[X Newbies] OS stability

[Eugene Lee]

On Tue, Mar 30, 2004 at 12:31:30PM -0600, Steven Rogers wrote:
: 
: On Mar 30, 2004, at 11:12 AM, Eugene Lee wrote:
: 
: >On Tue, Mar 30, 2004 at 09:33:41AM -0600, Steven Rogers wrote:
: >:
: >: How can you say that MS has a monopoly on the market when we're
: >: sitting here using something else?
: >
: >Is this a serious question?
: 
: Perhaps rhetorical, since the full answer is not really on-topic. You 
: could say that the USPS has a monopoly on letter delivery, because 
: nobody else can do it.

That's the old definition.  More modern interpretations allow for a
single entity to possess control over a vast majority, i.e. a near
monopoly, of the masses.

: If you use monopoly to describe a freely made 
: choice, then it becomes an essentially meaningless term.

Free choice is a meaningless term too.

: But my point is more about the general idea that PC users don't 
: actually choose to use PCs, they're somehow trapped or tricked into it. 
: There are plenty of people who explicitly let someone else make the 
: choice for them (e.g. I let my son/niece/etc. pick my computer because 
: they know about those things).

In my experience, this is the main reason why a majority of people own a
Windoze box.

: But the vast majority of people pick the PC because they *want* it.

I disagree with this statement on so many levels, but mostly over the
notion of "majority" and "want".  Think "jumbo shrimp".

: That's the cold reality that most Mac people 
: don't want to face. The typical PC user will complain about Microsoft 
: and mock the Mac in the same breath.

Nope, typical Windoze users mock Mac users for the reason that bullies
taunt other kids: to make themselves feel better and to hide problems in
their own lives.

: Going on about Microsoft's "monopoly" just reinforces the denial of 
: self responsibility - that someone else is responsible for their crappy 
: computing experience.

In general, this is true.  The vast majority of people do not and cannot
adequately tailor their computing preferences to fit their needs.

: Certainly, not every person can make the choice 
: in the work environment, but they can still pick their own computers. 

If most work environments prevent you from make a free choice, it also
has a monopoly over where you can work.  It's not a free choice if you
can't find work in another environment that supports a computer platform
that you prefer.

: I've used a Mac at home, even while being the chief software architect 
: for a 100% PC company. So no, I don't engage in the delusion that 
: Microsoft has a "monopoly" on personal computing.

It wasn't that long ago that M$ was busy killing off Netscape.

It wasn't that long ago that M$ forced PC makers to bundle only Windoze
and no other OS.

It wasn't that long ago that M$ tried to force Apple to "knife the baby".


-- 
Eugene Lee
http://www.coxar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/