[pinenuts]

So he now works for Microsoft and is moving to Seattle.

How should I feel as a die hard Mac fanatic?


Pinenuts!!!

[Dork.]

If he has some ownership stake in the company, you should feel lucky that you now know a rich man.

[Peter]

sounds awesome. Wish that'd happen to me

[Chuckit]

From everything I've heard of life at (most of) Microsoft, you should feel sorry for him.

[goMac]

Given what happened to Bungie, I'd say you should feel bad for him,

[mdc]

Are you at liberty to say what company it was, or their product?

[pinenuts]

I don't recall what company it was or what he was doing as he just got hired on there. But he's a great programmer. Has a MS in CS from Johns Hopkins.

[mdc]

Oh, so he didn't own the company?
I assumed he owned the company and it was bought out by Microsoft.

I assume he's a Windows user and develops for the Microsoft platform? Any idea how he feels about this move?

[pinenuts]

He just works there. Told me M$ is paying a lot of money, tho. A lot of a lot.

[MacosNerd]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Given what happened to Bungie, I'd say you should feel bad for him,

Why - I think the owners of Bungie are extremely rich now. I don't feel sorry for them

[Chuckit]

Yeah, what did happen to Bungie that we're supposed to feel sorry for? They made a series of insanely great games and got hugely wealthy?

[goMac]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

Why - I think the owners of Bungie are extremely rich now. I don't feel sorry for them

Because creatively they got destroyed by Microsoft. Microsoft made most that money back anyway in the buyout, which again, was a result of Microsoft destroying Bungie creatively.

Microsoft buying out a company is like making a deal with the devil. They'll shower you with money, but expect any project you have to wither, and don't expect Microsoft to give you any creative license to pursue any more ventures. Microsoft just turns companies into one trick ponies.

[mindwaves]

Good for him for the most part. Better benefits presumably.

[MacosNerd]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Because creatively they got destroyed by Microsoft. Microsoft made most that money back anyway in the buyout, which again, was a result of Microsoft destroying Bungie creatively.

Microsoft buying out a company is like making a deal with the devil. They'll shower you with money, but expect any project you have to wither, and don't expect Microsoft to give you any creative license to pursue any more ventures. Microsoft just turns companies into one trick ponies.

You know what, the owners knew what they're were doing and got rich doing it. That's generally why people go into business for themselves. Theey did a heck of lot better (financially) by selling to M$ then if they stayed independent.

[peeb]

Are MS still the largest Mac developer shop? I thought Office was huge?

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

You know what, the owners knew what they're were doing and got rich doing it. That's generally why people go into business for themselves. Theey did a heck of lot better (financially) by selling to M$ then if they stayed independent.

If only money were that important, that might be a good point.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

You know what, the owners knew what they're were doing and got rich doing it. That's generally why people go into business for themselves. Theey did a heck of lot better (financially) by selling to M$ then if they stayed independent.

Sure, Microsoft probably saved Halo. But in the long run was it good for Bungie? Probably not.

Edit:
Actually, I take it back. Apple was about ready to make Halo the Mac's poster child. I don't really even think Bungie needed Microsoft to save Halo.

[Peter]

List of companies acquired by Microsoft Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is it on there?

[Goldfinger]

Originally Posted by Peter 

List of companies acquired by Microsoft Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is it on there?

Heh, they sure got their ROI with Bungie.

[MacosNerd]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

If only money were that important, that might be a good point.

Money is needed and all the people I know usually try to grow their business to be profitable and make sure they have a nest egg for the future.

If you want to start a business and not care about making money or do it for a specific principal, more power to you. I can pretty much guarantee the owners of bungie were pretty happy when they signed on the dotted line, if not they wouldn't have sold to M$.

edit: money for me (like a lot of people) is not the be all and end all. My goal for working is not accumlating wealth but rather providing for my family. Of all of the business owner I know, the majority of them are looking to accumulate wealth. Those who aren't are looking to make sure they and their familie's needs are met. Both cases require you to have a company that is profitable so in nearly all business models profit rates very high on the list

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

Money is needed and all the people I know usually try to grow their business to be profitable and make sure they have a nest egg for the future.

Well, yes, but that's a very different proposition from getting rich at the expense of your satisfaction. I have a feeling that if getting rich at any cost were their main goal, the Bungie folks would have become doctors or lawyers or pretty much anything but Macintosh shareware game developers.

[CharlesS]

When did Bungie ever make shareware? They were a commercial game company.

[Chuckit]

I was sure I remembered Abuse and Marathon being shareware, but maybe I'm off my rocker.

[CharlesS]

Marathon was definitely not shareware. I don't think Abuse was either, but I admit it's possible my memory could be faulty there.

Marathon had a demo version available, but the full copy of the game was something you had to buy from the store shelf, in a box.

[Chuckit]

I stand corrected. I remembered getting Marathon 2 in a box, but for whatever reason I thought the first one was shareware. Strange.

[::maroma::]

My sibling works for Microsoft, at Microsoft. No buyout, just an offer he couldn't refuse. Oh well. I'm a graphic designer, and use Macs religiously, as did he once upon a time. He cringes every time he sees me with a new Apple product. He also cringes when he sees our parents buying Apple stuff these days.

[Chuckit]

Why? By all indications, Microsoft is Apple's biggest fan.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Why? By all indications, Microsoft is Apple's biggest fan.

Seriously? Maybe back in 2000, but these days, the platform war seems to be heating up again, especially with Microsoft's failings in Vista and Mac Office.

[pinenuts]

Originally Posted by Peter 

List of companies acquired by Microsoft Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is it on there?

Yup.

Parlano Chicago, IL, USA - August 2007 - maker of MindAlign - a leading application for enterprise group chat that enables people to carry on topic-specific, multiparty instant messaging discussions that persist over time. Parlano’s group chat functionality is expected to be added as a new feature of Microsoft® Office Communications Server and Microsoft Office Communicator [

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I stand corrected. I remembered getting Marathon 2 in a box, but for whatever reason I thought the first one was shareware. Strange.

You are probably confusing it with the first DOOM, which was indeed shareware.