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As a software dev you probably don't remember, or haven't lived the days of Internet Explorer. Diversity and browser standards is what made the web a good platf

As a software dev you probably don't remember, or haven't lived the days of Internet Explorer. Diversity and browser standards is what made the web a good platform to develop for. Just to give a recent example, if Google would dictate what gets implemented, instead of WebAssembly, the standard, you would have gotten PNaCl. > this also means that the possibility of disruption will be much higher in the future. so this is a win for biz dev as well? I fail to see how the creation of a monopoly can be a win for business. For Google's business, for sure.

kmlx 7y ago
IE was by far the worst browser. i was working as a front end dev durinh those days and got excited when google finally launched chrome, more-so than firefox. the hours and the energy spent on debugging IE is something we will never get back. on your second point, monopolies create the setting for massive disruption.
- bad_user 7y ago
  You're not remembering correctly. IExplorer 5 was the best browser available, the Chrome of its time. >> monopolies create the setting for massive disruption I know that HN has a fetish with disruption, but no, it's not monopolies that create the opportunity for disruption, but the exact opposite of a monopoly, which is competition, often made possible by advances in technology. There's no inherent property of a monopoly that facilitates disruption, other than the monopoly just being on the scene nearby.
  - kmlx 7y ago
    > IExplorer 5 was the best browser available That's web 1.0 > but no, it's not monopolies that create the opportunity for disruption, but the exact opposite of a monopoly, which is competition, often made possible by advances in technology. monopolies innovate less, thus making them prone for disruption. "We develop a new theory of why a monopolistic industry innovates less than a competitive industry" http://www.dklevine.com/papers/monopoly_innovation.pdf http://www.dklevine.com/papers/monopoly_innovation.pdf

kmlx 7y ago

IE was by far the worst browser. i was working as a front end dev durinh those days and got excited when google finally launched chrome, more-so than firefox. the hours and the energy spent on debugging IE is something we will never get back. on your second point, monopolies create the setting for massive disruption.

bad_user 7y ago
You're not remembering correctly. IExplorer 5 was the best browser available, the Chrome of its time. >> monopolies create the setting for massive disruption I know that HN has a fetish with disruption, but no, it's not monopolies that create the opportunity for disruption, but the exact opposite of a monopoly, which is competition, often made possible by advances in technology. There's no inherent property of a monopoly that facilitates disruption, other than the monopoly just being on the scene nearby.
- kmlx 7y ago
  > IExplorer 5 was the best browser available That's web 1.0 > but no, it's not monopolies that create the opportunity for disruption, but the exact opposite of a monopoly, which is competition, often made possible by advances in technology. monopolies innovate less, thus making them prone for disruption. "We develop a new theory of why a monopolistic industry innovates less than a competitive industry" http://www.dklevine.com/papers/monopoly_innovation.pdf http://www.dklevine.com/papers/monopoly_innovation.pdf