[Am-info] New Apple store near Beantown

[Mitch Stone]

--- From a message sent by Erick Andrews on 12/16/01 8:34 AM ---

>>What, precisely, did they sell?
>
>Better I should have said "sold out".  What precisely do you think
>Microsoft got for their $150M?

1/ Settlement of a copyright infringement suit.
2/ Apple's agreement to distribute IE.
3/ A technology-sharing agreement (which I suspect was necessary to 
settle the copyright issues).

>>Oh yes, I can recall much pointless speculation at the time, much of it 
>>no better than today's virtually mythological versions of those events. 
>>One major technology columnist went so far as to predict that MSIE would 
>>soon become integrated with MacOS, just like it was with Windows -- after 
>>all, a deal with Microsoft could mean no less, right? These and other 
>>"concerns" proved unfounded.
>
>"...integrated..."?  or "inseparable"?  Didn't MSIE become the default 
>browser at installation time and at boot up time on the new Macs?

The prediction was for integration. It was a foolish prediction and it 
produced guffaws among those who knew better. Still, it was part and 
parcel of the brand of "analysis" of this deal that made one immutable 
assumption -- that "Bill won again," even if nobody could figure out how.

I'm not sure about the default question. Probably, this is true, but 
switching default browsers is really a non-issue on the Mac, and for a 
long while after this deal Apple installed both IE and Navigator.

>>This assertion is too vague for my tastes. I'm not sure what "sold down 
>>the river" means in this context, and I certainly don't know in what way 
>>you mean.
>
>If you read any of the comments from many educators to Judge Motz
>(yes, same game, different inning), they expect less choice in schools
>across the country, which directly translates into less Macs.  It may
>seem vague to you now, but it won't when MS's lawyers get their way
>in the federal courts.
>
>And Kollar-Kotelly.  She isn't going to help improve competition 
>in the desktop computing environment.  She's setting the precedent
>to favor MS.

I don't understand how you tie any of this to Apple's 1997 deal with 
Microsoft.

>>I'm unsure why you believe it calls for mitigation. You are arguing a 
>>variation on what at the time I called the "one smart guy" theory -- 
>>which, in a nutshell, is the assertion that only Bill can win. Apple won 
>>that round. The predictions of "dire consequences" have come to naught. 
>>Why is that so hard to accept?
>
>I don't accept it.  Never did.  
>
>Apple survived, if that's what you mean by "won".
>
>"One smart guy" should realise that Gates did a full-Nelson on Apple:  
>'drop the lawsuit, take MSIE, we'll be nice and continue to develop 
>Office (kewl), and here's $150M to sweeten the deal and help keep you
>afloat'.
>
>Sure, it's possible that Gates & Co. are defeatable, but he won that round.

Yes, that's the "one smart guy" theory, in spades. So, explain to me how 
Microsoft's payment of $150 million to Apple in exchange for Apple 
supplying MSIE on Mac systems translates into a victory for Microsoft. 
I'd appreciate an explanation that does not rely on the assumption that 
Bill always wins, because that's just circular reasoning.

>>Mac users will be no more forced than anyone else, and certainly 
>>Microsoft will have less leverage over Mac users then they do over 
>>Windows users. The 1997 deal had no real bearing on any of Apple's 
>>subsequent plans.
>
>I wouldn't bet that MS will have less leverage over Mac users than
>they do on Windows users.  Maybe if you are just quantifying users
>without regard to substance.  From my view of the Internet and 
>applications that are common to Macs and Windows boxes, it's pretty 
>much the same.  Non-Windows and non-Mac users are far less likely 
>to have MS Office applications while still fighting to maintain 
>openness on the Internet.

For as long as Apple, not Microsoft, produces the MacOS, Microsoft will 
by definition have less leverage over Mac users than they do over Windows 
users.

 Mitch Stone  
 mitch@accidentalexpert.com