DevilsPGD writes:

I think the key is that it wasn't JUST $80K... It was $80K, plus
Microsoft got unlimited distribution rights of their own.

In other words, Microsoft got somebody else to pay the development costs
of a product that Microsoft was now selling.

Just like Intel--their first microprocessor was developed for a
calculator, but the calculator company (Busicom) decided to drop it
and signed over all rights to Intel. And if these things had not
happened, we might not have microprocessors or PC operating systems or
even PCs today. So be glad.

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