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Microsoft MIGHT acquire Garmin!

I'm not sure the jump is from the announcement, I think GRMN value is simply recovering from the recent 20% drop thanks to Nokia's purchase. It was too much of a drop.

Good way to promote the group buy though ;)
 
Say it ain't so ... The last thing I want to see from my avionics is:

"GPS has encountered a serious error and needs to close"

If Garmin does sell, I'd rather that the avionics business got sold to someone who focuses on avionics and has more of a reputation for and culture for reliability. Don't forget that MS is still heavily influenced by Bill G, who once stated that fixing bugs was one of the stupidest reasons for new software releases...

TODR
 
That's not the worst of it...

Imagine the licensing nightmare... Two people in the plane, two user CAL? And what about activation? Internet's not available... activate through flight watch now? :D

Garmin VFR Edition
Garmin IFR Edition
Garmin Light Sport Edition

Which to choose?
 
Don't worry ... just wait until service pack 1 comes out before buying any new products. :eek:
 
There are a couple of us who work for MSFT on this board

After more than ten years with the company I am pretty thick skinned about the kind of comments that regularly get re-hashed. Here are a few positive aspects:

- If MS were to buy Garmin maybe Garmin wouldn't be able to FIX prices. Go to Osh Kosh and check all the vendors who are selling Garmin stuff - I will almost guarantee they will have EXACTLY the same price. Same goes for Trade-a-Plane.

- If MS were to buy Garmin maybe Garmin would begin using SD memory cards instead of their ridiculously over-priced proprietary cards (I bought a Garmin 256M card the other day for $93 and I bought a 4GB SD card for my digital camera for $79).

- If MS bought Garmin maybe their mapping software would improve (City Navigator looks like it was last redone in 1994). Compare that to MS Streets and Trips or Virtual Earth.

- If MS bought Garmin maybe their practice simulator for the GNS-430 would look more like Flight Sim 10 than like some video game from my misspent youth. :)

bruce
 
MSFT-1 said:
- If MS bought Garmin maybe their practice simulator for the GNS-430 would look more like Flight Sim 10 than like some video game from my misspent youth. :)
Click to expand...

Exactly! :D

The 430 panel mount is certainly lacking in resolution and looks. In fact, it looks so crude in screen display, that I no longer have any desire for one.

Even the 3D topography display from Chelton looks rather cartoony as compared to what we see with Microsoft's new flightsim displays.

Considering that simulated topography displays are going to be the future of IFR flight; then I'm all for a company that has the potiental to raise the bar with the resourses that it has.

Microsoft has done very well with incorporating real life topography and Jeppeson airport databases with navigational databases into a desktop simulator that is quite realistic, and can easily be used for real world applications. When this technology is combined with GPS for creating three dimensional displays in IMC operations, then things can only get better!

L.Adamson
 
Yes but

My garmin stock has gone up by 2.5 times in the last few months..Makes paying their prices very palatable, especially as my gains have so far paid for the entire IFR panel and then some...:)
 
MSFT-1 said:
After more than ten years with the company I am pretty thick skinned about the kind of comments that regularly get re-hashed. Here are a few positive aspects:
Click to expand...

Bruce,

Didn't mean anything by it, just poke'n fun. In reality I don't think that there's a single IT guy out there that doesn't work for Microsoft. ;)

I couldn't function without your products...
 
the BSOD can be your friend.

cln1owner said:
Bruce,

Didn't mean anything by it, just poke'n fun. In reality I don't think that there's a single IT guy out there that doesn't work for Microsoft. ;)

I couldn't function without your products...
Click to expand...

If it wasn't for Microsoft I wouldn't get a paycheck.
 
Trust me, no offense taken

I will be the first to admit that my company has its warts (but on the whole, I really love working here).

When I first started working for MSFT in the mid 1990s, I did field support for Indiana University. I can't remember a day that some enterprising student didn't deface my cube (the favorite seemed to be a photo of Bill Gates with a dart through his head).

Feel free to take your shots at the Deathstar. I will let you know if its one I haven't heard before.

Here is one I laughed at:

http://media.putfile.com/Microsoft-Rebrands-iPod-Packaging

bruce
 
Bruce, all this time I have been mentally translating your "MSFT" into misfit----------never considered Microsoft. Thought you were making some kind of self directed joke.

Joke is on me, I guess.

Anyway, my thoughts on a MS/Garmin merger----------maybe there will be a whole new crop of hardware that will interface with the Garmin box.

A larger, external monitor would be my suggestion.
 
Love that Garmin Stock!

I bought Garmin Stock when they announced the 396 with XM weather a couple years ago. Now it's worth 4.5X what I put in. Can you say "Free 430W"?

Noah
RV-7A Finishing
Rhode Island
 
MSFT-1 said:
After more than ten years with the company I am pretty thick skinned about the kind of comments that regularly get re-hashed.
Click to expand...
Sorry if the comments feel personal; they're certainly not meant that way. As W.E. Deming has suggested, a company's products are a result of its internal systems, not the efforts of individual workers.

The problem I see with MS is about wanting to tightly control the product and requiring the user to conform. This has shown up in MS business decisions about licensing - try Googling (or searching MSN, to be PC) "licensing 6.0" and "software assurance" - as well as lobbying against linux. In fairness, the same can be said of Apple, except that their OS is based on unix.

In an aviation sense, that would be like having / requiring only TSOed equipment - no changes that are not authorized by the manufacturer. I suggest that's not what experimental aviation is about. In the MS aviation world, would we have (in no particular order) Dynon, GRT, AFS, Stratomaster and BMA? Would we have Superior, ECI, etc. engines? Would we even have RVs?

TODR
 
Dark Evil Empire

Well Bruce, I haven't seen that video before but it's spot on!

After 2 years here myself, I really like working for MS as well. Like all big companies, we have our faults, but overall, it's a good place to be. And besides, they do let me drive the Death Star on Thursdays :D

I'm not sure about the Garmin thing. Could be interesting but who knows. Based on previous acquisitions, it may be on the expensive side for a purchase but MS seems reluctant to go after big-ticket items.

Jim
 
Think about the logical consequences of such an acquisition...

All of the avionics stuff would be sold off, MSFT would be more interested in consumer and automotive products.

This would lead one of the other major Avionics companies to step in. If only Dynon had the cash, it would be a great match... Keep Dynon's products and product support intact and overlay the Garmin avionics division.

I spent many years in Mergers and Acquisitions in a high tech company. I'm available to manage the due-diligence on this deal (seriously). Source some 3rd party funding, spin out Garmin Avionics and Dynon into a new company and then take it public a bit later. From Experimental (high growth) to Biz Jets (high priced), all in one company.

I've done multi-billion dollar deals before, and it's a lot of work-- but easier than building an airplane.

Now I'm excited... I could afford to buy hangars for all of my friends!
 
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