Microsoft Essay -- Windows Computers Technology Essays

MicrosoftThere bring on been many inclinations and have a go at its that have been raised with the controersy oer Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justices claim against Microsoft and its founder mensuration gate of monopolistic practices in bundling its internet browser profit venturer into its popular Windows computer operating system. By doing this, Microsoft would effectively crush its competitors (its main rival being Netscape Navigator), and insure a monopoly over the software system program that people use to access the Internet.I recently heard a listener on NPR (National Public Radio) comment about the monopoly issue between Microsoft and the U.S. D.O.J. that Intellectual endeavors are vastly infinite and thus cannot be monopolized. I wonder if the person who said this has ever tried telling that to Bill Gates. More importantly, is such a statement true? Does computer software constitute an intellectual endeavor that cannot be monopolized? To answer this is sue, an inductive argument can be applied to determine if Microsoft truly has a monopoly over the computer industry. To say that something is infinite implies that there is an endless supply of it. Is this the grounds in terms of the Internet and the software that is used to navigate or explore the Internet as the two leading Internet Browsers have been dubbed by their makers? The resources of the Internet may seem infinitely vast, exactly it is only finite. There is an abundance of information out there on the Internet that it seems unlikely that any one company or even a country like the U.S. could ever monopolize this vast data network. By the nature of how the Internet works and how information is stored and shared on the network, it is true that a monopoly cannot be held over the intellectual information stored within the Internet. On this point I will accede to the original authors claim that intellectual endeavors cannot be monopolized, but this is vastly different f rom the issue that stands before Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice. The question that must be distinguished is not if Microsoft will gain a monopoly over the Internet, but if it will acquire a monopoly on how people access the Internet. These two are solely separate issues. This is not a question of control of intellectual information, but the means by which people gain *access* to that information. Even if the inform... ...l by bundling its browser into its operating system which already controls 90% of the worlds market. The present nature of Microsoft in our everyday computing lives is seemingly subconscious, yet when we realize the broad influence of this computer giant upon our life it becomes a terrorisation possibility. Thoughts of Orwellian Big Brother comes to mind at times. The question of whether Microsoft has a monopoly over the computer industry is a resounding yes. It is a snug virtual monopoly in the computer industry. The question thus become s not whether Microsoft is a monopoly, but why it has taken so long for the government to negociate into the affairs that would regulate this ever growing computer giant. It would be able to follow the lesson of Jack who cut down the beanstalk in a caption that has all too real applications in our modern-day computerized world. BibliographyGleick, James. MAKING MICROSOFT harmless FOR CAPITALISM The New York Times Magazine. William Morris Agency, May 18, 1995.Nader, Ralph and Love, James. What to Do About Microsoft? LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE, November 1997NPR News. May 5 1998 (Station KBRW 89.9 FM) 800 AM Morning Edition