otherwise. This belief in the company and its people is a strength you will most likely never understand, and runs contrary to your idea that developers and office workers are "lowly" employees. One of the secrets of Microsoft's success is that no one is "lowly", and they know it. Developers, administrative assistants, marketing staff, managers, and executives work together, each doing their part, to make the company, their company, successful. You obviously don't get it, like so many things. I am not aware of ANY directive, implied or otherwise, by Bill or any executive at Microsoft asking employees to uphold an image. In fact, the last time I saw Bill and other execs address the company, it was to tell Microsoft employees to ignore the spin of would-be doctors like yourself and build great products. I'm staying away from the computer for a few weeks, so I probably won't reply to any response you choose to expel. Mike