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coldpie commented on Things I want to say to my boss   ithoughtaboutthatalot.com... · Posted by u/casca
exasperaited · 3 days ago
I struggle to find things in the modern business world that cannot be blamed on the culture of the MBA. What you are talking about — boards not caring about the welfare of employees — is a fundamental result of the culture of the MBA, which has suffused through all business thought in a way that casually depersonalises and humiliates.

I used to work for a small business and I decided I would have to quit one day when my boss said, on the phone to a client, "yes, I've got a resource for that".

There were four of us.

coldpie · 3 days ago
> when my boss said, on the phone to a client, "yes, I've got a resource for that".

Hahaha, I got hit with that, too, also working for a small company. Luckily it was the client who called me "a resource", not someone from my company, but good lord what a way that is to talk about human beings.

coldpie commented on Did that Colorado station sign say gas for only $1.69? Yes, it did   coloradosun.com/2025/12/1... · Posted by u/mooreds
t-3 · 3 days ago
Hybrids are useful for people without garages though - the total market is much larger than for EVs, which are pretty exclusively a product for homeowners, and usually not the only vehicle either. EVs will always be a niche unless the charging infrastructure problem is solved.
coldpie · 3 days ago
I agree with your overall point (and I'm pretty confident improved infrastructure will fix the problem for non-homeowners... eventually), but I didn't understand this part:

> usually not the only vehicle either

It doesn't seem like EV or not would make a difference for whether to have more than one vehicle? My wife and I have shared one car, first ICE and now EV, for more than a decade and it didn't make a difference in our habits.

coldpie commented on Did that Colorado station sign say gas for only $1.69? Yes, it did   coloradosun.com/2025/12/1... · Posted by u/mooreds
bombcar · 3 days ago
EVs seem to run $10-15k more than the equivalent ICE - I tried everything I could but couldn't make it worthwhile due to constraints on what is available and inability to get the subsidies.
coldpie · 3 days ago
Yeah, that's why that poster said "upfront" costs. EVs are like 10+ times cheaper than ICE cars in the long term, but we're making our children pay most of the costs of the ICE version, so it's cheaper for us. Yay for us, I guess?
coldpie commented on Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter   reuters.com/lifestyle/cul... · Posted by u/NaOH
criddell · 4 days ago
When my dad retired, he basically stopped doing much of anything outside of watching television.

I think if I could afford to retire tomorrow, I'd have no trouble keeping myself busy for the rest of my life.

coldpie · 4 days ago
> I think if I could afford to retire tomorrow, I'd have no trouble keeping myself busy for the rest of my life.

Completely agreed. I took 6 weeks off between jobs a couple years ago, the longest continuous span without work or school since I was 14. It seemed crazy long. My goal was to get bored so I'd be ready to go back to having a job at the end of it. I completely failed, I filled those 6 weeks and would eagerly have filled many more self-directed months. Maybe it'll be different when I'm older but right now, I could easily spend years and years keeping myself busy if I didn't have like bills and stuff to pay.

coldpie commented on Microsoft has a problem: lack of demand for its AI products   windowscentral.com/artifi... · Posted by u/mohi-kalantari
hvb2 · 5 days ago
Not referring to the CEO. I was referring to short term stock price and shareholders being your only customers versus the people buying your product
coldpie · 5 days ago
Oh yeah it's absolutely terrible for the business and its customers.
coldpie commented on Microsoft has a problem: lack of demand for its AI products   windowscentral.com/artifi... · Posted by u/mohi-kalantari
hvb2 · 6 days ago
> Microsoft is a public company. That means their primary product is not products or services, it's their stock.

Yeah that's a great business idea, ask Boeing how that's going

coldpie · 6 days ago
Current CEO:

> Boeing spent about $300,000 to help Ortberg move to Seattle. His decision comes more than two decades after Boeing leadership decided to move company headquarters out of Seattle. Ortberg received about $18 million for the months he was the CEO in 2024.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ortberg

Previous CEO:

> In 2022, Calhoun received $22.5 million from Boeing. Most of his 2022 compensation was in the form of estimated value of stock and option awards. He received the same $1.4 million salary as in 2021. ... In February 2023, Boeing awarded Calhoun an incentive of about $5.29 million in restricted stock units to "induce him to stay throughout the company's recovery". In March 2023, Boeing announced Calhoun was being given shares worth $15 million that will vest in installments over three years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Calhoun

Seems to be going all right?

coldpie commented on Microsoft has a problem: lack of demand for its AI products   windowscentral.com/artifi... · Posted by u/mohi-kalantari
brookst · 6 days ago
Are you saying they would rather double stock price than double revenue?
coldpie · 6 days ago
Sure. Decision makers are paid in stock price, not revenue. They would rather do whatever increases the stock price the most, with the least effort/expense.
coldpie commented on Microsoft has a problem: lack of demand for its AI products   windowscentral.com/artifi... · Posted by u/mohi-kalantari
watwut · 6 days ago
That is not what stock market is. A company does not have to focus on stock price and stock price is not its primary product.
coldpie · 6 days ago
That's fair, I should reframe. The incentive given to decision makers at Microsoft is company stock. That means the primary focus for everyone who makes decisions at Microsoft is the stock price, which in turn means the stock price is the primary product for the company itself.
coldpie commented on Microsoft has a problem: lack of demand for its AI products   windowscentral.com/artifi... · Posted by u/mohi-kalantari
neilalexander · 6 days ago
I would think that if they actually spent the time and money fixing the core functionality of their core products (like Windows and Office) that they might have a much easier time promoting things like Copilot. Instead they leave their users wondering why they're so hell-bent on shoehorning AI into a Start menu that takes whole seconds longer to open than it should or into Windows Search that regularly fails to find installed programs or local files.
coldpie · 6 days ago
Microsoft is a public company. That means their primary product is not products or services, it's their stock. Selling products & services can be an advertisement for their stock, but there are other methods of convincing people to buy their stock, too. Currently the stock market only wants stocks that have "AI" associated with them. It doesn't matter whether users like it or not, because having a viable business is not what the stock market is currently focused on. So, Microsoft is doing what they need to do to sell their primary product: shove AI into everything.
coldpie commented on Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros   cnbc.com/2025/12/08/param... · Posted by u/gniting
CSMastermind · 6 days ago
I must be thte only one who like Paramount+

Honestly would rather have the Warner Bros content over there than on Netflix.

coldpie · 6 days ago
Eh, I liked it, but canceled my service after they made a bribe to the current president to approve one of their acquisitions. I like Star Trek plenty, but not enough to support anti-American businesses like Paramount.

u/coldpie

KarmaCake day22419June 6, 2012
About
I do software stuff in the computer security space. Former (2009-2022) Wine hacker at CodeWeavers. You can email me on fastmail.com with username coldpie. Personal websites: <https://smokingonabike.com> (video games, gardening, tech); <https://aechairs.com> (woodworking).
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