4 ms·
The answer, of course, is that it wasn't IE6. It was the lack of a business model... As I recall, Netscape had a business model back before Microsoft set out t
by mechanical_fish 17y ago
The answer, of course, is that it wasn't IE6. It was the lack of a business model...
As I recall, Netscape had a business model back before Microsoft set out to use monopoly power to deliberately destroy it.
Your argument reminds me of the old joke about the guy who kills his parents and then runs around asking for sympathy because he's an orphan.
Of course, it's quite possible that Netscape's original business model was nonviable. There were plenty of silly business models around in the old days. We'll never really know. But this doesn't let Microsoft off the hook: Shooting someone who has a terminal illness is still murder.
- mattmaroon 17y agoFrom the latest Joel on Software post: "Dave Winer (in 2007): 'Sometimes developers choose a niche that’s either directly in the path of the vendor, or even worse, on the roadmap of the vendor. In those cases, they don’t really deserve our sympathy.'" That's Netscape. They had a nonviable business model in charging for something that ended up on the roadmap of every platform they were on. You can hate Microsoft all you want, but Apple bundles a browser with their OS for free too, and would have done the same if they owned the market. And then everyone would be complaining that Safari held us all back. Firefox found a viable business model and the browser wars began again. That's all there is to it.