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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: fb who wrote (25579)	2/24/1999 12:51:00 PM
From: Paul Fiondella	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

The part of the article about how long corporations will tolerate Win2000 bugs is interesting, but I part company with these First Amendment, ideas will triumph over money, types. "Microsoft just another fat arrogant high tech company." Try 19 billion in cash and a corporate size that spells POWER. Somehow these people just don't get it. When you are rich you get three shots after failures, when you are poor you may get half a shot. Gates is rich and powerful and mainstream in terms of the people whose opinions count in this world. The only reason his company is in court in the first place is because every major computer corporation was against his monopoly. Don't think your opinion counts! The author of this article refers to Rockefeller in the past tense. I assure him that Rockefeller wealth still exists, as do Rockefeller senators (last time I checked) bankers, and if you take a trip sometime to New York or Wyoming --- Rockefeller monuments to Rockefeller wealth. What an idiot this guy is not to understand the nature of power in our "democracy". What fantasyland does his brain permanently reside in? As to innovation --- Microsoft has never innovated. By virtue of its monopoly status it is the gate-keeper of new technologies and it can steal anything it wants from the real innovators. A much better position to be in. Ask any previous successful monopolist. Remember Tucker? I guess we have to go back to ITs a Wonderful Life to understand what really happens in America. When Bailey wants to crush George's bank and consolidate his control over the town, how does George fight back? He doesn't do it with pleas to Bailey, which don't work, he doesn't do it with "innovative banking" (the equivalent of the current new age Silicon Valley thinking) he does it with raw power --- the collective support of the people of the town. Collective action was a major component of political and economic progress in the 30's and 40's. The little guys got together and stood up to the big guys and that is how they got a piece of the pie. Unfortunately most engineers today are little guys, totally dependant upon big corporations for their status and wealth and they deplore collective action and Gates knows this. Engineers are no threat to Gates. George isn't going to mobilize the town of engineers in his support of the Linux bank. Instead the engineers are unorganizable and hoping to curry favor with Bailey to keep their jobs. Bailey has bought the Court system with its Tammany Hall judges. The judges at least know the score. Unfortunately too many people think MSFT will just be punished because it is "bad". Well Microsoft is rich and powerful and in our society "money talks". Power determines the outcome not justice. Don't expect that Novell will be rescued from Microsoft by justice, Linux, Senator Hatch or anything else. Only Novell will rescue itself from Microsoft.