Re: [tlug] [OT] Say _no_ to the Microsoft Office format as an ISO standard

["Josh Glover" <jmglov@example.com>]

On 08/07/07, Roger Markus <rogermarku@example.com> wrote:

> The one thing Microsoft does very well is play dirty (illegal
> is probably a more accurate term).

Right, because Microsoft's success is solely attributable to their
playing dirty.

Had nothing to do with Gate's foresight that the PC would be huge.
Had nothing to do with the IBM DOS licence.
Had nothing to do with Windows 95 being the most accessible and
affordable "OS" out there for 90% of the US when it came out.
Had nothing to do with Office being a feature-rich and mostly usable
piece of software.
Had nothing to do with all the OEM deals (Dell, Gateway, Packard Bell, etc.).
...and so on, ad nauseum

Let's face it, Microsoft had plenty of chances to screw up and lose
their dominant position. But they kept making good decisions.

Except for that whole Internet thing, and that probably will be their
eventual undoing. Google is on the way in, Microsoft is on the way
out. And while I for one will welcome our new Googloid overlords, and
earnestly want to believe--in the Fox Mulder sense of the word--that
Google means "do no evil" when they say it, I doubt that they will be
able to filter out all the suited and booted thugs hopping off trains
from the top business schools, their MBAs still hot from the fuser.

And remember that old standard, "absolute power corrupts absolutely"?
I think a lot of white collar crimes are opportunistic in nature and,
as I lamented previously, their simply aren't "real" consequences to
unethical business dealings.

--
Cheers,
Josh