Thanks to Kelly
McNeill for this link.
“It happens often enough. One day, we are content with what
we have, the next day we find it is obsolete, falling prey to The
Next Big Thing. The Next Big Thing is often better. It goes
faster. Or is the ultimate in being cross-platform. It naturally
happens, of course. The Last Big Thing has shown it’s weaknesses
for many months and simply needs to be replaced. And there is
simply no good reason not to upgrade.
“We may have an answer to this phenomenon, or semi-answer. The
Next Big Thing has shown itself, and may significantly slow down
the traditional upgrade cycle. In fact, it is also The Last Big
Thing. I am talking about the Open Source m ovement. With the
source code and free compilers available, keeping software
compatible with The Last Big Thing is more possible.”
Read The
Rise and Fall of OS Empires.