Doug, I'd be happy with Microsoft saying "If you want Windows 95 or
98, you have to agree to take our Dog product, Microsoft Money, pay us $60 a machine for it, and agree to not ship any product that leaves your shop w/any Quicken product, whether or not the customer has specifically requested it and paid extra."
But when companies or anyone gets too controlling or greedy for my liking, I head in another direction. There is no Microsoft monopoly. People can buy Apple, Fujitsu, Toshiba and other computers. They have a wide range of operating systems to choose from. They can use several browsers. Microsoft is the only company with Windows 98, so I guess that is a monopoly in some people's eyes. Maybe the government should nationalize it and make them give it away to everyone else.
I notice that Microsoft bundle a calculator, an email package, hearts, and 100 megabytes of other stuff in with it and they don't allow it to be corrupted. A bit like Sun didn't like Microsoft mucking about with Java and still calling it Java. Something to do with a things called branding and mindshare.
I think it is all plain old envy.
You might remain unconvinced of my Globalstar pricing arguments in favor of bid pricing, variable by the minute, but you haven't explained any way in which the proposed fixed pricing can lead to anything other than frustrated callers, busy signals, flat batteries, limited revenue and a poor return on investment.
Neither has anyone else. The idea seems to be, "Gee I dunno. It all seems a bit confusing, people won't like the price going up, and it'll make enough money anyway as it is. Surely the people at Globalstar know what they are doing". Sure, so did the captain of the Titanic on its maiden voyage. The Hindenburg too.
Competition doesn't stop at the stratosphere.
Mqurice |
