Going down like ninepins - who's next?

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by Dramnek_Ulk: quote: Originally posted by John D Harris: Suppy and demand DOES work, no one is forced to buy ANYTHING. QB]

No it does not, Microsoft (for example) has monopoly power, therefore the free market has failed, since it has not delivered consumer choice.
Microsoft,
Sure you don’t have to buy their products,
But if you get something else, due to their monopoly power you’re sure gonna have a lot of trouble with compatibility etc,
Therefore most people have no choice, windows or big troubles.[/QUOTE]Microsoft has a "monopoly" because the consumer put it there not because Microsoft was the only game in town when they started!! There was MAC but their exects didn't have a clue as to how the market works! SO they sold whole packages (OS & computer) instead of what was demanded by the consumer, just the OS. Mircosoft is in the position they are now in because the people bought their products.

I can't beleive I'm in a postion defending Mircosoft. I'm a MAC MAN and wouldn't piss on Microsoft if it was on fire, because it would be a waste of a good urination! Now my personal views on Microsoft don't change the fact that consumers demanded a better OS and Mircosoft supplied. Mircosoft didn't start off as a gaint corporation they build they business ONE customer at a time, short time in between each customer. And no body at the time good build a better mouse trap, for the price. And we are to believe that is Mircosoft's fault?
What was Microsoft to do say sorry we can't sell any more OS's this year because we've reached our quota for the year. Oh you can buy a computer you just can't get an OS with it! If Mircosoft hadn't build the business they did I DARE say 50% -75% of the people on this board wouldn't be using this, or any board. Instead they would be writting letters and mailing them to each other. Talking about AD&D not Baldur's Gate.

[ 07-01-2002, 07:21 PM: Message edited by: John D Harris ]

that sounds like a chicken-and-egg scenario. Microsoft has monopoly because people kept buying it? I thoguth it had more to do with the manufacturers of PCs/soiftware (such as IBM) only making things that supported a Window platform. It was after that people started buying the Microsoft in droves

[Leonis]

Originally posted by John D Harris: I'm not so worried about the overpaid idiots, its the Idiots that hired them and paid them that I'm worried about I run a busines, a small business by 3 rules 1: Take care of my customers, it's their money buying my product. 2: Take care of my employees, it's their labor that makes my product. 3: If I do #1 & #2 I'll be taken care of.

John, I see so little of these (tried and proven) ethics in current business practices. Good work mate! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] I get consumer rage regularly due to the policy of 'the major shareholders and CEOs are always right'. Sometimes you just wanna scream "I'm the ****ing CUSTOMER morons!"
I love how the corporate cronies hide behind their minimum wage 'frontline'. You can't blame the 15 year old making $5.95 an hour for adhering to crappy policy that they'll get fired over if they don't...

[Leonis]

Originally posted by Lord Shield: that sounds like a chicken-and-egg scenario. Microsoft has monopoly because people kept buying it? I thoguth it had more to do with the manufacturers of PCs/soiftware (such as IBM) only making things that supported a Window platform. It was after that people started buying the Microsoft in droves

Do the people at IBM work for Microsoft or IBM? Do they have a choice as to which OS they supply?

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by Lord Shield: that sounds like a chicken-and-egg scenario. Microsoft has monopoly because people kept buying it? I thoguth it had more to do with the manufacturers of PCs/soiftware (such as IBM) only making things that supported a Window platform. It was after that people started buying the Microsoft in droves

Mircosoft made the windows for the PC, and people liked it so they bought it, then the PC makers started selling more PC's, then the two got linked. But if the consumers had bought MAC's at twice the price, then everybody would be screaming about a MAC monopoly. (not the OS cause MAC's OS is perfect, it never has any problems )

[Leonis]

Everytime we buy/steal an MS product we contribute to this percieved monopoly. While I strongly agree with legislation to stop companies crushing their competition by less than legal means, the buck stops with the consumer. Think MS sux? Don't use it! See how long their monopoly lasts...

[Neb]

Having only one OS for the PC would actually be an advantage. Then every program wouldn't have to be made compatible with a hundred different ones, the problem with having only one at the moment is that there's no quality control. Perhaps if MS had some sort of agreement which said: "You deliver quality software or 50% of your profits go to charity." things would be a bit better.

And why do so many people have a problem with MS, they DO provide reasonably software and services. When people complain about it being buggy, is it really the MS stuff or is the rest of the junk they've got installed that interferes? Perhaps pirated copies of things that aren't working perfectly well?

[The Hunter of Jahanna]

Just out of interest, what do you think the purpose of life is? To get ahead? If so, with what purpose in mind? To achieve what? I'd be really interested to get your answer on this one.)

The purpose of my life is to live it to my version of the fullest. In my short time on this planet , I have traveled to 10 countries and been exposed to numerous cultures.Thanks to that, I completely understand why most of the world cant stand Americans. We suffer from a terminal lack of respect. I have had a few jobs, met a lot of great people, and gotten married. I have also been an avid outdoorsman hunting all accross america with everything from spears and knives to guns. I have seen 2 deer fight for control of a herd. I have seen eagles snatch fish out of lakes.I have seen nature in all its glory and I constantly wonder why people cant live like animals. Animals dont worry about taxes and colledge or who has a better car or a better job.Animals dont steal or rape or murder or do drugs. Animals just live everyday like it was their last mainly because it could be. Their days arent filled with things either, they are filled with sleeping, eating and playing.Why cant people live with simplistic common sense like animals do? Take a house cat for example. If you dont feed it, it will go out and get its own dinner.Why cant people be more like that?? If you dont feed them , why dont they go out and get their own?? This is where my thinking comes from , SC.

If you spend a week or 3 in some remote wilderness , like Alaska ,here they fly you in and drop you off and you have to fend for yourself, you will begin to wonder why the rest of the world cant do the same.I have done it 3 times and each time I bring less and less. THe last time I only brought a hunting knife, water purification kit 2 changes of clothes and lots of socks. I didnt get cold, go hungry or miss a second of my so called "real life". That is what I think the purpose of the rest of humanity should be. TO become one with the world around them and blend in with nature instead of trying to control it. To be able to survive in the world with only your wits and a pocket knife.If we humans stopped just carrying around that over sized brain of ours and started useing it to think , a lot of people would realize that the things we value only have the value we place on them. What is more important, a house,car and computer , or self respect, self reliance and a life you enjoy?? I once heard a quote somewhere that said "time spent being liked could be better spent likeing being."

[Yorick]

Well I suppose it all depends on your definitions then. Every studio, every ad agency, every 'creative' industry I've walked into has had Macs. For music recording Macs are overwhelmingly dominant, yet don't monopolise because there are plenty of PC options as well.

The point being, when I looked at buying a computer recently, I had a choice. Mac or PC. Surely the existence of such a possibility makes the assertion of a PC monopoly ludicrous. Last I checked "monopoly" meant:

"mo·nop·o·ly
Pronunciation: m&-'nä-p(&-)lE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -lies
Etymology: Latin monopolium, from Greek monopOlion, from mon- + pOlein to sell
Date: 1534
1 : exclusive ownership through legal privilege, command of supply, or concerted action
2 : exclusive possession or control
3 : a commodity controlled by one party
4 : one that has a monopoly

The existance of Macs as a viable and popular alternative to Microsoft PCs proves there is no monopoly.

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by Yorick: Well I suppose it all depends on your definitions then. Every studio, every ad agency, every 'creative' industry I've walked into has had Macs. For music recording Macs are overwhelmingly dominant, yet don't monopolise because there are plenty of PC options as well. The point being, when I looked at buying a computer recently, I had a choice. Mac or PC. Surely the existence of such a possibility makes the assertion of a PC monopoly ludicrous. Last I checked "monopoly" meant: "mo·nop·o·ly Pronunciation: m&-'nä-p(&-)lE Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural -lies Etymology: Latin monopolium, from Greek monopOlion, from mon- + pOlein to sell Date: 1534 1 : exclusive ownership through legal privilege, command of supply, or concerted action 2 : exclusive possession or control 3 : a commodity controlled by one party 4 : one that has a monopoly The existance of Macs as a viable and popular alternative to Microsoft PCs proves there is no monopoly.

Buy more MAC's, Buy more MAC's (Second verse same as the first )
Sorry Yorick I couldn't resist I want more MACs for selfesh reasons: More MAC's, more MAC games