His danger is the same as the prevention of broadcasters and print media from monopolizing markets. With the Internet and his push, or bullying, into content buxiness of media and moving into telecommunications, he then has the ability to be highly influential in molding our thoughts and opinions. Ain't going to happen, squire.
As to the solution; he sits the Browser industry and pronounces his thought about integration of browser into the actual functioning of the OS. He then offers the basic OS at a royalty fee; per unit sale, to those companies. Then you let the marketing and peoples preference to takeover. You have IE based OS and Netscape based OS. It then has competition which should cause a price war, which benefits the consumers and Billy still gets his royalty for the basic OS. If he sat the Telco's down a few years back and said "Hey, our study shows the need for bigger pipelines to business and consumers in this time frame"; the industry would have respond. The problem is consumer and not business. CLEC's are skimming the cream and avoiding the consumer. Instead he bullies and threatens. In New York, there is a jesture for that kind of arrogant bullying, "I got your pipeline here between my legs!" All his bullying has created enemies in indusrties like entertainment, telco and broadcasting. Companies like Sun, Oracle and IBM didn't need much to push them into that camp. That's OK, I keep telling folks to watch out for big Blue, they are fixing to unleash NC's and cut into Wintel even further.
Frankly Maurice, IBM made a smart move years ago in the PC arena. The reason was the amount of attacks about them monopolizing the industry. In the very early days of the Internet, alot of bitching was down from the intellectual community that used Cray's, DEC and other big iron about IBM evil ways and DARPANET. Was it good for everyone that their was that pressure from government in distributing the contracts for DARPANET? You bet your unborn sheep it was. Look at the cottage industry that result. Well, I'm not interest in the world according to Bill Gates. Just like I'm not interested in European oligarchies opinion on wireless standards.
Frankly, Ma Bell wrote her break up that the court accepted. The same was true about Standard Oil. Gates better get on the stick and offer the courts something that they will live with or you will have government taking it's action, whatever that might be. Look at his token support of Apple. The only reason he did it is to say "see there is competition!" But turn around and have Apple sell it's soul by placing IE on there machines, exclusively. Compaq is highly irrate these days with Wintel Fascism and have offer damning evidence to DOJ. Bullocks!!!! |
