Ken Ismert
KIsmert at TexasSystems.com
Mon Feb 9 19:19:51 CST 2004
>>Dear Bill, >>The Access tool is damned fine now, thanks very much. Squeaky clean, well >>oiled and working well. >>Please dont let the kids play in it. >>yours etc.. What!? The old saw is cutting wood just fine? Sharpen it now and then, and it'll be good for years, you say? Say, how 'bout this new saw, with the "Genuine Microsoft" hologram on the blade? Its got a scroll wheel on the handle! Happy with what you have, you say? Well, that's being mighty disrespectful to Microsoft's future revenue stream. Seriously, though, we are witnessing the dilemma of monopoly. Once a company achieves effective control of a market, it first grows horizontally, expanding to take as much share as it possibly can. However, it can't rest there. The company must grow. Thus, it expands in the only way left: vertically. It tries to extract more revenue, more frequently, from its existing base. The catch is, software doesn't wear out. And, to its credit, Microsoft has done a good enough job with many of its products that it has created a truly thorny problem: contented customers. To combat this, it must continually obsolete its old products, and sell us the new. Microsoft's growth must come out of your hide and mine, my friend. The question is, what's your threshold of pain? Of course, this has been a one-sided presentation. Microsoft has many valid reasons to drive change. It is facing a security crisis with its current software. Business needs and hardware are evolving. And there are many genuine improvements to be made. But still, it does nothing that isn't deeply intended to further its own financial interests. Which brings us back to a fundamental choice: keep trudging on the Microsoft treadmill, or get off. Both options have their plusses and drawbacks. But at least Open Source will never force you to abandon software you like. -Ken