I am not sure about that.

Microsoft isn't a hardware company, going back to add on cards in mice for XTs, Microsoft has always used hardware to push software.

We see the ROG Xbox Ally and the pushing of Xbox branded content in Windows 11. I think all suggests that while XBox as brand and XBox 'titles' are not going away Microsoft is testing the waters for options that don't include them sell hardware. Those options range from pure PC based / Windows software plays to partnering with OEMs to build gaming oriented hardware that can run custom spins of Windows 11.

Microsoft has long history of trying to get into the living room with various products, webTV, that floppy based picture viewer thing whatever that was called, Media Center releases of windows.. XBox as we have known it might just be another corpse beside that highway. It failed to give them the gatekeeping positions for media in the home they have always sought. In someways I think Microsoft missed Smart-TVs they way they missed the web and mobile.

I'm by no means an expert, but I doubt the ability of modern universities to teach community in any meaningful, successful way. This seems like a course correction that's way too late, enacted by the same people responsible for the original problem.

They already tried that -- our ultra-woke (or whatever they're calling it these days) hard left sociology largely came from universities. They've already created a social community. One that did not work. How are the same people going to now teach a society that DOES work?

It feels like universities are a dead concept, they just don't know it yet. The required changes to renew relevance have become too large to be practical.

You don't get coursework for a doctoral. That's not how that works. You write a research paper and have peers review it.

What the hell is writing this crap? It's not somebody going through a doctoral program in teaching that's for sure...

we just used to subsidize it more. When we were kids the government paid 70% of tuition, most of it was money given directly to the colleges who passed that money on to you and me via lower cost tuition.

In the early 2000s Bush Jr and the Republican party slashed those subsidies, which is why the cost shot up. It's got nothing to do with administrative costs or fancy dorms (the dorms literally are paid for by rent paid by students, I know, I put my kid in one of the prison style dorms in college because the nice ones were too pricey).

As usual we're all being lied to.

by the greatest rap channel in YouTube history

These are canaries in the coal mine for the collapsing economy. There's a ton of money in Wall Street chasing meme stocks and trying to extract value without offering it. But they can only survive while the economy at large does and can absorb their losses.

When the broader economy collapses various ponzi schemes go with it. Usually we prosecute the crooks and clean things up a bit, but I don't think anyone is expecting that this cycle.

If I were to hazard a guess, I'll note that in my place of employment for the past 30 plus years, there were groups like HR that would employ some of the more esoteric Liberal art majors, degreed people.

Today, there are perhaps more candidates than positions, and yes, some majors are considered a bit toxic.

We have created this problem by making available loans that allowed people who perhaps didn't have much business being in college to spend 4 years or more of their life living and going to school and having "the college experience", then, to borrow a phrase, having the "Surprised Pikachu Face" when reality hit that they were going to have to obtain employment and actually pay off that loan. Some have debts amounting to a modest house's value.

In reality, there is a difference between degrees that have gainful employment prospects, and those that do not. As well, I'm a little suspicious of the monovariant analysis that has been quite popular regarding employment renumeration, especially when dealing with large groups.

A six-figure income today is enough to rent a decent apartment and maintain a okayish car.

I can tell you're an old man because you say six figure income when six figures isn't a lot of money.

I saw a joke that has really stuck with me, it's a wonderful Life is a timeless movie because it has the the line "do you know how long it takes a man to save $5,000"

Basically we have been screwing over the kids and they're feeling it. Pretty soon they're going to take away old people healthcare and social security. If only out of spite

Yeah you can read the studies but basically jobs that don't involve a college degree require that you build up over time to a higher income and when you lose those jobs you're starting over because without that degree employers do not value your experience.

Furthermore college educated employees tend to be more productive because they are not doing the work of one person but instead building out systems that due to work of multiple people. In the cases where they are doing individual work it's typically very high skilled specialized work which limits the number of people who can do it and competitive forces kick in keeping their wages high and keeping them employed longer.

Basically think of it like this. In the old days you didn't need any school you just worked the fields. Then we started to automate farming and improve that so we started to have to educate people up to about third or fourth grades so they can work factories which were much more efficient and productive. Then we started to automate those jobs so we started to require high School level education in order to maintain the kind of productivity we demand from workers. Now we've automated most of the jobs involving a high school education so that if you want to earn a living you need a college education.

Basically we demand increased productivity from workers every year and the only way to get that is with more education for more advanced workers.

The monarchy was restored and the only reason it eventually fell is that the merchant class overtook monarchies as the ruling elite.

We basically traded one set of Masters for another.

Violent revolutions don't really work because people who are good at violence don't usually give up power and will set themselves up with power following the violence.

I'm not sure what the solution is but it's not going to be a revolution. I don't think we actually have a solution and I think we are eventually going to trigger world war III and hand the launch codes to religious lunatics but assuming we don't do that it's going to be slow steady progress through education.

Where did you read that? If it's true it would be momentous. A totally discretionary fund of $2-6B per year (based on nVidia's projections of selling $2-5B per quarter to China) would give the president enormous unchecked power.

I've spend some time searching and haven't found anything to substantiate this claim. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'd like to see where you got the idea from.

I thought of that, but I dump cookies on exit. So unless they've found a new place to sneak them onto my machine, that probably isn't it.

Then they are happy, and I am happy for them - they have found their solution. Ten again - If you as a business have zero options. than A Microsoft product, if the very success is predicated on Office 365, without which it all falls apart - you've created a monoculture.

There are two parts to this Culture and education. No doubt I'll anger some people, but here we go.

Colleges played an integral part in the incredible lack of connection he decries.

Because right now, they are pretty darn toxic.

He speaks of a "Loneliness epidemic". It certainly is true, there is one. But that atmosphere that has been created doesn't help a bit. As the female to male ratio has been increasing, there are less men available, and the ease with which a man can be destroyed plays some part in young college age males avoiding relationships.

I get Cleary reports as required by law. I get maybe one a year now. That colleges have been an unqualified success in reducing sexcrime, real or interpreted is beyond argument. They have also caused many young men to avoid young women completely as a protective mechanism.

And many of these young ladies understandably hate the results.

Whereas once upon a time, you would see many men and women in obvious relationships or just friends around the campus, today maybe 10 percent of the people I see are interacting with the opposite sex. Guys hanging out together, gals the same. So many more woman than men, and the males don't seem to be affected much by the situation. No question that this is not a good situation.

Can this change? It will require a huge culture shift. I do note that a lot of women are changing their approach. In the past year, I've seen a lot of women have lost the "College scowl" that was so popular since around 2005. More women actually smile and speak to me without prompting, and without the "whatever" attitude. I believe that the loneliness epidemic affects women more than men.

Point is, the College culture has to change - a lot. And those who created the present culture are going to resist, mightily.

Now Education

Sure - education for many of these kids was a colossal waste of money. Loans that they lived on before getting a worthless degree, graduating in big debt and finding out they have less employment opportunities than the guy who quit high school in 10th grade. They might have had fun living their best life and having that sweet College Experience, but really - didn't they check on the post graduation employment prospects?

Meanwhile those in majors that had good employment prospects have been able to secure jobs that pay well, and have paid down their loans.

We really do need a lot of revamping of academia. But it's going to take a miracle to change the present culture, which is the polar opposite of Genuine human community, but rather a deconstruction of human community. I suspect it will have to completely fall apart, then rebuilt with a more even handed paradigm.

You sound pretty bitter. Why don't you move to europe? Germany for instance recognizes that college is important: they actually pay for it. Even foreigners can go to university for free.

Guess I'm prescient. I posted the below 10 days ago:

There's a lot more to college than just the academics. College is where you meet the friends you'll keep for life, and often your future spouse. Going from dormland to a shared house with friends as roommates is a gentle transition from living at home to being on your own. The social interaction isn't the bullshit of high school; this is where people start to develop the social skills of adults. At college you choose who you spend most of your time with. When working you spend time with the people your boss hired, like them or not. I think the experience of going to college is important for growth and wellness. And it's hell of a lot of fun too.