Another Reason To Like Microsoft

For the record, I have the Zune, not the iPod. Microsoft products are great, they have done a wonderful job for the productivity both in people's personal lives and for businesses, and despite what those smug Apple commercials claim, unless you're turning your home movies into on screen productions, their computers are overpriced and based solely on pretentiousness. As far as the audio claim, yes, recording on Apples is very good, but it's not like Pro Tools isn't available for the PC...after it was only available on Apple for sometime. That should tell you about demand and consumer choice right there. The point of my little rant is to bring to your attention Microsoft's efforts to help government enter into the digital age....about 10 years after the mainstream of the American population has done. The entire article is very interesting and most definitely worth the read, but here's a teaser/highlight for you:

Microsoft will provide governments with "template" programs that let citizens perform tasks such as accessing public records, getting marriage certificates, and paying taxes or fines online.

"Technology can help local and regional governments fill efficiency gaps and modernize services," Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International, said in an address at the forum in Germany.

"But, many are ill-equipped to meet citizens' expectations due to a lack of funding, available technology, technical expertise or other resources."

Microsoft has spent years working with governments and distilled some of what it learned into templates showing governments how to spare people trips to offices and let them handle interactions online.

The irony of the situation of course, is that the government went after Microsoft for being so efficient and skilled at what they do during the trial some years ago that now the government, who is increasingly inefficient and unskilled that Microsoft still has the decency to jump in to help out the citizens of this great nation by providing the governments with some tools to actually be as efficient as a 16 year kid who sells something on EBay. It's quite sad that the government, on many levels, is so technologically and logically inept that a private company (which by the way has done great works of charity) whom the government attacked, has turned the other cheek and helped to bring about some modernization and efficiency that the elected officials have not been able to bring about. Then again, that's the free market at work for you and an example of a corporation taking it citizenship seriously and working towards developing a better world for everyone. That's why the free market is the best system in the world and a great example of why many on the left are completely wrong, on many levels, when they constantly assail the free market and corporations. It works, it makes life better, and yes, corporations do care about the people in the nation. So while some assail corporations for following the principles that make this nation great, keep in mind that these same corporations that are viciously assaulted, are the same ones that keep us employed, that allow us to grow our 401(k)s, and whose R&D constantly blazes a trail to brighter horizons. Microsoft has done not only that since their inception, but in this situation, but has further proved the greatness of our system.

-Caomhin