5 ms·

There was a time when Microsoft was deemed too powerful, with incessant calls from pundits for antitrust authorities to step in and break up the company. I beli

by balozi 9y ago

There was a time when Microsoft was deemed too powerful, with incessant calls from pundits for antitrust authorities to step in and break up the company. I believe it is widely accepted now that the pundits/regulators were dead wrong then as they are wrong now. We should trust that the markets will work their magic.

wu-ikkyu 9y ago
>trust that the markets will work their magic. Mythologies aside, this statement falsely assumes that the big tech giants aren't already propped up by the enacted laws of the government.
- sharemywin 9y ago
  Net neutrality. copyright. DMCA. software patents. EU tax laws. sales tax exemptions. capital gains tax laws.
Chaebixi 9y ago
> I believe it is widely accepted now that the pundits/regulators were dead wrong then as they are wrong now. > We should trust that the markets will work their magic. What basis do you have for that assertion? It's kind of like saying Standard Oil should never have been broken up (in 1911), because the "markets will work their magic" and electric cars will render oil obsolete any day now.
- joshuaheard 9y ago
  The browser wars seem silly now. The Clinton Administration sued Microsoft because it included a free browser with its operating system. When the DOJ received a judgment against Microsoft, that basically popped the internet bubble, creating instability in the tech sector, and crashing the stock market, taking ten years to recover. And for what? Microsoft still gives away a free browser. The tech industry moves too fast, and the costs too low, for effective government regulation.
  - sharemywin 9y ago
    The internet bubble "popped" because it's valuations were based on magic pixie dust. Also, don't forget 9-11 which dropped the market in 2001, which also delayed things. It's also hard to say whether angels would have invested in google or facebook had microsoft not be slowed down. Nobody finds it odd that microsoft owned the 90s then became a dinosaur and now that it has competition and isn't going to get sued it's become innovative again.
    - joshuaheard 9y ago
      The Microsoft judgment occurred in 2007, so I don't know how much 9/11 affected it. Google was already over 200 stock price by then. Facebook IPO'd about 5 years later, but really doesn't compete in any Microsoft space. Ballmer was the one dragging Microsoft down, and it became innovative again after Satya took over.
      - Chaebixi 9y ago
        > The Microsoft judgment occurred in 2007 That's wrong. Microsoft was ruled a monopoly in 1999, the settlement occurred in 2002, and it expired five years later in 2007. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.#Settlement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor...

by balozi 9y ago

wu-ikkyu 9y ago

>trust that the markets will work their magic. Mythologies aside, this statement falsely assumes that the big tech giants aren't already propped up by the enacted laws of the government.

sharemywin 9y ago
Net neutrality. copyright. DMCA. software patents. EU tax laws. sales tax exemptions. capital gains tax laws.

Chaebixi 9y ago

> I believe it is widely accepted now that the pundits/regulators were dead wrong then as they are wrong now. > We should trust that the markets will work their magic. What basis do you have for that assertion? It's kind of like saying Standard Oil should never have been broken up (in 1911), because the "markets will work their magic" and electric cars will render oil obsolete any day now.

joshuaheard 9y ago
The browser wars seem silly now. The Clinton Administration sued Microsoft because it included a free browser with its operating system. When the DOJ received a judgment against Microsoft, that basically popped the internet bubble, creating instability in the tech sector, and crashing the stock market, taking ten years to recover. And for what? Microsoft still gives away a free browser. The tech industry moves too fast, and the costs too low, for effective government regulation.
- sharemywin 9y ago
  The internet bubble "popped" because it's valuations were based on magic pixie dust. Also, don't forget 9-11 which dropped the market in 2001, which also delayed things. It's also hard to say whether angels would have invested in google or facebook had microsoft not be slowed down. Nobody finds it odd that microsoft owned the 90s then became a dinosaur and now that it has competition and isn't going to get sued it's become innovative again.
  - joshuaheard 9y ago
    The Microsoft judgment occurred in 2007, so I don't know how much 9/11 affected it. Google was already over 200 stock price by then. Facebook IPO'd about 5 years later, but really doesn't compete in any Microsoft space. Ballmer was the one dragging Microsoft down, and it became innovative again after Satya took over.
    - Chaebixi 9y ago
      > The Microsoft judgment occurred in 2007 That's wrong. Microsoft was ruled a monopoly in 1999, the settlement occurred in 2002, and it expired five years later in 2007. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.#Settlement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor...