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Technology Stocks : MSFT Internet Explorer vs. NSCP Navigator -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: miraje who wrote (15841)	1/6/1998 4:10:00 PM
From: Daniel Schuh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

Out of curiousity, if Microsoft hadn't developed IE and Netscape had a complete strangehold on internet access, would you be coming down on them and calling for DOJ intervention? Yes. Of course, Microsoft has a lot of ancillary power that Netscape never had much chance of attaining. I was never wild about the "netscape enhanced" sites when they started popping up, and I held out using NCSA Mosaic until I starting hitting too many places with graphics that I was force to wait for. My understanding is that the Netscape enhancements were relatively simple compared to the whole css/dhtml/ where ever else Bill wants us to go stuff coming down the pike. Available, of course, for Windows only, but Real Soon Now for other things, like Eric Lindstrom's Sun IE. It's improbable that Netscape ever would have gotten close to Microsoft's stature or power; they were just a puny startup before Bill declared war on them. For my own purposes, as I've said before, I'd prefer lynx-enhanced sites, which convey all the information in 10% of the bytes. No pretty pictures though. Now, you want to return the favor, and explain news.com ? So far, the only taker is Gene with his "typical Microsoft business practice" line, as if we all didn't know that already. What I see is sort of wanton destruction of technology to make the world safer for Windows. Does this make sense to you, economically or technically? This is also the Microsoft line on Java, "Embrace and Demolish" in Ballmer's immortal (and ethical and courteous, of course) words. I sorta think that ideas and technologies should compete on their merits, and that's not exactly how I see Microsoft working. Do you see something I'm missing? Cheers, Dan.

To: miraje who wrote (15841)	1/6/1998 10:12:00 PM
From: Charles Hughes	Respond to of 24154

>>>Out of curiousity, if Microsoft hadn't developed IE and Netscape had a complete strangehold on internet access, would you be coming down on them and calling for DOJ intervention?<<< I don't know about Dan, but my answer is YES. If it were really a strangle hold. I have been on the internet since long before the commercialization, and like many others made my tiny contributions to it. Much smaller contributions than many many others, but in any case I would not want any commercial operation, profiting from the volunteer work of tens of thousands, from the work of the underpaid DOD employees and university researchers, and the taxpayers money of all of us in the US, to monopolize and ruin what was built with such great effort. The Internet does not exist because some commercial outfits decided to build it and run businesses on it. It was already there, for the come-latelies like Netscape and MSFT. The commercial outfits were allowed onto the Internet because that was a way to make it richer and pay for new development and expansion. In this way it is a lot like the public roads. They are not to be monopolized by this company or that. Why the internet? Big trucking companies pay fees for the damage they do to the publicly funded roads, why not the big corporations that are causing these problems on the internet? Chaz

To: miraje who wrote (15841)	1/6/1998 11:48:00 PM
From: Schiz	Respond to of 24154

Out of curiousity, if Microsoft hadn't developed IE and Netscape had a complete strangehold on internet access, would you be coming down on them and calling for DOJ intervention? If the stranglehold was the result of superior software that outsold the competition then there would be no problem. I don't feel that this is even possible though. Does a product exist that everyone has the same idea of what perfection is? I can't think of any. People's opinions and desires vary , that's what makes us people. If the product is essentially the same across the board then the competition arises based on pricing models. Two things that would create a problem though. 1. If nscp gave away the software with the express purpose of putting competitors out of business (after wich they could double the original price). 2. If (after they performed #1)they used the browser monopoly to leverage additional software. I'm far from an expert in anti-trust and the such, that's jmo. Also I think doj should pursue splitting up ms into os and software. Even if the doj wins this case, what does it mean? MS gets fined a few million? The damage is already done. What's a few mil for the market shared they've gained by there apparantly illegal tactics. What's going to prevent them from doing this again.