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Re: Microsoft are having a PS2 moment

__/ [ Ian Hilliard ] on Monday 04 June 2007 18:35 \__

> Linonut wrote:
> 
>> After takin' a swig o' grog, Ian Hilliard belched out this bit o' wisdom:
>> 
>>> Back in the mid-80's, IBM realized that not only was the PC popular, but
>>> it had taken on a life of its own. In response, IBM developed the
>>> Personal System 2 (PS2), which while technically interesting was clearly
>>> designed to wrest control of the personal computer back to IBM. The rest
>>> of the computer industry had however moved on and had no interest in
>>> being locked into this new architecture. The other manufacturers banded
>>> together to produce their own bus. It was at this point that it was clear
>>> to all that IBM had lost control of the PC.
>>>
>>> It appears that Word 2007 is designed to wrest control of word processing
>>> back to Microsoft. Among other things, Microsoft has changed the way that
>>> math formulas are stored. The scientific community are not playing along.
>>> It is not permissible to submit documents for publication that have been
>>> produced or edited with Word 2007. It is possible to submit documents
>>> written or edited in earlier versions of MS Word or OpenOffice.org.
>>>
>>> This is Microsoft's PS2 moment.
>>>
>>> http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/12608/1023/
>> 
>> True, but, unlike IBM, there's really no significant force out there
>> developing a competing Word-compatible office suite.  So most companies
>> will keep ponying up for Microsoff soffware.
>> 
> 
> The point of the PS2 moment is that at that point, the rest of the industry
> decided that they were no longer going to take the lead from IBM. IBM did
> not go out of business, but it was no longer calling the shots. IBM had to
> learn to compete and it was very difficult for them.
> 
> To me, the indication of the article is that the industry has now put so
> much into .doc format documents that they are not going to let themselves
> be forced to move to another format, just because Microsoft wants it so. If
> Microsoft won't provide that format, then they will use other word
> processors that will.
> 
> It is the control of the computer industry that made Microsoft financially
> successful. The loss of this control will mean that Microsoft will have to
> learn to compete. I don't know that they are up to the task.

Competitiveness at the marketing/litigious level is Microsoft's strength.
They cannot compete at the technical level because good engineers refuse to
work for that company.

-- 
                ~~ Enjoying summertime

Roy S. Schestowitz      | Windows is 'intuitive': go to 'Start' to finish
session
http://Schestowitz.com  |  GNU is Not UNIX  |     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
roy      pts/3                         Mon Jun  4 10:49 - 10:53  (00:04)    
      http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine

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