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> The web itself could have been killed in the cradle on day one. The web is such a killer app, that if MS blocked it, it would be a problem for MS, not the we

> The web itself could have been killed in the cradle on day one. The web is such a killer app, that if MS blocked it, it would be a problem for MS, not the web, imho. Also IANAL, but given that MS launched a competing service - The Microsoft Network - this seems like a huge anti-trust issue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Dial-up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Dial-up The combination of consumer demand for web access + anti-trust would probably crush MS, and it would have to provide access. Another factor is that Windows was always a target for hackers, so it's virtually certain there'd be some jailbreaking solution that everyone would use if MS started blocking access to killer apps like web access. MS was a near monopoly, but there were enough exceptions that people were aware how amazing the web is. Finally, if MS took the Walled Garden approach, it's easy to argue it wouldn't be the monopoly it was. MS benefited immensely from its platform being "free" (as in pirated) and "open" (as in hackable and insecure). There was a company who took the other approach. Its name is Apple and it wasn't doing too well against MS in 1995.

wvenable 8y ago
We are talking hypothetical here -- all things being equal. Apple doesn't have anti-trust problems, they've closed off hackers, etc. Apple might not have a monopoly but closed-platform mobile OS is basicaly the whole market. But that's all beside the point, the web was a killer app because it was available. Microsoft could have killed it with the same policies as iOS long before it was ever popular. And not by targeting it specifically for competitive reasons but just because it would have been against the very same rules we take for granted now. It wouldn't have even had to be conscious effort. You can't even get another web browser on iOS! We literally can't even invent the "next web" on mobile. There's no point even trying.
- erikpukinskis 8y ago
  > We literally can't even invent the "next web" on mobile. There's no point even trying. This right here. I wonder if anyone at Apple even cares. Maybe they’re so pompous they don’t think anyone other than them even could invent the next web. Whoever does, will have to invent their own hardware too I guess.
- pjmlp 8y ago
  Internet is bigger than Web browsers and Hypermedia systems are even older. There is plently of room for inovation. Emabrace network protocols and native apps.

wvenable 8y ago

We are talking hypothetical here -- all things being equal. Apple doesn't have anti-trust problems, they've closed off hackers, etc. Apple might not have a monopoly but closed-platform mobile OS is basicaly the whole market. But that's all beside the point, the web was a killer app because it was available. Microsoft could have killed it with the same policies as iOS long before it was ever popular. And not by targeting it specifically for competitive reasons but just because it would have been against the very same rules we take for granted now. It wouldn't have even had to be conscious effort. You can't even get another web browser on iOS! We literally can't even invent the "next web" on mobile. There's no point even trying.

erikpukinskis 8y ago
> We literally can't even invent the "next web" on mobile. There's no point even trying. This right here. I wonder if anyone at Apple even cares. Maybe they’re so pompous they don’t think anyone other than them even could invent the next web. Whoever does, will have to invent their own hardware too I guess.
pjmlp 8y ago
Internet is bigger than Web browsers and Hypermedia systems are even older. There is plently of room for inovation. Emabrace network protocols and native apps.