More like sucking the thumb. They aren't dealing with Microsoft's
reputation, or the reasons for it, in any serious way; instead, they
are ridiculing Microsoft's critics. Remember, this is the same column
that frequently describes Bill Gates being told of some annoyance, his
inevitable response being "have him/her/it/them killed". The real
message is, "come on... all that stuff about brutal competition is
way, way exaggerated. We're all just folks here. Ummm... why is
everyone complaining about us?"
(FWIW, these "READMEs" are, IIRC, written by Kinsley. This is the
same Kinsley who, in at least one published description of what it's
like to work for Microsoft --- this one appearing in his old journal,
the New Republic --- gushed repeatedly about how *nice* they all
were).
Now, when they start, say, honestly reporting on the advantages that
Microsoft's apps developers have over their coevals at other
companies, and the implications for the structure of the industry,
I'll be impressed.
There's plenty of interesting stuff in Slate, to be sure ---
particularly in the dispatches & dialogs. But I take anything they
have to say on their owners or the industry generally with a ton of
salt.
rst
BTW, for those with an interest, Kinsley's above-mentioned paean
to the pleasant natives and scenery of Redmond, Washington (where
buff techies while their pleasant days on the lawn beneath the
waterfalls) is available in the archives of the web edition of TNR at
http://www.enews.com/magazines/tnr/archive/1996/09/diarist090296.html