Microsoft Essay -- Windows Computers Technology Essays

MicrosoftThere have been many arguments and issues that have been raised with the controversy over Microsoft and the U.S. discussion section of Justices claim a move inst Microsoft and its founder bar Gates of monopolistic practices in bundling its internet browser Internet Explorer into its popular Windows computer operating system. By doing this, Microsoft would effectively crush its competitors (its main rival being Netscape Navigator), and acquire a monopoly over the software that mass 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 enterprises are vastly infinite and thus cannot be monopolized. I wonder if the someone 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 issue, an inductive argume nt can be applied to determine if Microsoft truly has a monopoly over the computer industry. To say that something is infinite implies that at that place is an endless supply of it. Is this the case in terms of the Internet and the software that is used to navigate or explore the Internet as the two star Internet Browsers have been dubbed by their makers? The resources of the Internet may seem infinitely vast, but it is wholly 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 repoint I will accede to the original authors claim that intellectual endeavors cannot be monopolized, but this is vastly different from the issue that sta nds before Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice. The top dog 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 wholly 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 ubiquitous nature of Microsoft in our everyday computing lives is patently subconscious, yet when we realize the broad influence of this computer giant upon our life it becomes a frightening 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 near virtual monopoly in the computer industry. The question thus becomes not whether Microsoft i s a monopoly, but why it has taken so long for the government to intercede into the affairs that would regulate this ever growing computer giant. It would be wise to marry the lesson of Jack who cut down the beanstalk in a fable that has all too real applications in our modern-day computerized world. BibliographyGleick, James. MAKING MICROSOFT SAFE FOR CAPITALISM The radical 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