Re: The Problem is not MS, but OS(was Microsoft, Monopolies, and Rum)

[kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com]

> What needs to happen now, for Microsoft to truly be challenged, is for computer mfgs. to load alternative operating systems, such as Linux, on PC's.
> 
> Michael D. Jeter
> 



The problem with that idea is that the "average computer user" (who is NOT
the same as the average tech writer) does not want another OS. One is
enough. One is simple. If it's one a lot of other people use, then it will
be easy to get assistance/sympathy from friends, family, and coworkers.

An OS is a standard. And historically, ONE standard defeats its
competitors. The long-playing record (for those of us old enough to
remember it) was the victor in one set of format wars, which meant that
ALL albums were recorded at 33 1/3 RPM. And guess what? The people that
invented and owned that format made money on EVERY album sold.

Monopoly? Or the survival of the fittest in the free market?

Variations of the same story can be told about CDs, Video formats such as
VHS, Beta, etc.

Somebody wins. Which means somebody loses. And the winner collects
royalties.

But I don't feel like the consumers lost - I don't WANT to have to own a
VHS, a Beta, a DVD, and an 8mm projector just so I can watch an Adam
Sandler movie.

The garden variety home computer user doesn't want that either. And they
make up the majority of the market. We techies are specialists; it makes
sense that we might prefer specialized tools. But to force new OS's on the
unsuspecting (and undesiring) public is to punish them, not to help them.



 - Keith Cronin

_____________________________________


 Tech writers. Chicks dig 'em.


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