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more on Why Sun threw in the towel in Mankind vs. Microsoft
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 02:39:15 -0400
Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu Date: Sun, 04 Apr 2004 22:44:16 -0800 From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ibd com> Subject: Re: [IP] more on Why Sun threw in the towel in Mankind vs. Microsoft To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Cc: Tom Fairlie <tfairlie () frontiernet net> On 4/4/04 6:12 AM, "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net> wrote: > > -To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu > Date: Sun, 04 Apr 2004 09:07:47 -0500 > From: Tom Fairlie <tfairlie () frontiernet net> > Subject: Re: [IP] Why Sun threw in the towel in Mankind vs. Microsoft > To: dave () farber net > Dave, > <snip> > Does Microsoft produce some mediocre software? Sure. > Has Microsoft suffered some sloppy releases? Certainly a few. > However, Microsoft (along with Intel, their manufacturer) > produces a fine computer that does a fine job doing what it's > intended to do. I'm not going to run a bank or an embedded > machine or a particle accelerator with it, but for 95% of the > other things we can think of to use computers for it's great. > Oppps, looks like Diebold ATMs do run Windows and several top tier bands had their ATM networks down for almost 24 hours when one of the MS Worms infected their network. Also a recent Diebold ATM failed by loosing its application GUI and opening up its Windows Login screen at a University allowing students to experiment with hacking the ATM network. Diebold also foolishly uses Windows for the touch screen voting machines and MS Access for the database. These were shown to be a major part of the vulnerabilities of untraceable vote manipulation. Don't know if there are anyone foolish enough to run particle accelerators on Windows, but there was that Navy Destroyer that run by Windows and had to be towed back into dock do to failure of its Windows based systems (http://www.gcn.com/archives/gcn/1998/july13/cov2.htm). > Aside from the teenage Linux user forced to edit PowerPoint > presentations while working for "the man" in a large corporation, > I don't think that many people are being forced to use something > they don't like. Ironically, when I worked at Bell Labs, I was > the only Windows NT user in a veritable sea of Solaris boxes > simply because I could do more things faster with my machine. > > I think Sun failed because of Sun. They themselves have been > guilty of mediocrity for far too long. Like Apple, they proved > themselves in the mid-1980s and then coasted into obscurity > today. However, unlike Jobs, who managed to turn things around, > McNealy isn't a visionary. Its true that many ISVs had their own problem, but Microsoft has practiced extreme predatory practices that got them to where they are. I suggest that all who still believe the myth that Microsoft "out competed" their rivals read "The Microsoft File" by Wendy Goldman Rohm http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005LPV3. This book clearly lays out how Microsoft has used predatory practices since its very beginnings. One of the real turning points in the history of Microsoft domination is described in this book. MS had publicly committed and was under contract with IBM to develop OS/2 as the replacement for DOS and Windows 2.x. In reality, they put limited resources into OS/2 and massive resources into developing Windows 3.x and the Office Suite. This allowed them to get make the ISVs waste their time on OS/2 and allow Microsoft to get ahead of the ISVs competing productivity applications by 9 to 18 months. And this is just one example. Also check out "Barbarians Led by Bill Gates" by Jennifer Edstrom, Marlin Eller (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805057544) a short quote from the Amazon "How has Microsoft been able to crush its competition every step of the way? The company's own version of history ascribes it to something like "really great technical innovation." Barbarians Led by Bill Gates presents a harsher and messier history, sharply questioning Microsoft's ethics and corporate wisdom while underscoring its fierce will to compete." And then there is the news "Microsoft Nearing Completion of Death Star" http://bbspot.com/News/2002/05/deathstar.html But that was just an April Fools joke :-) -- Robert J. Berger - Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC. Voice: 408-882-4755 eFax: +1-408-490-2868 http://www.ibd.com ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- more on Why Sun threw in the towel in Mankind vs. Microsoft Dave Farber (Apr 04)