2000-06-07 09:08 ☼ post
Apparently today is the day that Microsoft will learn their fate. I’m not the biggest fan of Microsoft in the world (especially as a Mac user), but I don’t universally despise their products either. I’m certainly not convinced that breaking up the company is a worthwhile or effective measure. There simply aren’t any easy answers on this one.
A large portion of the reason that we’re where we’re at now is that most people voted Windows PC with their wallets. They could have gone with an alternative platform like the Macintosh, but up until the last couple years that generally meant a significantly larger investment into your computer. You can argue the merits of the Mac vs. PC (especially back at that time) until you’re blue in the face, but money and price is the one thing that you can count on all buyers understanding. Unfortunately companies like Apple chose a strategy that placed margin ahead of marketshare and the rest is history.
Of course even without government intervention things are already starting to change. Open Source operating systems like Linux and BSD are making huge inroads into the server space and eventually will migrate onto desktops as well. Universal standards like XML are poised to revolutionize information interoperability between all platforms. In fact one begins to wonder if government intervention really is a necessary or a good thing. Software patents are the result of government intervention for instance and they’re becoming more ridiculous all the time.
Interesting times are ahead…