| Home | “Perhaps an international standards organization, such as ANSI, could eventually take charge of a universal standard for the GUI and for the file formats for operating systems, word processors, spreadsheets, etc.” |
The present situation is ridiculous. Can’t the U.S. Justice Department figure out that everyone wants operating systems, word processors, and spreadsheets that all have the same “look and feel,” and that all use the same identical file formats for their data? Can you imagine sitting in the driver’s seat of a car that you’ve never driven before, and it’s steered with your feet, and the brakes are operated by moving your head? Suppose that the manufacturer of the first automobile had gotten a copyright or patent on the “look and feel” of the car, so the competition was forced to do crazy things like this! Who would put up with such a dangerous situation?
So why are we putting up with that same sort of situation on our desktops? Just because all of the confusion is not life threatening, we have to be forced to put up with it? Either we have to put up with no standard for the user interface, or no competition, i.e. a Microsoft monopoly? Is the Justice Department just stupid, or what?
What’s this about breaking up Microsoft to increase competition? How is that going to increase competition? If one of the newly created companies’ only products is Windows, then they’ll have a monopoly on Windows. If the other newly created company has everything else, then they’ll have a monopoly on everything else. And the same people that own the present monopoly company will also own the two newly created monopoly companies. So, all that this Justice Department lawsuit will ultimately accomplish is to help feed and clothe a lot of lawyers and their families, to the detriment of software users (less money for software R & D). Is this what users are spending their hard earned software dollars to support?
So what’s the solution? Since the U.S. Department of Justice is too stupid to ever see the clear reality of the present absurd situation, the solution is for the hackers and programmers of the world to unite! Suppose a large number of programmers, all over the world, worked together, in their spare time, communicating over the Internet in an effort to come up with a version of Windows that looks and feels exactly like Windows, but is faster, more reliable, takes less space on the hard drive, and takes up less RAM memory. Then suppose they put it, along with all of the source code, on a CD-ROM, declared it freeware, and distributed the CD-ROMs all over the world for free, or for a very small charge just to cover the cost of duplication.
Since it was a joint effort by individuals working on their own home computers all over the world, who would Microsoft sue? Even if they could find someone to sue, the cat will already be out of the bag. The source code will already have been released, and copies of everything would also be available on the Internet.
After this had been accomplished, the same thing could be done with Word, Excel, etc. Think of what a boon this would be for computer manufacturers who no longer have to pay for an operating system for each computer that they ship!
Once the source code was made available, an avalanche of new innovation would occur, and customized versions of these basic software packages would appear. How about stripped down versions that could easily run on old, outdated 386 and 486 laptops with only 4M of RAM and a 120M hard drive? The possibilities are unlimited!
In the mid 80s, IBM set the standard for the PC, but gradually the clones, as they became more and more popular, began setting the standard. The same thing could happen with Windows, Word, Excel, etc. At first it would always be a matter of trying to keep up with Microsoft, but gradually, as the clones became more and more popular, they would start to set the standard. This would unleash a very healthy situation where unfettered competition and the resulting innovation would prevail.
Maybe the United States Department of Justice isn’t so stupid, but are simply the victim of outmoded laws in regards to patents and copyrights. If this is the case, then the laws need to be changed.
The lawmakers in the U.S. should get together with the lawmakers from other countries and agree to pass new laws which state that it’s not a crime to write a program that has the same “look and feel” as someone else’s program. Then the door would be open for a large, powerful company, such as IBM, to produce a product to compete with Microsoft Windows with no fear of being sued by Microsoft over the look and feel issue.
IBM would be free to create a product which had the same familiar graphical user interface (GUI), and which was capable of running all of the same DOS and Windows software. They would be free to compete on the platform of price and performance, and therefore all PC users would benefit!
Perhaps an international standards organization, such as ANSI, could eventually take charge of a universal standard for the GUI and for the file formats for operating systems, word processors, spreadsheets, etc.
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