3 ms·

Monopolies are often extremely inefficient. One word: IE6. Sapping web evolution didn't really gain anything for anyone, not even MS. Standardization ≠ central

• swexbe 3y ago
  Ie monopoly was extremely efficient from a profits perspective. Slow updates, low dev costs.
  • berniedurfee 3y ago
    Right, I think that’s part of what makes these types of monopolies particularly bad; efficiency no longer matters. When everyone else is locked out of competing, the market owners lose incentive to do anything but maintain status quo. There’s an interesting psychology here. We think of business leaders as hyper competitive, but they often seem to try to get to a place where they not only beat their competitors, but try to lock them out of the playing field. Once there’s little or no threat from competition, doesn’t that get boring? Athletes are competitive, but I think in a different way. I don’t think an athlete would find much enjoyment if they figured out a way to always be the only ones on the track, slowly meandering around by themselves.
• nine_k 3y ago
  IE6 might even be okay (though it was not); it's also far enough in the past that not everyone has a real memory of it. A really good, palpable example of monopolies having a stifling effect is internet access, especially in non-urban US areas.