iknoknot

Is the Microsoft Empire Cracking?

Regardless of the alternatives, MSFT products are like the big three auto-makers' products. Thick, buggy, and rich with commercial momentum (which is keeping them alive). Unless MSFT fixes their monolithic behemoth product lines, they will face the same fate. It's not 'if', it's 'when'.

All you need is a national situation to occur where virtually all cash-strapped small businesses and schools runs out of money and are forced to consider/try cheaper/equivalent alternatives (linux, google-apps, etc.).

And all those alternatives have to do is perform as well as Vista...

:^)

--ikk

'The Market and the Internet Don't Care if You Make Money'

great article. the web's disruptive effect is a welcome overhaul to the media machine we've all suffered for generations.

after this last election, I for one will be glad to be rid of the paper-based relics that once used to carry information as news, not opinion wrapped information. I revel at the thought that these bastards that call themselves journalists may be out of work and filling bags at a grocer to make ends meet.

the low barrier-to-entry of the web has unearthed endless excellent and articulate part-time writers who contribute substance over propaganda, dialog over condescension. Most of the good ones put the so-called 'professionals' to shame.

I can filter entire sites at a time (e.g. nytimes.com, AP, etc.). This is true market accountability at its best, and there's nothing they can do but watch their monopoly and propaganda power-base slip away, one click at a time. I wish them a slow and painful death.

With respect to the idea that monetization is a bad thing, I assert that unless such investments (in time and resources) can support the contributors, the contributors will ultimately follow the dollars to other more practical endeavors. I have a hard enough time motivating myself to update my kid's soccer team website, let alone building an infrastructure like facebook for free.

There's no practical way that these massive portals can be done right (security, bandwidth, etc.) via completely community-based support, nor should they be forced to be. So long as the signal-to-noise ratio is tolerable (altavista vs google), the monetization process allows the portals to exist, let alone prosper.

A great though-provoking read. thanks,

--ikk