So what is it value against? Oil is benchmarked against the dollar. So aren't we back to the monopoly of the dollar. Frankly, there is stock being used as a currency and I find it disturbing that it is. Lawyers and accounting firms are being paid in options today in some instances. I view it as yet another tea leaf towards a market top.
No, 90% is a monopoly. AT&T never had 100%. There was GTE.
Standard Oil Trust wasn't the only oil company, there was others. Rail trusts? You can be a monopoly without 100% market share. That is why QCOM will never approach that status. Too much competition.
$ill is being forced into competition. You really think Dell would offer Linux, if the government hadn't took them to court? As evidence has shown with IBM, MSFT did engage in practices that were damaging due to their market dominance.
AS to choice, I'm sure computers in NZ are sold similar as in the US, package deal? That package includes, mouse, keyboards, monitors and software, correct? Ever tell them that you don't want MSFT and you want the price adjsted to reflect it? I have and the response is shocking. It one reason that Compaq filed a complaint a few years back with Justice. MSFT was dictating to the box makers what to put on the machines and using pricing as one of many levers. Another was making codes available, as with IBM.
As to choice now, well it is getting more interesting, but again the hammer is falling and MSFT has to play on a more level field than in the past. However, the article I posted has a very condemning tone to it. CE is a failure. It will not rule or dominate the applicance market. As a matter of fact, I see it either going into a radical redesign or shelved. There has been some developers moving away from it in favor of other embedded OS such as palm, Wind River, Linux, Geoworks and Epoc. Symbian alliance is focused around Epoc, but I can see a move towards Linux which Rotomola has and I'm sure Nokia will as well.
Simply put, just as operators selected between air interfaces, they will select software based on satisfying the consumers demand. If that demand is primarily Internet driven, then you don't need MSFT to do it. However, you will need an OS that uses all resources efficently. That isn't just B/W, but battery, memory and processor. CE is a glutton in that regard, without any great advantage. |
