Re: uninstallation

["P.A. Petricone" <petrico@ixc.net>]

Just a (long) thought on these musings - the most effective methods of
regulating the marketplace are the opinions and buying habits of the market.
These legal antics have had little influence on ms compared to their own
assessment of public opinion.

Unfortunately, the majority of that opinion is not founded in a full
understanding of what the specific problems are, thus we all become once again
subordinated by priesthood - equally, if not more so, difficult to influence.

Boycotting is a strong statement of contempt and sends at least a cosmetic
signal that all is not well in paradise. The realities are that there are few
other alternatives to a mainstream PC platform beyond the MAC.

Is there any detail breakdown on the 90% of market share as it may apply to
types of users? Strikes me that many of these systems leave the shelves to sit
like an appliance in a home or are utilized in a small business running one or
two apps (if they are smart).This is a market segment that is limited in
resource to get too involved in how sausages are made, but their opinion vote
sure does count.

I think there are greater problems on the horizon. The nature of this industry
is non-cooperative and will stonewall standards as long as possible. When TV
made it's debut, it was a bit more than the announcement of '95. People went
out to the local appliance store for the evening to witness this marvel. What
is also remarkable is that the television industry and the FCC had the whole
works designed and standardized before roll-out. The NTSC has undergone one
change in it's history - color. My 20 year old Blackstripe displayed the S.B.
today in the same fashion that it did when it was new.

Perhaps, from all this,  the industry will realize the need to work together,
as this giant beta test we seem to be involved in moves more and more to
standard and silicon. The distinction between appliance platforms will blur as
processes move at lightwave  speed.
Keeping the bureaucracy at bay will be the next project.

-pap

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cohen <stevecoh@mcs.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <am-info@essential.org>
Date: Sunday, January 25, 1998 11:07 PM
Subject: Re: uninstallation


|
|
|Mitch Stone wrote:
|
|> To put it even more bluntly, we cannot anoint any proprietary system as
|> the "standard" and expect to retain our freedom of choice AND an
|> unregulated marketplace. Outside of effectively turning Microsoft into a
|> public utility, it simply cannot be done. All other scenarios amount to
|> consumer suicide. I vote against that, too.
|>
|
|Here's where we differ:
|I don't expect to retain an unregulated marketplace.  THIS marketplace needs
|some kind of regulation.  I'm not flinching from that, and neither,
apparently is
|the Justice Dept.  Sure it's a long shot.  But so is your consumer boycott.
|
|
|
|