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 Justice, But No Satisfaction
(11/11/99; 05:00 p.m. PT)
For years, we've seen the Mac OS booted from corporate offices in favor of Windows. "Standardization" has been the refrain from the IS honchos. Jackson also found Microsoft used this monopoly "to harm any firm that insists on pursuing initiatives that could intensify competition against one of Microsoft's core products." Unfortunately, for most Mac fans, it's much too late for Apple to make a serious dent in the workplace desktop OS market. Not that Microsoft's monopoly had anything to do with it in the first place; if the battle had swung the other way, we'd be talking about breaking up Apple right now. It's hard to say exactly what Apple can expect from the ruling. Jumping ahead, let's assume Microsoft is hammered with the worst the court can dish out and it's broken up into smaller companies. It seems logical to me to make sure the Windows operating system is set on its own little island (OK, an Australia-sized island), since that is the club Microsoft has been using to keep everyone in line and further its goals in other arenas. Even after this, Windows will hold the lion's share of the desktop market. In fact, Microsoft might make even more of a profit, if you can believe that. Microsoft is making its usual noise, saying it will fight for its "right to innovate." Excuse me while I guffaw. Maybe Microsoft and I are using different definitions of the word "innovate." (It's using the Encarta Dictionary, no doubt.) Let's see... Windows 98 borrows heavily from the Mac OS and is based on the dinosaur known as DOS. This is innovation? Microsoft is an innovator when it comes to spin. Who else could keep a straight face while insisting in court that there is no such thing as a "browser" and in the next sentence say its OS incorporates a browser?
The tough part of the deal is the contention that consumers have been hurt by Microsoft's monopoly. It is difficult to prove a product might have existed if certain business practices weren't followed. I am convinced the bodies of hundreds of products are buried in Microsoft's root cellar, killed by the distribution of free competing products or by mere hints that Microsoft was developing a similar product. Proving it in a court of law is another matter. It's probably easier to take the tack that consumers are injured through lack of choice. For example, if you want to exchange spreadsheet information with another business, you have this choice: Excel or nothing. It's the same on the desktop: Windows or nothing. I don't think this reality will change any time soon.
Although I believe Judge Jackson made the right decision, and it feels good
to have Microsoft slapped around a bit, I doubt Mac users will feel any
real satisfaction.
Marty Cortinas is TechWeb's Mac@Ya columnist. A longtime user of Macintosh, Marty is a freelance writer based in San Francisco and previously covered Apple and the Mac market as an editor for MacWeek. |
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