Re: Microsoft's Zone

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

  DeBrock, Larry wrote:
  > 
  > Your point is????
  
  
       This was some empirical data so people could better appreciate what
  is happening with struggles over who controls standards and browser
  platforms.  Changes on the server side force people to make changes in
  the client side.  If there is enough happening on the server side to
  move toward a proprietary technology, like Active-X (or Netscape's
  earlier proprietary HTML extentions, or Microsoft's proprietary Java
  extentions), then users will have very significant incentives to change
  browser software.   The zone.com site isn't a very big deal by itself. 
  But there is a lot more going on than the Zone. 
  
  
  > 
  > I think this paranoia is getting out of hand when you try to equate
  > any
  > system incompatibility with some sinister plot.
  
  
      I don't recall describing this in any terms, except to note
  what happened to the zone after Microsoft purchased the site.  
  
  > 
  > At my campus (Univ of Ill at Urbana-Champaign), many thousands of
  > students take their exams and problem sets over the web on a very nice
  > instructional package called Mallard (tm).  You cannot use MSIE with
  > this software...big warning signs direct you to use Netscape as your
  > browser.
  > 
  > The Agricultural and Consumer Economics department on this campus runs
  > their entire undergraduate curriculum off a single, integrated web
  > site
  > called ACElink, complete with crosslinked syllabi, common glossaries
  > across courses, on line testing, etc.  In the sign on process, you are
  > FORBIDDEN to enter your login/password sequence if you use MSIE.  You
  > just get a message that says something like "Please exit your MSIE and
  > reenter using Netscape"
  > 
  > So, is this some nasty plot by the U of I?  Should the antitrust
  > authorities be out to get them?  It seems so, according to the logic I
  > have been reading here.
  > 
  > As an MSIE user who runs one of his classes on Mallard, I can
  > sympathize
  > with Mr. Schult's comment (below) in saying that it is "irritating" to
  > have to switch browsers to access some sites.
  
  
     I would agree with both you and Mr. Schultz.   Don't you think this
  is something that is important for the future of the Web?  I didn't
  suggest any particular form of action with respect to the Zone site, and
  I don't know if I could think of anything that would be appropriate or
  useful.  But the movements away from open standards to proprietary
  standards is something that we are concerned about, and something we
  would like to have a better understanding of.  I guess that's my point. 
  What's yours?
  
  
  ___________________________________
  James Love
  Center for Study of Responsive Law
  P.O. Box 1936, Washington, DC 20036
  voice 202.387.8030; fax 202.234.5176
  http://www.cptech.org  |  love@cptech.org