Software Tax deductions

["David E. Y. Sarna" <David@ObjectSoftCorp.com>]

  > You should be aware that Bill is making the donation you minimize
  > through his foundation , not Microsoft. He buys the stuff from
  > Microsoft as well as from other vendors (hardware and communications)
  > and takes a deduction only for what he paid. This program has nothing
  > to do with Microsoft - the Company.
  > 
  > In contrast, Microsoft itself is trying to get a hearing in the better
  > computer science departments and is making the donations of hardware
  > and software to universities that you are criticizing..
  > 
  > Those of us that live in the real world lament the fact that computer
  > science depts produce graduates with very limited skills that are
  > often of no practical use in the real world, partly because of
  > religious bigotry like yours, and partly due to laziness and
  > unwillingness of professors to learn new skills.
  > 
  > I,  for one have pleaded with Microsoft to try and overcome some of
  > the blind prejudice and bigotry in academia by helping to train a new
  > generation of students who are familiar with - and use - the
  > development tools and operating systems of the real world. 
  > 
  > I, for one, applaud their efforts. 
  > 	
  > Regards,
  > David E. Y. Sarna       davids@objectsoftcorp.com
  > ObjectSoft Corp. (NASDAQ:OSFT)    http://www.objectsoftcorp.com
  > 433 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack, NJ 07601
  > Tel.: (201) 343-9100    Fax: (201) 343-0056
  > 
  > 	-----Original Message-----
  > 	From:	Jordan Pollack [SMTP:pollack@cs.brandeis.edu]
  > 	Sent:	Tuesday, November 11, 1997 12:12 AM
  > 	To:	Multiple recipients of list
  > 	Subject:	Software Tax deductions 
  > 
  > 	kendall  wrote about MS donating software to education:
  > 
  > 	>That's about as socially-conscious as heroin dealers
  > ``donating'' smack to
  > 	>addicts in the name of good will and charity.
  > 
  > 	>Even you won't defend this as altruistic, will you? It's a
  > fairly
  > 	>transparent---even though no mainstream newspaper reporter can
  > evidently see
  > 	>through it---ploy to increase the use and familiarity of MS
  > products among the
  > 	>younger generation.
  > 	..
  > 	>It makes me ill that the mainstream media in this country can't
  > see all of
  > 	>this for what it is. The notion that MS and Bill, personally,
  > are
  > 	>socially-conscious because they donate (do they deduct it from
  > taxes, I
  > 	>wonder?) MS software to schools is amazing.
  > 
  > 	Of course you can call the free apple to each school similarly
  > 	rotten. 
  > 
  > 	Two things: 
  > 
  > 	It would make an interesting FOI request to IRS to find out how
  > much
  > 	tax relief is available to Software Companies who donate
  > software. I
  > 	expect IRS is smart enough to discount it to 69cents/cdrom, but
  > maybe
  > 	not. 
  > 
  > 	CS departments are one of the prime religious training grounds
  > for
  > 	unix lovers. Now that Pentium pro's are faster than SGIs, linux
  > is
  > 	invading. But rumors are floating in the computer science
  > community that
  > 	MS trying to stem the Unix addition in CS professionals by
  > donating
  > 	HARDWARE - Pentium Pro workstations - to top depts, like
  > Berkeley, as
  > 	long as they run NT, not linux.
  > 
  > 	No Gates building for my department, ever, after this:)
  > 
  > 	Professor Jordan B. Pollack   DEMO Laboratory, Volen Center for
  > Complex Systems
  > 	Computer Science Dept, MS018  Phone (617) 736-2713/Lab x3366/Fax
  > x2741
  > 	Brandeis University           website:
  > http://www.demo.cs.brandeis.edu
  > 	Waltham, MA 02254             email: pollack@cs.brandeis.edu