> From: Bob Munck[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Reply To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Saturday, October 24, 1998 3:23 PM
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Sent: Saturday, October 24, 1998 7:01 AM
>
> > How nice of you to rig this so that if we don't hit the group reply
> > key, any critiques of your post go directly to you and not the group.
>
> I did that? How did I do that? I just clicked "REPLY" on the message
> I was commenting upon.
>
There is documented discussion, but if there was a solution, i don't
remember it, to this phenomena. MOST people get the list return address when
they hit return or reply-all. A *minority* [like you, Bob] of the posts will
put the individual's e-mail address in the TO line on reply.
See above (my TO line) -- I had to select "reply all" in order to get both
addresses on the TO line.
If anyone can remember if we figured out what the configuration is on the
individual's end that makes this happen, please re-post.
>
>
> > With their revenues, MS does not have to make an immediate
> > profit on any product, like NS does.
>
> Yeah, poor little Netscape, a $650,000,000 company that didn't exist 1500
> days ago. I can see that they would really be surviving hand-to-mouth.
>
Interesting sarcasm. Do you have any idea how much it costs to develop and
market products -- particularly when the bulk of your product line is FREE,
thus it does not generate $ to cover the costs of its development?
Netscape is surviving because a lot of people are gambling that they will be
able to hang in long enough to prove a viable competitor to MSFT. If they do
so, they will be setting a precedent, as MSFT has traditionally purchased
its competitors (FrontPage, for example) or engaged in predatory practices
(MSFT Java, DrDOS, Apple QuickTime).
> I have trouble taking anti-MS paranoia too seriously; the same
> kinds of people are saying the same things about MS now that were
> said about IBM twenty-five years ago. IBM had a larger share of
> the market and more of a strangle-hold on it, but they were squashed,
> first by Apple and then by MS.
>
IBM. Squashed? I don't think so ...
> Microsoft will be replaced in turn
> by The Next Big Company. Netscape had a chance to do it, had a
> tremendous running start with the browser (which they didn't invent
> either), but wasn't able to follow through with either substantive
> improvements or innovations. So it won't be them.
>
I'm not sure which economy you think you live in, Bob. But as several
economists have pointed out (and DOJ is learning), there is absolutely no
correlation between "innovative product" and "market share" in an
infrastructure-related product (telephone, railroad tracks, PC-OS). The
phenomena of increasing returns is a documented one. The more MSFT products
they sell, the more that they can tie "all" into their OS, the less oppty
there is for competition.
The costs to the end user are too great (barriers to exit - incompatible
software, upgrade costs if you change platforms but want the exact same
software, ie, Word, or WordPerfect or Photoshop -- there's no "upgrade"
price if you need to switch from Wintel to MacOS).
The costs to competitor are too great (barrier to entry -- [1] how the hell
do you get on the WinOS desktop if you are a competitor? [2] how do you
compete with a company that can offer deals like MSFT does to ISPs, hey,
give away MSIE and we'll throw in NT software, etc etc.).
This phenomena is demostrated in places like Singapore where you buy your
electrical appliances sans plugs, because there is no standard "plug in" for
walls in homes/offices. However, in this case, the cost of incompatibility
is fairly low -- and the burden is passed onto the consumer who must *know*
what her plug looks like at home and who must then wire the appliance after
leaving the store.
Kathy
> Kathy E. Gill
>
> The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at
> doing what they most enjoy. ~ Malcomb S. Forbes
> Microsoft Exchange: the perfect name for its users' greatest desire!
>
>
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