Re: uninstallation

[Mitch Stone <mstone@vc.net>]

In reply to P.A. Petricone's message sent 1/25/98 9:28 PM:

>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.

Interesting. But a great presumption is being made here, and I think an 
incorrect one. We seem to be thinking of computers as something like 
VCRs, where the standards are invisible, non-proprietary, and don't 
matter much to the consumer. Do these characteristics accurately describe 
a PC? Of course they don't: in its complexity, the PC is more like a car.

Cars are distinguished from one another by any number of characteristics. 
Significant portions of these cars may be proprietary (Ford parts can't 
be used in a Chrysler), but still no auto manufacturer owns the concept 
of "car." This leads to a fragmented market, with few standards and many 
manufacturers -- one which can respond to the variety of consumer 
preferences and is incentivized to innovate. If the auto industry had 
decided in say, 1920, to "standardize" on the Model-T design, then auto 
technology would certainly be very much poorer today and we as consumers 
would have few if any choices.

   Mitch Stone
   Editor, Boycott Microsoft
   http://www.vcnet.com/bms 
 +---
   If you don't know where you want to go, we'll make 
   sure you get taken. --- Microsoft ad slogan, translated
   into Japanese.