Re: Another Microsoft victim?

["Norm" <normanmo@clark.net>]

  On Wed, 12 Nov 1997 22:53:05 -0500 (EST), Dave Sieber wrote:
  
  >Say good-bye to RealNetworks (RealAudio, RealVideo) -- they partnered
  >with Microsoft.
  >
  >http://www.techweb.com/wire/news/1997/11/1112netshow.html
  >
  >>From the report:
  >
  >"In most cases, users should be able to access content from a NetShow
  >server with the RealPlayer client and vice-versa. However, the companies
  >will continue to compete."
  >
  >Quoting Microsoft:
  >
  >"Streaming media sells more NT," said Michael Ahern, lead product
  >manager for NetShow. "It's about getting more operating systems out
  >there."
  >
  >---
  >
  >Can you read between the lines? Already, 3 months after the deal, it's
  >down to "in most cases". How long until they're two incompatible
  >formats?
  >
  >My guess is that MS will first lock-in the big content providers with
  >NetShow-only content (as the report indicates is already happening),
  >then "enhance" the format so that it is incompatible with
  >RealAudio/Video... just like they're trying to do with HTML, Java, and
  >JavaScript. And they'll claim their contract allows them to do so.
  
  
       This is a perfect example of why *ANY* company with their own
  products that partners with M$ is run by fools, and it also shows how
  everyone out there who still seems to think that M$ is "innovative" is
  extremely naive at best...and dumb asses or liars at worst.
  
       It's vintage M$.  Go into a partnership with a naive company that
  knows the technology and steal their expertise, and then buy a competing
  technology.  Now that you've got technology from both companies you can
  incorporate parts of each to come up with something that's at least
  slightly different from the current market leader's technology (so it's
  very difficult to sue you for stealing their technology) and start
  stealing their marketshare by bribing content providers to adopt your
  standard.
  
       What you have here is the basic M$ business model.  It's what
  they've been doing for years...throw in a few anti-competitive OEM
  contracts and you now know why M$ is where they are today.  This *should*
  be enough to make any *moral* business person puke, so why do some people
  keep defending this way of doing business????
  
   ...Cheers,
  
   ...Norm
  
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