Thanks to Gerhard
Killesreiter for this link.
“The Microsoft anti-trust case won’t benefit consumers and we
might still be grateful for the existence of the software giant,
argues Jack Schofield”
“The price of your computer has been decided in America for at
least the past 40 years, and the US Justice Department is trying to
make it more expensive. That may not be what it thinks – it would
require extraordinary cynicism to suspect a Machiavellian
conspiracy rather than incompetence – but that is the most likely
result of it winning its anti-trust case against Microsoft, which
resumed this week.”
“What makes all this even more deliciously ironic is that even
people who don’t use Microsoft software derive huge benefits from
Microsoft’s hegemony. Look inside any recent Mac and you’ll see
lots of parts originally designed for the PC industry. Even the 0.2
per cent of people who use GNU/Linux save more money by buying
cheap PCs designed for Windows than they’ll ever spend on
pre-installed Microsoft software.”
“…But unfortunately the Justice Department thinks that
destroying the PC industry is ultimately going to benefit
consumers, and that’s why you’re going to pay for it in the long
run.”