In defense of proprietary software

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Ah, but then you'd have to include...

G.E., Boeing, AT&T, Exxon, and the like. They're also good at making lots of money.

The reason I'm not so phased by what you take offense at is that I grew up with the personal computer industry. I have to admit I'm probably about John's age too. Seeing what I saw did make me cringe at one time. It wasn't just what MS did. It was what a lot of companies in this business were doing. The reason I bothered to stick with it, is it still seemed like a place of opportunity to be creative, and I really loved programming (still do!). The tech industry I've known is very aggressive. Hardball, cutthroat, and dog-eat-dog are the terms that come to mind. It's been this way since the early 1980s. I don't remember the industry before that time, because I didn't really come into that world until then.

"Well, at least MS doesn't deal in chemicals or pollutants, otherwise there would be dead people on the trail, as well."

Rest assured I have a conscience, and if the computer business was shown to be one that was belligerantly negligent as chemical and industrial companies have been shown to be from time to time, and lives had been lost as a result, I would be supporting a more consciencious industry, because the costs to society would be too high otherwise. You are right. A computer crash or a worm/virus infection is not the same as negligently killing a person with one's product (at least so long as that computer is not a critical system without which people would die).

By the same token, when one's innovation is expropriated (or use the term "stolen", if you will) and used to make someone else rich, no one dies either, despite the comparisons to "murder" and "rape" that some others have made. The thing is, the tech industry I've known and grown up with has had the attitude of "a fool and his technology are soon parted". So in a way, I expect it. I don't think technology companies can ever afford to innovate and then rest on their laurels thinking that innovation is never going to be copied (and soon--one way or another), and then surpassed. Innovation is a constant process in this industry, if your company is in the business of crafting products that it expects millions of people to use.

Posted by: Mark Miller   Posted on: 12/20/03 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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