--- Nick Arnett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> On 17 Jul 2001, at 0:34, Dean Forster wrote:
>
> > As far as R and D goes with researching new
> technology
> > or improving on existing technology, no
> corporation
> > benefits itself by dragging their feet and doing
> > crappy job at anything.
>
> Market leaders benefit tremendously from doing a
> poor job at standards.
> This has been a Microsoft tactic for years. They
> slow down standards
> efforts while creating a proprietary product or take
> a standard and corrupt
> it into sometime that is proprietary from a
> practical standpoint. And they
> are far from alone. I can tell you from first-hand
> experience that
> management at software companies will often get
> involved in standards
> efforts for the express purpose of preventing
> standards from happening. I'm
> sure it happens in other industries also.
>
You're largely correct- but it's not as evil as it
seems. Standards development gets slowed for 2
reasons: MS doesn't want to play ball and they ram
their proprietary crap down everyone's throats, you're
right there. But the other reason is that the
efficiency of their programmers is debilitated by the
marketing losers sticking their fingers into
everything. they're not dragging their feet.
MS is leading the way for software companies, showing
them how to cut the most corners and nudge out the
competition while making a big buck. Yes, i hate that
immensely.
Now step back from the issue. What are all of these
jerks doing? They're taking advantage of opportunity
when they see it. There will *always* be those sorts
of people and organizations around. Sure, if they go
beyond the pale the DOJ will try and jerk them back
(hopefully they won't screw it up again). So, we can
promote a system that channels these manipulative
dorks at each other where the net effect brings us
better products. Or we can clamp down on the freedoms
of business to innovate and expand, to the detriment
of everyone. Is that what you're proposing? Please
state your answer in the form of a question. ;)
dean
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