Microsoft Hooked the Government on Its Products With Freebies. Could Elon Musk’s Starlink Be Doing the Same?
(www.propublica.org)
from Tea@programming.dev to technology@lemmy.world on 05 Apr 2025 10:30
https://programming.dev/post/28091655
from Tea@programming.dev to technology@lemmy.world on 05 Apr 2025 10:30
https://programming.dev/post/28091655
The tech billionaire and Trump adviser “donated” Starlink service to the White House. The move resembles a previous maneuver by Microsoft, which used “free” trials to lock in costly upgrades across the federal government.
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After all of the sketchy contracts that musk seems to be getting under this regime, the next administration should nationalize SpaceX. With their corrupt self dealing, perhaps give him a dollar or so for it.
Americans don’t have HALF the balls. Cowards to the last.
100% this.
The well regulated militia in the most armed country in the world is just the typical exceptionalism story. Talk is cheap but when it comes to act, americans are just little bitches. Hollywood can whitewash the history later.
Folded like a lawn chair the second a dictator pops up to pry every past remaining bit of wealth and power out of our hands.
For decades the American left has been, on the whole, anti-firearms. There simply are not enough of us who own and train with guns. If/when a civil war happens we lose. And that’s before you start taking into account drones and surveillance. People keep making fun of the 2A but seem to conveniently forget that damn near half the electorate just ceded the power of arms to the other half out of fear.
Statistics say no.
At the end of the day it only takes a Luigi.
66% of Republicans vs 41% of Democrats and 45% of independents. I still don’t like those numbers.
What do you want me to do? I’m fucking out there protesting. Shit I’ll be at another rally today. I wish things were different but I’m not a coward and I’m doing what I can. I’m sorry.
So you’re … going to parades.
Just what are you doing, mighty keyboard warrior?
Okay, if this was happening in your country, what would you do that would actually stop fascism?
Oh, don’t worry- we’re all aware it’s coming to our country. And we’re armed.
I love how every time Americans are challenged on their lack of urgency, the response is always to pull a tu quoque, though. Never fails.
Your answer is you’re armed? Does that mean you’ll shoot and kill the bad people who rise to power in your country?
Does he think Americans aren’t armed?
So there were some military contracts that were just awarded.
54 missions total:
SpaceX: 28 missions, $5.9 B = $210.7 M per launch
ULA: 19 missions, $5.4 B = $284 M per launch
BO: 7 missions, $2.4 B = $342.9 M per launch
SpaceX did get the most money, but they were also the cheapest provider due to their reusable 1st stages.
Just with those 9 extra launches over ULA SpaceX saves the US government and taxpayers 668 million dollars.
If SpaceX didn’t exist, it would have been
82 billion more but actually worse since the other providers can’t supply that much and wouldn’t have had as much competitive incentive. Just look at BO the next one which was almost 60m more than ULA. It easily could have ballooned to 4b more adding a 3rd even more expensive option.Doesn’t seem so self dealing to me, they were able to bid lower and win more, and saved, (I’m assuming you given your
rageupset) a shit load of money.This is what SpaceX has been doing for years, well before he got in bed with Trump.
That‘s how silicon valley has been operating for longer than I live. You bet that‘s what‘s happening as has been happened a million times.
.
Elonia has proven such concerns already with actions.
“There’s nothing more expensive than a free gift.” - Michel de Montaigne
GifOfSnapeSayingObviously.gif.jpeg.exe
remember the time that Leon Skum turned starlink off for Ukraine just before a Russian attack?
he can never again be trusted. especially when it comes to safety and security
the difference is microsoft’s products actually worked.
Mostly. Office 365 has pretty frequent outages.
In a different time, and a different age, somewhere around year 2000. The Phantom Menace, The Matrix, Peter Jackson abusing LOTR fans. PlayStation before it got boring, Web before it got stupid, Sun Microsystems before it got dead, construction and aerospace and software design alike being done by actually competent people.
Microsoft did the barely necessary to be taken seriously.
There’s a very good premium episode of This Machine Kills from a week+ ago which touches on this topic. It’s is a conversation with Katie Wells and totally worth a listen.
The difference here is that felon charges the government a fuckload to use Starlink already. Trial was years ago.