Professor Howard is back from China. It was a whirlwind tour which I followed only partially from his blogs and emails. There was plainly little time for any sightseeing (what else is there to do in China), but he’s got a ton of pictures that need sorting out. I am a little disappointed that he did not post the blogs in real time, since he knows how. See how easy it is for me to forget that it took me a few months of squirming to get the format you see here, but still, I didn’t have anybody to show me how.I read about MS buying a tiny percentage of a company worth 15 billion that I never heard of before today. It is described as a “social engineering network”, so I looked into it. The owner is 23. Quite frankly, he got lucky reading the pulse of things, because Facebook is one of the more disgusting uses yet for a computer. That is exactly what sells to the current crop of Internet losers. It is like YouTube without the videos. You post a profile and hope like hell something comes of it. The dating and fame lottery?
MS also got their ass handed to them by Europe. The issue is simple: can MS bundle their operating system in such a way that only programs they authorize can be used with it? America says yes, Europe says no, MS must tell computer companies enough details about the Windows system to permit others to write programs. MS says that is giving away too much secret information with no way to keep it confined to Europe.
Who remembers when Europe forced MS to market a Windows that did not have Media Player? MS retaliated by taking so many other things out of the bundle that it never sold. Either way, I’m on the side of Europe if only because they stood up to such nonsense. If you ever get a Vista computer, you’ll quickly learn what I’m talking about. You cannot take your old Space Invaders software and install it, you have to buy a new “Vista-Ready” copy – and register your personal information with Redmond to get it to work.
For anyone curious, the law is clear on the point that you can make any profit you wish, but you are supposed to do it legally. For example, it is illegal to sell your output below cost (called “dumping”) to stifle competition. California railway companies in the 1800s had the billions in reserve to ship cattle for free until all newcomers went bankrupt. Ah, is the pattern beginning to emerge? Billions in reserve?
Another law says you cannot compel vendors to sell only your product. This (called “suppression of trade”) has been tried many times. For instance vacuum cleaners factories used to force hardware stores to sell only the factory brand of bags or they would not supply them with new vacuum cleaners. To me, MS is clearly guilty of such behavior. No other software will work with Vista except the brands authorized by MS.
Vista is an operating system specifically designed to lock out competition, and worse, you can no longer buy a new computer with anything but Vista (except Apple) as MS no longer licenses any other operating system to the OEM, (Original Equipment Manufacturer, the computer factory). If all this seems circular, well, it is, and that is why so many people don’t understand it. MS is counting on that factor when they cry “Poor me!”
