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March 26, 2004
Microsoft Gets Its Due, Finally
Like so many in the tech industry, except those who actually work for Microsoft, I'm delighted at EEU's recent anti-trust ruling against Microsoft. Microsoft abuses its monopoly in operating systems to limit innovation and competition in software applications. The NY Times quoted Steven Balmer saying, "We believe that every company should have the ability to improve its products to meet the needs of consumers." True, but not if that "product improvement" is a a bundling strategy that stacks the deck against all other software providers.
Steve's statement further reads, "Our research shows that a majority, a very broad majority, of European consumers believe that Windows Media Player should be included with Windows." This is reminiscent of past statements that most consumers didn't want Microsoft to be broken up. Of course the research will show these sentiments. Most consumers have no idea what they are missing because Microsoft's approach never gives them a reason to try anything different. Microsoft's historical bad bad monopolist behavior put hundreds of software companies out of business and severly limited incentive for innovation. We live in a Microsoft world because of blatantly illegal actions over several years by Microsoft to crush its perceived competitors. What surprises me is how supportive the Wall St Journal editors are of Microsoft's position. I would think the WSJ's ultraconservative editorialists would be promoting competition. Perhaps their distance from Silicon Valley, and their attachment to Microsoft's stock value, have kept them uninformed of the true damage MS has done to the tech industry over the years. The good news is that with the rise of open source software, the world is not reliant on MS for their servers to function. Here is where Microsoft's hegemony is really being challenged.
Posted by elise on March 26, 2004 to Business Commentary
