Re: Who is the heck Eolas?

[Dan Strychalski <dski@cameonet.cameo.com.tw>]

Christopher Pall <christopher.pall@wmich.edu> wrote --

> 2) Computers never de-innovate.

Taking "computers" to mean "digital products, including software," I'd
say "de-innovate" is an excellent word for what I felt computers were
doing as soon as I started exploring the offerings for MS/PC DOS in the
mid-eighties.

Some call it de-commoditization. I prefer Chris's word.

(I've only tried to give a concrete example of a choice that has been
taken from us -- a choice that Bill Gates fears mightily -- and folks
who say they advocate choice have come out swinging. I'll never
understand it. Is it because people don't differentiate between formal
standards and "standards" that arise through mere copying?)

>                                 Technolgy once out of the bottle, is
> excessively difficult to get back into the bottle. 

With control of the operating system, anything is possible.

Define "operating system," define it narrowly, and make it the law. Make
operating systems completely open and completely free in every sense.
Except in the area of file formats, let developers do what they please
in the realm of applications. I don't mind paying for an app I like. I
will *pay through the nose* for an app I like. I *feel better* paying
for it, and I suspect many or most consumers feel the same way.

Howzat, Brett?

Dan Strychalski
dski@cameonet.cameo.com.tw