04.26.10
Gemini version available ♊︎Microsoft Exploits the Poor
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to no longer breathe free…”
Summary: Microsoft is dumping on poor people in South Africa while indoctrinating the unemployed citizens of the United States
COVERING Microsoft can become a little tedious when the same patterns of operation repeat themselves and require new explanations with new victim names. One branch of Microsoft tricks we typically just lump together with EDGI, which is Microsoft’s way of fighting against Free software in impoverished areas of the world or areas that simply migrate to GNU/Linux (Microsoft calls these “Linux infestations”). Robert Mullins, who runs the Microsoft-boosting IDG blog*, is pushing that same old party line. It’s not much of a blog by the way; it’s akin to Ina Fried’s pseudo-journalism, which is like this new 24/7 (well, daily at least) Microsoft PR. These so-called ‘journalists’ are to Microsoft what O’Reilly/Beck/Fox are to the Republican party.
“These so-called ‘journalists’ are to Microsoft what O’Reilly/Beck/Fox are to the Republican party.”Anyway, Mullins is promoting that fake “Microsoft for the poor” pitch while Microsoft is targeting areas where GNU/Linux and Free software do relatively well. Microsoft is using some dumping tactics as usual, but it relies a great deal on shameless spin.
Yes, the latest news is that Microsoft fakes an “investment” (where it usually means software that costs nothing to make copies of) in South Africa’s black community [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. For those who are not aware, Microsoft has been sabotaging this nation’s migration to digital independence and this is not for the first time, either. They did this in South African schools for example.
The South African population is being victimised by yet another foreign invader (after it kicked out one major imperialist that we all know), but this time it’s a corporation. Microsoft uses similar tactics in the United States (a programme that we call “American EDGI”). This week we found an update about what Microsoft does in Massachusetts, pretending to help the disadvantaged while in fact just indoctrinating these people.
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A new state partnership with Microsoft will provide 26,000 vouchers for on-line technology training and testing accessed through 37 One Stop Career Centers including New Bedford and Wareham. The Elevate America program provides vouchers for free courses in Microsoft software programs to all Massachusetts residents except state employees and public workforce system employees.
There is also this new update about Salinas, which is affected by Schwarzenegger's sellout in California. Microsoft uses this state to acquire more customers whom both the state and Microsoft are brainwashing. █
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* In just a couple of months he has been defending Microsoft no matter the situation. He is also pushing and thus legitimising their predatory PR schemes.
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uberVU - social comments said,
April 28, 2010 at 1:47 pm
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This post was mentioned on Identica by schestowitz: #Microsoft is dumping on poor people in South Africa while indoctrinating the unemployed citizens of the United States http://ur1.ca/xam9…