If you look at my article again (http://money.york.pa.us/Microsoft_Monopoly.htm), you will see that my invoice listed MS Office separately, and that the price was zero. I put a copy of my invoice in the article. Furthermore, why would an OEM pay $65 for MS Office, and then distribute it to every customer. Maybe the customer doesn't want MS Office. I didn't, because I used WordPerfect. If OEMs wanted to distribute software, why not let the customer have a choice? None did. Also, note the quote in my article about IBM and Microsoft, how Microsoft pressured IBM to distribute MS Office instead of IBM's OWN PRODUCT, SmartSuite. There is no question that Microsoft used its influence to distribute MS Office, and if OEMs passed the cost to the customer without telling them about it, then that's even worse than giving it away!
Regarding your last comment about patents and copyrights, I didn't say what you suggest. Reread the article. I said Microsoft distributed MS Office through OEMs to establish a monopoly, and then, after that monopoly was established, raised prices for maximum profits. |
