> But will he be so in future generations?
Yes.
>Ask most 20 somethings,
>and I'll bet most of them can't name any non-living industry titans.
John D. Rockefellar.
Andrew Carnegie.
J.P. Morgan.
(And, let's not forget)
Leland Stanford
These were the Robber-Baron titans of the Guilded Age whose trusts are the reason they called the Sherman Act "antitrust" law. The ensuing reaction against the excessive concentration of business power was not exhausted until the 1920's, fifty years after these mens' empires reached their apogee.
Gates is our generation's equivalent, exhibiting the good, the bad and the ugly traits of these past giants (who, like Gates, were controversial, but giants nonetheless), and evoking a similar reaction by the Nation.
This DOJ thing is no flash in the pan -- definitely only the beginning of a trend which has not been exhausted by any means.
Microsoft may win this round, but that will only slow, not stop, the effort by populist politicians (is Richard Gephardt our William Jennings Bryan?) to deal with excessive concentration of power in the software industry.
We can expect the legal, legislative and political campaign against Microsoft to intensify in coming years, regardless of which political party wins the White House after Clinton leaves. It will be interesting to see what legislative proposals the Congress cooks up to deal with Microsoft, not just this year but well into the next century. I wonder how many politicians are going to get elected in the first decade of the new millenium by running against Microsoft and its chairman.
Remember Newton's law: every action evokes an equal and opposite reaction. |
