How high will Microsoft fly? Message Board

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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly?

MSFT 491.12

+1.7%

Dec 8 3:59 PM EST

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To: mrknowitall who wrote (8214)	6/1/1998 10:39:00 PM
From: Dwight E. Karlsen	of 74651

it's more like just having Coke with Snapple as its only competitor. The "Snapple" of the OS world being what or who? Sun's Solaris? Are Sun's sales really as small as were Snapple Beverage Company's sales? True Pepsi and Coke have each other as competitors, but then Microsoft has IBM/OS2, Sun/Unix, Oracle/Net-Java PC, Netscape/Java-Navigator. The problem with anti-trust law is, a dominant market leader doesn't know if they're breaking the law until the DOJ says they are. Otherwise, it's all just "They take those actions against each other to secure repeat sales and brand loyalty in a fickle consumer marketplace", in the manner with which you so effortlessly excused Coca-cola's and Pepsi's efforts to maintain their "monopolies". In regard to credit card companies stuffing - they GET PAID (a lot) to stuff that junk in your statement....Those practices are not evil - they are legitimate ways to move product. My reply (and thanks for the ideas): "In regards to Microsoft integrating HTML file viewing capabilities in their OS at no extra charge, this practice is not evil - it's a legitimate way to move product. And in regards to PC companies bundling MS software: They GET VALUABLE (not insignificant) DISCOUNTS to bundle all that software in those PCs, enabling the PC OEM to offer a fully-featured system at a very competitive price." So we can agree that "Microsoft is leveraging, but they have the power to abuse that leverage since there is no counter-balance in the marketplace." So what the courts will have to decide is which aspects of that leveraging is harmful to consumers, and which "leveraging" may simply be a company's right to improve their product for the consumer's benefit. As far as counter-balance in the market - it's not the government's role to force a counter-balance in the form of forcing Microsoft to ship Netscape's browser. And it's not the government's role to cripple Microsoft's product design team by mandating a freeze on new software features.

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