Downloading software even instantaneously creates problems. We can argue about how much problems, but certainly more problems then buying the computer with all the softwre pre-installed by the computer manufacturer who supposedly knows what's going on. Ever here of DLL hell? Doesn't happen with pre-installed software.
Well, now we've shifted from market foreclosure to software incompatibility. Every bit of software that ever came out of a box is subject to the same analysis. Yet, no one is suggesting that, if the OEM packages, say, Novell, in a separate box that the user has to unpack and load herself, then Novell is being foreclosed from the market. Aside from the fact that the relevant software does not come in a box, why is the analysis any different for the internet?
AOL's service is not going to be a distribution channel for Netscape. They still have to run IE to get onto that desktop. And even if they set it up so that the first thing that happens when you sign on is that they download Netscape, well, see # 1 above.
Sun is not going to sit around and let AOL not provide an alternative to Windows and IE. And AOL is not going to make it difficult for its users to download its own browser, Netscape. Its reputation, after all, rides on all aspects of its service being easy to use to the point of being idiot-proof. If anyone has the incentive to make it easy for consumers to use Netscape, AOL certainly does.
But if, against all dictates of the marketplace and common sense, they do, see my response to your #1, above. |
