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

To: Daniel Schuh who wrote (15939)	1/9/1998 11:19:00 AM
From: Daniel Schuh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

MS making up for bad behavior news.com In a manner of speaking. Bad is as bad does, and from everything people tell me here, Microsoft's motto should be "We be bad", credits to Richard Prior for the younger among you. Anyway, as usual, on to the story. It's a long one, you all should check it out. "We thought we should get out and reassure people that we do respect the DOJ," said Mich Mathews, general manager of Microsoft public relations. Sort of like that other old saw, "Believe me baby, I'll still respect you". That one's dated too, I know. "Reporters have been following the legal back-and-forth, but what's been lost is that we've been representing the facts in straightforward way." Right, the complexity of browser/OS integration is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals, much less subhuman lawyers and judges. No disrespect intended, of course. Just the facts, mam. Staightforward is as straightforward does, and Microsoft is nothing if not straightforward. Since the DOJ announced its lawsuit in October, Microsoft has called into question the technical expertise of the agency, as well as the fundamental right of government to oversee what the company feels is its right to innovate. Now that Microsoft has pledged to be more cautious, it has to stand by its promise for the sake of its credibility, said one expert often called in to do PR damage control. "In the next month or so, people will start asking 'Where's the beef?'" said Tim Conner, president of the Conner Group, a crisis management and media relations firm in Greenwich, Connecticut. "If you're going to say stuff like that, you have to back it up with behavior." And, in conclusion: The DOJ-Microsoft case is also a benchmark for the burgeoning impact of the high-tech industry upon the rest of society, according to PR consultant Cook. "Microsoft is known as arrogant, but there's a lot of hubris in the tech industry in general. People live in a bubble and don't always understand the impact technology has on society; they're always working under the assumption that they're making the world a better place to live, and that's not necessarily true." I've always had the impression that the Microsoft bubble was a little more opaque than most. Anyway, I confess I worry about the impact of technology on society perhaps a little more than I oughter, at least in the internet sphere. Of course, in the Objectivist world view, I'd guess hubris is a virtue, not a vice. Cheers, Dan.