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On Paul's disagreement scale this comment is right down in the sewer, but please pardon me while I vent: How come Jeff is always grumbling about Apple's "Monop

On Paul's disagreement scale this comment is right down in the sewer, but please pardon me while I vent: How come Jeff is always grumbling about Apple's "Monopoly" on music and now Google's "Monopoly" on search but he never grumbles about Microsoft's actual monopoly on desktop operating systems and office back ends? In this post he even calls out the people who grumble about Miscosoft and asks them to grumble about Google. But somehow, he never makes the connection that perhaps people who grumble about Apple and Google might want to do a little grumbling about Microsoft? > I find that talent is far less important than enthusiasm. --Jeff Atwood

prospero 18y ago
I think his stance is that there's (more than?) sufficient grumbling about Microsoft, and insufficient grumbling about Apple and Google. There's an obvious bias to his writing, inasmuch as he just takes this as a given and moves on, but that doesn't mean he's totally wrong.
- raganwald 18y ago
  There's an obvious bias to his writing, inasmuch as he just takes this as a given and moves on, but that doesn't mean he's totally wrong. Solid gold, thank you. Putting Jeff aside, I prefer blogs that have a healthy amount of bias. Writing that tries to be judicious, dispassionate and balanced often ends up being dry and comes off with a pseudo-academic tone. A little bias adds passion and fire. As long as they aren't totally wrong, that's a good thing. A while back all the big companies were "diversifying" so that their stock would become immune to the vagaries of any one market or business unit. This was almost always a failure, because professional managers want to achieve diversification through their portfolio selection, where they can pursue their own mix and make changes by trading in the market, not through having business managers engage in lengthy and expensive M&A activity. Blogs are a little like that: If I want a balanced read I'd rather read several different posts about the same subject than try to find one person who tries to present the centrist view.
- rbanffy 18y ago
  The fact Microsoft can still get away with their abuse of monopoly is sufficient proof there is not nearly enough grumbling about Microsoft.
  - prospero 18y ago
    Grumbling doesn't effect change. I'd say that there's more than enough grumbling, and precious little else.
    - rbanffy 18y ago
      Grumbling is one of the few ways grumblers can make the people who can effect change take some action. Be patient. Action will come.
jhawk28 18y ago
Wait till he complains that StackOverFlow has the monopoly on question/answer sites. Based on the numbers that they are seeing, they are well on their way.

prospero 18y ago

I think his stance is that there's (more than?) sufficient grumbling about Microsoft, and insufficient grumbling about Apple and Google. There's an obvious bias to his writing, inasmuch as he just takes this as a given and moves on, but that doesn't mean he's totally wrong.

raganwald 18y ago
There's an obvious bias to his writing, inasmuch as he just takes this as a given and moves on, but that doesn't mean he's totally wrong. Solid gold, thank you. Putting Jeff aside, I prefer blogs that have a healthy amount of bias. Writing that tries to be judicious, dispassionate and balanced often ends up being dry and comes off with a pseudo-academic tone. A little bias adds passion and fire. As long as they aren't totally wrong, that's a good thing. A while back all the big companies were "diversifying" so that their stock would become immune to the vagaries of any one market or business unit. This was almost always a failure, because professional managers want to achieve diversification through their portfolio selection, where they can pursue their own mix and make changes by trading in the market, not through having business managers engage in lengthy and expensive M&A activity. Blogs are a little like that: If I want a balanced read I'd rather read several different posts about the same subject than try to find one person who tries to present the centrist view.
rbanffy 18y ago
The fact Microsoft can still get away with their abuse of monopoly is sufficient proof there is not nearly enough grumbling about Microsoft.
- prospero 18y ago
  Grumbling doesn't effect change. I'd say that there's more than enough grumbling, and precious little else.
  - rbanffy 18y ago
    Grumbling is one of the few ways grumblers can make the people who can effect change take some action. Be patient. Action will come.

jhawk28 18y ago

Wait till he complains that StackOverFlow has the monopoly on question/answer sites. Based on the numbers that they are seeing, they are well on their way.