Should Microsoft be broken up?

Dom · Aug 16, 2003, 04:04 AM

A couple of years back, at a time when the US authorities looked serious about reining in Microsoft, there seemed a real possibility that the company would be broken up. There was a precedent in the 1984 break-up of the US phone giant AT&T into seven 'Baby Bells', and it was argued that Microsoft had similarly grown too big for anybody's good.

There was also a very good argument for holding the company together. Microsoft gained its near-monopoly because computing needed a standard platform; and, whatever you may feel about its business practices, it has done a pretty good job over the years in providing a mix of stability and innovation.

I fear, nevertheless, that the US courts did both Microsoft and the industry a disservice by not forcing it to split into two. I got to thinking about this after hearing Palmsoft chief executive Dave Nagel talk about the next-generation PalmOS, codenamed Sahara, which is clearly designed to head off Microsoft's encroachment into mobile devices.

A major reason for the success of Palm handhelds, apart from their ground-breaking pen interface, was the ease with which they shared information with a base machine. Contacts and appointments data held on the base and mobile machines would be reconciled on both whenever you slotted the Palm into its cradle. The word synchronisation was misapplied to this operation, but I guess we are stuck with it.

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Matth · Aug 16, 2003, 03:33 PM

Too little, too late - so many businesses are wedded to Microsoft Office on MS Windows, that they wouldn't, or couldn't consider anything else.

And when there is a collision, when one party in a merger uses MS Office, and the other uses something else, guess what usually wins?

PS. I'm a Lotus Smartsuite supporter - always have been, and always will be, - putting MS Offic on my machine would be vandalism!

Of all the others, Smartsuite has been described (echoing a car rental commercial) as "Number 2, but trying harder" - though another reason for favouring it is it's FAR cheaper in OEM - though by that token, standardizing on the free OpenOffice would be a better idea still.

What happened to all the other Word Processors? - The "gruesome twosome" of Windows and Office has certainly leveraged Office compared to the position MS Word held in the DOS version.

nForcer · Aug 16, 2003, 04:27 PM

Take a look at what happened when they forced the breakup of the Bell Telephone company in the USA - They split into 4? companies and TRIPPLED their next year's profits. Yeah lets break up Microsoft and help them out even more. What a stupid idea. Did you know that if MS followed the same lines as the Bell Telephone company - thier profits ALONE could pay off our country's national debt in less than 5 years! Talk about a joke - where do these people come up with this? Damn politicians and lawyers.

Aug 16, 2003, 04:04 AM	#1
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	Should Microsoft be broken up? A couple of years back, at a time when the US authorities looked serious about reining in Microsoft, there seemed a real possibility that the company would be broken up. There was a precedent in the 1984 break-up of the US phone giant AT&T into seven 'Baby Bells', and it was argued that Microsoft had similarly grown too big for anybody's good. There was also a very good argument for holding the company together. Microsoft gained its near-monopoly because computing needed a standard platform; and, whatever you may feel about its business practices, it has done a pretty good job over the years in providing a mix of stability and innovation. I fear, nevertheless, that the US courts did both Microsoft and the industry a disservice by not forcing it to split into two. I got to thinking about this after hearing Palmsoft chief executive Dave Nagel talk about the next-generation PalmOS, codenamed Sahara, which is clearly designed to head off Microsoft's encroachment into mobile devices. A major reason for the success of Palm handhelds, apart from their ground-breaking pen interface, was the ease with which they shared information with a base machine. Contacts and appointments data held on the base and mobile machines would be reconciled on both whenever you slotted the Palm into its cradle. The word synchronisation was misapplied to this operation, but I guess we are stuck with it. Read More...

Aug 16, 2003, 03:33 PM	#2
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	Too little, too late - so many businesses are wedded to Microsoft Office on MS Windows, that they wouldn't, or couldn't consider anything else. And when there is a collision, when one party in a merger uses MS Office, and the other uses something else, guess what usually wins? PS. I'm a Lotus Smartsuite supporter - always have been, and always will be, - putting MS Offic on my machine would be vandalism! Of all the others, Smartsuite has been described (echoing a car rental commercial) as "Number 2, but trying harder" - though another reason for favouring it is it's FAR cheaper in OEM - though by that token, standardizing on the free OpenOffice would be a better idea still. What happened to all the other Word Processors? - The "gruesome twosome" of Windows and Office has certainly leveraged Office compared to the position MS Word held in the DOS version.

Aug 16, 2003, 04:27 PM	#3
nForcer Twice the fun! Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,404 Rep Power: 0	Take a look at what happened when they forced the breakup of the Bell Telephone company in the USA - They split into 4? companies and TRIPPLED their next year's profits. Yeah lets break up Microsoft and help them out even more. What a stupid idea. Did you know that if MS followed the same lines as the Bell Telephone company - thier profits ALONE could pay off our country's national debt in less than 5 years! Talk about a joke - where do these people come up with this? Damn politicians and lawyers.