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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Fischofer who wrote (60474)	8/9/2001 6:28:35 PM
From: Brian Sullivan	Respond to of 74651

Bill, I think it is pretty clear that Dave has no idea about what he is talking about. He has clearly never purchased a new PC as he is strictly an Apple devotee.

To: Bill Fischofer who wrote (60474)	8/9/2001 6:38:02 PM
From: Dave	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Virtually all new PCs come pre-cluttered with any number of add-on packages that manufacturers see fit to bundle with the purchase either preloaded or in a package of CD-ROMs that ship with the box. And Internet-based distribution makes virtually any piece of software a mouse click away from the consumer. As such it's difficult to understand your point about "restrictions on computer makers that make it prohibitive to bundle" software, presuming there is a point to be understood amid the "hogtied and horsewhipped" rhetoric. Sorry about the rhetoric Bill, but my buggy-whip rhetoric is certainly no farther over the top than your Sir-Thomas-going-after-the-devil analogy. So try not to let it bother you. Do you happen to remember the internal Microsoft documents that were presented at trial? The ones that showed that Microsoft's own executives are very aware of how powerful a desktop presence is in gaining immediate market share, and how effectively the need to download and install software over the Internet dissuades many users from ever trying that software? Well, so far, eight out of eight judges have agreed that Microsoft knows what it is doing when it restricts computer makers from preloading certain packages, and punishes them for forging alliances that Microsoft doesn't like by manipulating the pricing for Windows licensing. The same judges have agreed that these acts are illegal. The only remaining question is how hard Microsoft should be spanked. So hey, maybe you know something about the law that these eight federal justices don't, but so far things don't seem to be going in your favor. And since Microsoft didn't directly appoint any of the Supreme Justices, the GOP nominees just might not be willing to bend the law for Microsoft the way they were for Dubya. Dave