Microsoft: Windows 98 delay will crater the entire economy

[Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>]

According to a letter which Microsoft VP Steve Ballmer pressured OEMs to
sign, the sky will fall, the Earth will plummet into the sun, and Bill
Gates might lose a few bucks of net worth if Windows 98 doesn't ship when
Microsoft would like it to. Here's the text of the "grass roots" letter,
which was written by Microsoft and contains language similar to that in its
ads.

--------Begin Microsoft Letter--------

We are writing to express our strongest possible concern that the release
of Windows 98 would be enjoined by government antitrust litigation. We
represent PC industry companies employing hundreds of thousands of American
workers. Our success depends on the freedom of Microsoft and the rest of
America's personal computer industry to create new and innovative products.
While we do not here express an opinion on the merits of any investigation
of Microsoft, we respectfully urge you not to take any action that might
delay or block the release of Windows 98.

We -- and many other companies in the PC industry -- have spent millions of
dollars developing, marketing and promoting products and services that
depend on the on-time launch of Windows 98. The consumer PC business is a
seasonal one and any delay to Windows 98 will undermine our ability to
include these products and services in the ``back to school'' and holiday
demand -- traditionally the industry's strongest sales seasons.

The direct effect on the U.S. economy of a delay to Windows 98 would be
considerable. More than 2 million Americans, for instance, develop software
that runs on Windows, while a similar number work in the computer services
industry. Millions more work in industries creating new hardware devices,
including many that Windows 98 supports for the first time. But any action
against Windows 98 would also have a broader impact. Businesses would be
unable to reap the productivity gains promised by a new generation of
software and PCs working in tandem. Consumers, deprived of the right to buy
the latest innovative PC operating system -- and therefore the reason to
buy new devices and software that work with it - would keep their cash in
their pocketbooks. Interfering with the release of Windows 98 would drag
down the entire industry's efforts to deliver value to customers and
returns to shareholders.

Ours is one of the most innovative, competitive and productive industries
in the world. The pace at which new products are launched is breathtaking:
New competitors arrive on the scene every day; prices continue to fall. Few
industries have come so far, so fast, or have produced so many benefits for
consumers and the economy as a whole. Government intervention into the
launch of Windows 98 would endanger what we have all worked for -- and harm
consumers and the economy, too.

-------- End Microsoft Letter --------

Excuse me, but wasn't Microsoft claiming recently -- in sworn testimony
before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary -- that its influence was
minimal, that it didn't have a monopoly, and that it could be unseated at
any time? If so, why would a whole industry be disrupted and The World As
We Know It end if Microsoft were forced to play fair?

--Brett Glass