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Well, once upon a time, Microsoft invested quite a bit of money in Apple to keep them alive. Allegedly, they did this so they could tell the DoJ with a straight
by krylon 5y ago
Well, once upon a time, Microsoft invested quite a bit of money in Apple to keep them alive. Allegedly, they did this so they could tell the DoJ with a straight face that they were not a monopolist, after all they had a competitor.
I would not be surprised if Google's support for Mozilla is based on similar reasoning.
- GekkePrutser 5y agoI don't think that was the only thing. There was also also the friendship between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Monopoly laws care about marketshare and Apple's was tiny at that point, especially in the business market
- nerdponx 5y agoThis theory is frequently stated as fact here on HN, so clearly you're not the only one to feel that way.
- JohnFen 5y agoBut Apple and Microsoft weren't competitors then. Apple was a hardware manufacturer. Microsoft was a software manufacturer. While there was some overlap in their product offerings, they were in different businesses and so weren't really competitors.
- rasz 5y ago>Well, once upon a time, Microsoft invested quite a bit of money in Apple to keep them alive. This is not what happened. Microsoft was involved in a lawsuit after paying one of Apple contractors to steal QuickTime code. "investing" in Apple was part of the settlement. https://www.theregister.com/1998/10/29/microsoft_paid_apple_150m/ https://www.theregister.com/1998/10/29/microsoft_paid_apple_... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5TdqfNE1QU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5TdqfNE1QU
- krylon 5y agoHuh, I didn't know that. You learn something new every day.