Does it make any sense to "hate" Microsoft?

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Not that hard

I think it's possible to make a rational case for hating Microsoft. To do so, we must start with what might have been. It's not unreasonable to say that the existence of Microsoft as an overweeing presence in the software industry stifled serious innovation for nearly a decade. It was only with the emergence of the web as a relatively Microsoft-free environment that we began to see Amazing New Things again.

This occurred because it became impossible to attract serious venture capital into a software startup. That occurred because venture capitalists noticed that nothing could become successful anymore because as soon as looked like it might, Microsoft would decide that "that functionality belongs in the operating system" and they would 'cut the air off' to the previously up-and-coming winner. That only had to happen a few times before VC's learned not to invest in any more desktop-software startups.

We'll never know what innovative surprises died on the vine for lack of development funds during that period, but experience tells us that we lost at least two, and maybe five, Serious Wonderful Things.

This occurred not because Microsoft was a big company, or because Microsoft was a successful company. It occurred because Microsoft was a predatory company, and a brutally unethical one. We've all heard the stories; there's no reason to go into them again.

To the extent it makes sense to 'hate' predatory brutes (and most of us do when, for example, watching a movie) it makes sense to 'hate' Microsoft. It is unlikely that anyone can -do- anything about Microsoft at this point, but it is also true that -- just as in the movies -- the predatory brute always gets his comeuppance. This usually occurs not because of the act of a superhero, but because the predatory brute is in some way fatally flawed, and this flaw inexorably brings him down.

At which point the audience cheers.

Posted by: Robert Hahn   Posted on: 05/21/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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