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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (172108)	10/7/2005 12:46:16 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 281500

Let's do the normal thing to show how bad Microsoft is and start with the conclusion and work our way back. <which OS did Microsoft write? What other operating systems it competed with? And how is it that MS' became the dominant OS? > MS became the dominant OS because it was bought and stolen by most people, giving MSFT economies of scale and network effect, as well as other things. Most people underestimate the importance of software theft in helping MSFT gain dominance. It was lucky for MSFT that PC clones were everywhere and their software was stolen. If they could have stopped the theft, as they were trying to, they might have killed the goose that laid the golden egg. Most people haven't thought of that, and I can't recall seeing anyone other than me saying how important theft was to their success. Nowadays, companies know that it's a good idea to give away some level of software or content access to tempt people to pay money for upgrades to the really good stuff. Similarly, IBM was lucky that their PC was cloned. By having cloning and software theft, an enormous market was developed at lower cost for comparable software and equipment that competitors offered. IBM enjoyed a share of a huge market by having to compete rather than being like Apple and having a tiny monopoly over-priced PC. Intel selling their ASICs everywhere drove down the price of computing, making Wintel the standard, with IBM enjoying a big piece of the action, for a decade or so anyway. MSFT competed with all operating systems, pens, paper, telephones, photocopiers, skiing and driving. It all depends on how tightly you wish to define "the market". Much computer spending is disposable income on entertainment. People are not just buying a computer and an operating system. They are buying entertainment [available at the movies, skifield, etc], knowledge [available at libraries, newspapers, magazines, cybercafes etc], writing ability [available on typewriters, other computers, pen and paper, telex, fax, etc] and so on. Foaming at the mouth anti-monopolists define the markets tightly enough to catch the person with the cash. Any market can be defined tightly enough to catch any transaction. Which OS did MSFT write? Well, there's XP for a start. I believe if you follow the antecedents of XP, you'll find earlier operating systems, written to a greater or lesser extent by MSFT people. The very first one, $ill bought AFTER they had got the deal with IBM, which was very intelligent! Did I pass? I know enough for my purposes thanks, so I did pass, even though Google knows a LOT more than I do. 30 years ago, things were back to front. Computers cost a fortune. Software cost a small fortune. The user's time value was small. I argued then that it would reverse and the user's time would be most valuable, the software next most valuable and the computers given away free with the software. You can pick up a 3G cyberphone for no charge with a service contract for a couple of years. Those 3G cyberphones make the computers of 1981 [PC/Apple] look like an abacus. MediaFLO can deliver cheap TV to a screen near you. Memory is huge, Google available on tap, gpsOne location means never being lost, BREW enabling great functionality, Eudora2Go giving convenient email, Skype enabling free phone calls around the world. And more. Fortunately, I put my money where my mouth was and QUALCOMM is paying suitable dividends with huge growth under way. I'm happy with my understanding of the PC business thanks. And how cool is this; you get this knowledge free, in an instant, way around the world. You may send money if you wish. Mqurice