My friend Gerry sent me a great article on Microsoft and innovation (or lack thereof). The article’s called Microsoft’s Sacred Cash Cow. Give it a look.
My friend Gerry sent me a great article on Microsoft and innovation (or lack thereof). The article’s called Microsoft’s Sacred Cash Cow. Give it a look.
That was a very good analysis. This part pretty much summed it up:
University of Baltimore law professor Robert Lande says, “Microsoft, like almost all monopolies, has become fat and lazy. Monopolies do not engage in innovation with the same urgency because they don’t have to innovate to stay in business.”
When Microsoft manages to kill off the competition in a particular market, the quality of their products in that area quickly turn into crap. They don’t need to get it right, and they become sloppy (“If you don’t like it, use someone else’s product.” “There isn’t a competing product? Bwa-ha-ha-ha!”). Then Microsoft starts adding all sorts of cutesy (and usually buggy) features while letting the core of the product stagnate. It’s this arrogant and slack attitude that pisses me off the most….
I’m very glad that open source software has taken off so well. It’s written by people who actually care about the quality of the product they’re creating – their names and reputations are stamped on the code. If I find a bug or want a new feature, I have the option to do it myself (whether or not I have the skill to do it is a different issue…). As an added benefit, Microsoft can’t kill an open-source program. Since anybody can get their hands on the source code, it’s like trying to kill a hydra – cut off one head, and two grow back. Their only weapon against it is FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt), and it doesn’t work against those of us who know better and see through the lies.