2 ms·

At the risk of my HN karma... Microsoft. Think about it... For decades they have been able to create and leverage their monopolistic position in such a way as

by johnm 18y ago

At the risk of my HN karma... Microsoft. Think about it... For decades they have been able to create and leverage their monopolistic position in such a way as to get people to continue paying large margins for almost uniformly mediocre offerings. ObAntiMS: I think history is validating my contention at the time that the Windows 95 era was the peak of MS's power. Alas, like any dinosaur, they take a long time to die.

dcurtis 18y ago
You admire Microsoft's ability to "leverage their monopolistic position" through marketing? Isn't that the complete opposite of the very idea of marketing? Most of their marketing is terrible, anyway. Vista did not make me say "Wow."
- johnm 18y ago
  Ah, I should have been more explicit. Whether their marketing works on us "elitists" or not is irrelevant -- it works for the vast majority of people who actually pony up money for their products and services. That's admirable in the "excellent, first-rate" definition -- not in the "inspiring approval, reverence, or affection" way. In fact, that kind of power is truly frightening to me -- akin to the scary power of elected officials and the bureaucratic juggernauts. Also, you seem to be confusing their wretched advertising with "marketing". I totally agree that their ads suck.
halo 18y ago
I've modded you down simply because I honestly don't think Windows is as mediocre as it's made out to be, and this is coming from a current Linux user, and I can't help but feel that Visual Studio or .NET is far from mediocre no matter which way you look at it, and I even think Office is a market leader largely on merit. I also don't think the cost of Windows represents a "large margin" - paying the cost of 2 new videogames for an extremely complex piece of software that is supported for 7+ years seems pretty good value from where I'm coming from, even if the alternatives are better value. I honestly think it's a shame that they've felt the need to flex their monopolistic muscle unnecessarily and have given themselves such a bad reputation when they could have had just as much success in a more positive way.
- johnm 18y ago
  Gee, thanks. :-) Have you thought about their responsibility for the tremendous amount of time and energy that people lose because they've had to use MS software? For example, how many billions of dollars of time are lost/wasted because MS puts out such buggy software that's used by so many people but MS literally doesn't care to actually fix anything unless it will help them make more sales?

by johnm 18y ago

dcurtis 18y ago

You admire Microsoft's ability to "leverage their monopolistic position" through marketing? Isn't that the complete opposite of the very idea of marketing? Most of their marketing is terrible, anyway. Vista did not make me say "Wow."

johnm 18y ago
Ah, I should have been more explicit. Whether their marketing works on us "elitists" or not is irrelevant -- it works for the vast majority of people who actually pony up money for their products and services. That's admirable in the "excellent, first-rate" definition -- not in the "inspiring approval, reverence, or affection" way. In fact, that kind of power is truly frightening to me -- akin to the scary power of elected officials and the bureaucratic juggernauts. Also, you seem to be confusing their wretched advertising with "marketing". I totally agree that their ads suck.

halo 18y ago

I've modded you down simply because I honestly don't think Windows is as mediocre as it's made out to be, and this is coming from a current Linux user, and I can't help but feel that Visual Studio or .NET is far from mediocre no matter which way you look at it, and I even think Office is a market leader largely on merit. I also don't think the cost of Windows represents a "large margin" - paying the cost of 2 new videogames for an extremely complex piece of software that is supported for 7+ years seems pretty good value from where I'm coming from, even if the alternatives are better value. I honestly think it's a shame that they've felt the need to flex their monopolistic muscle unnecessarily and have given themselves such a bad reputation when they could have had just as much success in a more positive way.

johnm 18y ago
Gee, thanks. :-) Have you thought about their responsibility for the tremendous amount of time and energy that people lose because they've had to use MS software? For example, how many billions of dollars of time are lost/wasted because MS puts out such buggy software that's used by so many people but MS literally doesn't care to actually fix anything unless it will help them make more sales?