>> >If it weren't for the low prices resulting from the economy of scale,
>scale
>> >which is enabled by the fact that Microsoft made computers simple enough
>to
>> >use that the masses could and would use them.
>>
>There were plenty of other players on the scene. Just look at DEC. They
>wanted to make computers more costly, less convenient, less accessible.
>It's justice that they're history! They weren't alone in this and I expect
>some of the others, notably IBM, to go away eventually as well, though
>probably not as kindly as DEC went. They, at least, are working on bringing
>new technology to the market, rather than repainting the old stuff and
>trumpeting that the new color made it new technology.
OK, I can no longer resist commenting on this. WHERE IS MICROSOFT'S
INNOVATION?!?!?!
Let's look at some of their programs through the years.
MS BASIC:
Basically a port of DEC BASIC
MS DOS:
They bought a clone of CP/M
MS Windows:
Mac OS
MS Windows NT:
OS/2 and VMS (OK, so they did help develop this, but OS/2 was trash until
IBM took it over. Of course IBM blew it big time with OS/2.)
MS Windows 95:
Mac OS and NeXTstep (OK, the "System Properties" in the "Control Panels" is
the one mildly cool thing about this. I don't know if there is prior art
of any type for this.).
MS Explorer:
Netscape (I won't even credit them with having looked at Mosaic)
MS Window 98:
Bug fixes for '95 and bundled MS Explorer
MS Windows 2000:
Technologies bought from everywhere, just how much of OpenVMS have they
licensed/bought for this? I actually want to give it a try, but haven't
had the chance.
MS Word:
Various word processors
MS Excel:
Various spreadsheets
MS PowerPoint:
Harvard Graphics
MS Foxpro (is this still around):
They bought it
MS Access (isn't this the one that was a failed communications product):
?
MS Access (the DB):
Various Databases, it's got a rep for loosing data last I heard.
MSASM, MS Fortran, MS C, etc.:
Ports of existing stuff
MS Visual BASIC:
Now this one has bothered me for several years, did they buy the underlying
technology or copy something that already existed. I've a strange feeling
that this one was actual innovation!
There is other stuff, but I think that paints a fairly accurate picture of
their innovation!
Basically their innovation is in copying existing stuff, repackaging it,
and tricking people into thinking they've just come up with something new.
Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh_at_aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh_at_holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
|
http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
Received on Thu Apr 06 2000 - 13:59:49 BST