Comment IN DEFENSE OF MICROSOFT (Score 2) 963
Amidst the jubilation of the Microsoft haters, there lies an ugly truth... Today was a defeat for liberty and Capitalism in America: the very things that make this country great. Today, the court announced its intention to punish the most successful and influential software company of our time precisely because it is capable, competitive, and successful. Today, those who love liberty should weep.
Before you send me ten thousand fiery hate letters, let me explain my position:
I don't like windows.... I think IE, Word, and Excel are good products, but the OS itself is quite flawed. Its constant stream of inexplicable errors and crashes is almost more than I can bear. And it's true that Microsoft has used strong-arm tactics in business. It has demanded that computer manufacturers bundle software or risk losing licenses. It has secretly attempted to divide the browser. It has purposely shipped bug-ridden, mediocre products to consumers. These things I don't deny.
Yet, all of this lies within the moral right of a man to compete freely in a free economy. You see, Bill Gates was once a guy like you and I. He was a young college student with few assets besides his intelligence and his love for computers. He saw an opportunity to market technology, and he seized it. Many others could have done the same, but did not. In the ensuing years, Gates changed the face of the computing industry. Though his company did not originally produce most of the innovations in computing, he successfully marketed many of them. He created a software platform that, despite its many flaws, made computing technology easy enough and powerful enough for the masses to use. The "robber baron" charged high prices for his software and made exorbitant profits. But in doing so, he also created a massive amount of wealth for his stockholders, his employees, the computer industry, and the nation as a whole.
Many at Slashdot and elsewhere have decried Microsoft as a "destructive monopoly" and blamed it for any number of problems within the computer industry. Yet Microsoft has never used actual force to sustain its market power. The decisions of the computer manufactures to bundle its products, and of the end-users to buy them were voluntary. No one has ever been forced to buy or run windows. If consumers were actually dissatisfied with the quality of Microsoft products, its business practices, or anything else perhaps they wouldn't use them. Others argue that Microsoft dominates because it lacks competition. However, this is obviously untrue. At present, computer users are free to choose from three major operating systems: Windows, Apple OS, and Linux. Furthermore, even if these alternatives didn't exist, I would still maintain that Microsoft has a right to any market share it can capture. Let the consumers exercise their right to choose (even if they don't chose well).
Here lies the most important issue at stake: coercive monopolies do not exist! In a free capitalist economy, small companies constantly outdo companies many times their size, stealing markets overnight or creating new markets where none previously existed. When Bill Gates and Microsoft created MS-DOS, they did this to IBM. Michael Dell entered the crowded market for PC's and proceeded to rapidly seize the market by his greater efficiency, quality, and organization. How about AOL's success amid thousands of BBS services, IP's, and several highly competitive national online services like itself? In each of the cases, hordes of consumers voluntarily agreed to purchase goods and services at given prices, helping small companies to grow rapidly and capture their respective markets.
In light of all this, I cannot help feeling disgust at the Slashdot community's reaction to the court ruling. Some talk about the glorious new "freedom" in the computer industry. Others whine, that even if Microsoft is split up into an OS company and an application company, it will still be too competitive. Yet, another suggested that Microsoft be forced to publish its source code. These commentators hate and envy Microsoft because they are they are impotent to compete against it. Instead of honestly challenging Microsoft, they want the government to destroy it for them! Don't be one of these pitiful moochers... don't aid them in them in securing what they have not earned, at the expense of those who have earned it. Do not help them to betray the best of America to its worst.
Before you send me ten thousand fiery hate letters, let me explain my position:
I don't like windows.... I think IE, Word, and Excel are good products, but the OS itself is quite flawed. Its constant stream of inexplicable errors and crashes is almost more than I can bear. And it's true that Microsoft has used strong-arm tactics in business. It has demanded that computer manufacturers bundle software or risk losing licenses. It has secretly attempted to divide the browser. It has purposely shipped bug-ridden, mediocre products to consumers. These things I don't deny.
Yet, all of this lies within the moral right of a man to compete freely in a free economy. You see, Bill Gates was once a guy like you and I. He was a young college student with few assets besides his intelligence and his love for computers. He saw an opportunity to market technology, and he seized it. Many others could have done the same, but did not. In the ensuing years, Gates changed the face of the computing industry. Though his company did not originally produce most of the innovations in computing, he successfully marketed many of them. He created a software platform that, despite its many flaws, made computing technology easy enough and powerful enough for the masses to use. The "robber baron" charged high prices for his software and made exorbitant profits. But in doing so, he also created a massive amount of wealth for his stockholders, his employees, the computer industry, and the nation as a whole.
Many at Slashdot and elsewhere have decried Microsoft as a "destructive monopoly" and blamed it for any number of problems within the computer industry. Yet Microsoft has never used actual force to sustain its market power. The decisions of the computer manufactures to bundle its products, and of the end-users to buy them were voluntary. No one has ever been forced to buy or run windows. If consumers were actually dissatisfied with the quality of Microsoft products, its business practices, or anything else perhaps they wouldn't use them. Others argue that Microsoft dominates because it lacks competition. However, this is obviously untrue. At present, computer users are free to choose from three major operating systems: Windows, Apple OS, and Linux. Furthermore, even if these alternatives didn't exist, I would still maintain that Microsoft has a right to any market share it can capture. Let the consumers exercise their right to choose (even if they don't chose well).
Here lies the most important issue at stake: coercive monopolies do not exist! In a free capitalist economy, small companies constantly outdo companies many times their size, stealing markets overnight or creating new markets where none previously existed. When Bill Gates and Microsoft created MS-DOS, they did this to IBM. Michael Dell entered the crowded market for PC's and proceeded to rapidly seize the market by his greater efficiency, quality, and organization. How about AOL's success amid thousands of BBS services, IP's, and several highly competitive national online services like itself? In each of the cases, hordes of consumers voluntarily agreed to purchase goods and services at given prices, helping small companies to grow rapidly and capture their respective markets.
In light of all this, I cannot help feeling disgust at the Slashdot community's reaction to the court ruling. Some talk about the glorious new "freedom" in the computer industry. Others whine, that even if Microsoft is split up into an OS company and an application company, it will still be too competitive. Yet, another suggested that Microsoft be forced to publish its source code. These commentators hate and envy Microsoft because they are they are impotent to compete against it. Instead of honestly challenging Microsoft, they want the government to destroy it for them! Don't be one of these pitiful moochers... don't aid them in them in securing what they have not earned, at the expense of those who have earned it. Do not help them to betray the best of America to its worst.
