FUD:

Mr. Cringely predicts that Steve Ballmer will be ousted (or leave) this year. His prediction begins to seem quite reasonable given that more layoffs are reportedly coming. Layoffs at Microsoft have been going on quietly, but Microsoft need only report this to shareholders when it happens in large numbers (while offshoring and avoiding tax as a matter of routine, without disclosing that). We have a wiki page about Microsoft layoffs and this time too Microsoft boosters tried to downplay this news by writing stuff like “we’ve also heard rumblings of layoffs coming, but these rumors come up frequently and often are not borne out.”

Microsoft may or may not have layoffs… in a year when the computer industry as a whole saw problems.

This is not a shock. But you feel the need to make up stories about companies being “Microsoft Boosters”… in other words, even with this story you could not stop yourself from making things up.

TVs will most likely continue to run Linux and Android. Even Canonical is trying to enter this market now (as revealed in CES). Microsoft’s long list of dead products will keep growing (we no longer expand it or research the subject) and the executive retreat will most likely continue (these wiki pages are out of date since we stopped tracking the subject).

Apple is also reportedly looking into this market. They are not likely to be that early in the market, but as they did with desktop computers, MP3 players, cell phones, and tablets, it would not be shocking to see them re-invent this category only to have the rest of the industry play catch-up and copy them (as Android and its hardware makers copy Apple now). Only time will tell… Apple can only pull so many rabbits out of its hat – but that hat does seem to be amazingly large.

FUD:

Microsoft is whining about natural disasters as an excuse that exempts Microsoft itself from blame. Hilarious.

Had you pointed out how both Apple and desktop Linux seem to be getting an increase in user share and, at least with OS X, a huge bump in raw numbers, you might have been able to make a more solid point. As it is, you gave no reason to think the problem is anything other than the hardware shortages. You really are not good at supporting your claims.