[ingelsp@initco.net: Re: How Much Has Bill Overcharged America?]

[Jordan Pollack <pollack@cs.brandeis.edu>]

  this is a good question! 
  
  Microsoft repeatedly forces obsolescence of its own software and
  forces whoever it can in the world to BUY THE SAME SOFTWARE OVER AND
  OVER AGAIN. (Because the public interface can be tweaked.)  How could our
  trade deficit go up so much in sept?  Like prescription drugs,
  Americans pay a lot more for software than every other country in the
  world.  And since upgrades are more expensive than preloads, when we
  buy new equipment, we REALLY are repurchasing the same software.
  
  Should there finally be a case in 2020 that MS amassed its wealth by
  abusing the public through its "Innovations," maybe a class-action
  suit will follow.  SO SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS! "How many times did you pay
  for the same COMMAND.COM?  the same "notepad" mini-editor? the same "file
  menu"?  How many times did you buy the same "spell checker" over and
  over again?  For each qualified double purchase, you are entitled to a
  $5 rebate from the $5 Trillion MS class action settlement. :)
  
  Professor Jordan B. Pollack   DEMO Laboratory, Volen Center for Complex Systems
  Computer Science Dept, MS018  Phone (617) 736-2713/Lab x3366/Fax x2741
  Brandeis University           website: http://www.demo.cs.brandeis.edu
  Waltham, MA 02254             email: pollack@cs.brandeis.edu
  
  PS: this is a true story. We have purchased two MS "Magic School Bus"
  games- wonderful ed-software. We grabbed a new one - Dinosaurs -
  without reading the box - it discovers we don't have Win95, and halts!
  
  My 4 year old son is pissed:
  
  Dylan: "upgrade to windows 95 RIGHT NOW so I can play!"
  Daddy: "No Way! Thats $300 and mommies computer
          will be down for 3 days with the new harddisk and memory we need."
  Dylan: (Temper Tantrum)
  
  (later, he sees the screen of my new laptop.)
  Dylan: "Youre running windows 95, Daddy! You can run magic School Bus!" 
  Daddy: "Huh? How do you know that?
  Dylan: "Because of the Blue Sky!"
  
  (advertisement story copyright 1997 pollack promotions, 
   all rights reserved)