Gates grilled by Senate committee infoworld.com
Infoworld story, nothing particularly new but I'll quote a snippet just to tie things together, as it were.
Hatch brought up past comments made by Microsoft officials indicating that the company was giving away Internet Explorer in an effort to quash competitors, particularly Netscape.
"Does that sound like predatory pricing, or fair play?" Hatch asked Gates.
Which, of course, goes back to a much-flogged quote of mine.
In September 1995, Paul Maritz, the executive in charge of Microsoft's operating-system business, met with executives of Intel Corp., the leading microchip maker. It was a month after Netscape had sold shares to the public and the Internet start-up was suddenly a hot company.
When the discussion turned to Netscape, one Intel executive, who asked not to be identified, recalled Maritz saying: "We are going to cut off their air supply. Everything they're selling, we're going to give away for free." (from nytimes.com;
Back to infoworld, where Bill of course artfully evades the question.
"Netscape is a competitor," Gates answered. "I've been asked, 'Does Netscape have a future?' -- and I think they have some incredible opportunities in front of them. But at the end of the day, what counts is doing great software and users will pick what is best for them."
Yeah, like retail Win95. It's the best seller! It's what the customers want! Those idiot OEMs, they get exactly what they deserve from that Joachim Kempin guy.
Hatch then asked Gates if marketing, not "great software," was more important in this competitive scenario, suggesting that Microsoft's decision to bundle Internet Explorer for free with Windows was aimed directly at Netscape.
"I just told you that the decision to bundle IE with Windows pre-dates Netscape," a testy Gates shot back.
Ah, the old Fred Moody revisionist history line. Bill was on top of the web all along. MSN, Blackbird, and Myhrvold's on-line toll road was just a clever diversion, a Potemkin village thing to lull the competition. Software may come and go, but a good company line has a thousand lives.
Cheers, Dan. |
