OT! Re: Nuke this off-topic flamefest!

From: Paul Braun <nerdware_at_laidbak.com>
Date: Sat Jan 13 01:03:12 2001

> On Fri, 12 Jan 2001, Richard Erlacher wrote:
>
<<snippage>>
>
> It says all you ever did with your laptop was run a communications
> program, and that is a very simple task for Windows to perform on a
> sole basis. Open up 10 other applications concurrently and use them
> actively, then see how Windows holds up.
>
> If this is what Microsoft thinks the consumer market will tolerate,
> and the consumer market does tolerate it, then who holds the shame?
>
> Sellam Ismail

Amen. A lot of the blame for Microsoft's dominance (aside from the
illegal predatory tactics) lies in the fact that the buying public has
just accepted substandard, buggy products for years, and
continues to do so. I've seen quotes from Ballmer that said "We'd
rather ship a buggy product on time, and fix it down the road, than
miss a ship date." The kind of errors and bugs that ship in MS
"final" products would bring scores of lawsuits and bankruptcies in
any other industry, but the computer-buying public just says, "I
know it's buggy and not really finished. I know it'll cause problems
and probably isn't compatible with my other software. That's OK.
It's from Microsoft, so I have to have it because it's the latest
thing...you just go ahead and fix the flaws when you have time.
Here's another boxful of cash. Oh, and while you're at it, let me
know when the next beta is out, and I'll send you another boxful of
cash for that, too."

It's a great business model. If the automotive industry could get
away with selling partially-finished, problematic cars for full retail
price, and demand that you pay full price for a new one every two
years, don't you think they'd do the same thing?

That's the only thing Microsoft has "innovated". All their products
are bought, stolen, reverse-engineered, "borrowed", or otherwise
derived from someone else's work. The ability to sell crap, and sell
it consistently, while gaining market share and making more profit
than half of the world's countries put together, is true marketing
genius. They've gotten everyone to say, "Yes, sir. May I have
another?"




Paul Braun WD9GCO
Cygnus Productions
nerdware_nospam_at_laidbak.com

"A computer without a Microsoft operating system is like a dog without a bunch of bricks tied to its head."
Received on Sat Jan 13 2001 - 01:03:12 GMT