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To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (14394)	11/24/1997 9:06:00 AM
From: Columbo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

Why do you think MSFT licensed VBA to over 70 other companies? Quick answer, to increase the pervasiveness of Windows RAD technology with the advent of ultra wide area networking (the Web). Do you and Sal wear little armbands with the big "e" displayed? The young will repeat history https://www.siliconinvestor.com/profile.aspx?userid=4192873 MH #0

To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (14394)	11/27/1997 9:48:00 AM
From: Keith Hankin	Respond to of 24154

>>> You are contradicting yourself here. You cannot bring a product to the masses if you do not create a liquid machine for majority marketshare No, I am not contradicting myself. Apple was the first company to bring a GUI that was purchased and used by regular folks. Sure, it never reached the market penetration that MSFT has, but it is a relative measure of what is meant by "masses". One could use the same argument to say that MSFT has failed to bring GUI technology to the masses because the majority of the US population and most of the rest of the world does not have it. With regards to Apple's not licensing the OS, in retrospect, they obviously made the wrong choice. But it was not clear at the time what was the appropriate choice. Also, they had conflicting interests within their own organization because they were both a hardware and software company. Besides, it is not clear whether MSFT really understood that the open licensing was a better approach. It was simply the only choice that they really had, given their relationship with IBM. So I wouldn't give them any credit for understanding this aspect of the economics of it at that time. Also, MSFT was dependent upon a successful, thriving independent clone market for their own success. Without the Compaqs of the world, they would have gone nowhere.