🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sun, 24 May 1998 23:45:46 -0500, j-jahnke@uchicago.edu (Jerome
Jahnke) wrote:

>In article <1998052502523900.WAA27605@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
>valuxpress@aol.com (ValuXpress) wrote:
>
>> Oh sure they are.  They should be split into two or three companies:
>Nah, MSN is for the most part dead. But these "media" agreements should be
>spun out. I dunno how many folks are here avid video gamers, but Sega
>announced their new system. And it is called Dreamcaster (as stupid a name
>for a console system as *I* have ever heard.) And it is totally MS on the
>inside. CE plays  a big role in it as does DirectX. Pretty scary if you
>ask me, and if you ask me where, does this compnay fit into the your
>triumverate?

Um...for me, it doesn't.

>This issue is actually central to the core of the problem. MS was LATE to
>the internet party. Real late, unca Bill was yammering about CD ROMS
>(becuase it was information HE could control) and the internet slipped in
>under his radar. So they had a serious game of catchup to play. In order
>to beat the competition they sacrificed MSN by including a copy of AOL on
>each new install to get AOL to adopt MSIE as their browser of choice. So
>in essence the sacrificed a for profit product for a free one (which is
>the cornerstone of the case against them, and one MS will have a hell of a
>time trying to beat.)

Very true, but as I recall, the DOJ is also citing other examples of
MS's monopolising practices. I'm not sure what examples they are using
though.

>Monopoly laws are made for one reason only, and that is to protect the
>market. If we get a monopoly that industry here in the US is tied to it,
>and so everyone in it starts to do what it does. Which leaves us
>vulernable to foreign companies. And when they come up with an idea that
>eats MS's lunch the entire US industry would be hosed. Will this happen??
>I dunno, but it ain't healthy. And this is why the DOJ is stepping in.
>
>I personally would like to be able to just buy a PC and not be forced to
>put a MS-OS on it. Why should I pay for a product I don't even use.
>
>Jer,

Hehehe.....Why should consumers pay for a browser that they don't use?