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As hardware gets cheaper, so does modularity

Hard-core modularity skeptics have always said that modularity has performance costs (though yes, I know there are always guys in the wings willing to argue that modularity can improve performance -- not trying to start that fight...).

But even if that's taken as given, as hardware gets cheaper, so does modularity -- such that eventually, the cost-benefits of a modular approach (shorter development cycles, lower maintenance costs, shorter debugging cycles, etc.) start to become painfully clear to even the biggest skeptics.

Now, let's be clear: No one making real architectural decisions at Microsoft (because all threads end up being about MS, eventually) fails to understand the benefits of modularity. And in fact, MS software is generally pretty modular. But it's a compromised modularity that allows them to preserve enough complexity that it makes it hard for others to play in their sandbox.

What most people don't get is that MS's game isn't really primarily even about stifling competition; it's primarily about mystifying folks so that they don't see what the other hand is doing while the one hand waves the wand. That way, they're able to exert a greater and greater degree of LICENSING control over your computing environment, including the media content that's displayed. They are angling now, as they have been for *literally* YEARS, toward an end where they extract a licensing fee for most of the stuff you do on your PC.

That's their "hidden" agenda. Hidden in plain sight -- just like most magician's tricks....

Posted by: escoles@...   Posted on: 04/22/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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