Re: A Tale of Two Apples

[bjblackbear@ibm.net (B.J. Major)]

Mitchell Spector <spec@vax2.concordia.ca> wrote:

>     It should be interested to see how you react over the next few
> months, as Microsoft becomes more of an influence on Apple Computer
> as a direct result of the deal. You will no longer be able to hide
> in your "Microsoft-free" uptopia. The whole concept of the Macintosh 
> being a Microsoft free zone has been totally shattered if you haven't
> noticed. Already Microsoft Explorer is now the default web-browser
> the Macintosh will install in System Software. :)

Your information is not totally accurate.  Athough Apple will ship MIE
with new versions of System software and it *may* be the "default" one,
Netscape will still also be on there for installing as well.  Although
MS does not believe in choice, Apple still gives people a choice of what
to install (or uninstall as the case may be).  And even if it were not,
no one is going to tell me which browser I have to use!

Further, I am not "hiding" in an MS free utopia.  I am MS free of my own
free choosing.  Applications (and OSs for that matter) exist that are
superior to theirs and use much less memory to boot.  Considering how
that company does business, I consider myself fortunate that I can be MS
free--and I will continue to remain so.

>     My god, you sound utterely paranoid about Microsoft as an entity.
> Your description of the company sounds very much reminiscent of some
> stereotypically 1950's cold war version of the USSR, as seen by many
> Americans of that era. Just replace "Microsoft" with "USSR" above.

Too bad you don't really see what's happening in the software
marketplace, not just in the U.S., but world-wide--or you'd never say
such a thing.

>     Finally, I do not believe in or worship Microsoft. I am not even
> a fan of their software products, though if they've written something
> I find _useful_, I will run it. I really am not concerned with WHO or
> WHAT wrote the software that runs on my computers, I judge it on how
> well it works and if it does the job I need. This doesn't just apply
> to my PC, but my Apple IIgs as well. Blindly boycotting software is
> foolish, your only short changing yourself. Your boycott of Microsoft
> is a wasted effort, if you really want to boycott productively, go
> boycott companies that clear cut the rain forests, or do product
> testing on animals or countries (like France) that test detonation
> of nuclear weapons. Those are more serious issues than software
> monopolies, and are real problems, not fantasy ones.

It's not a wasted effort as far as I'm concerned.  For every person who
refuses to use an MS product, that's a statement.  Get enough of these
people together and you have a formiddable boycott presence.  There have
been a few others who have posted here this past week that feel the same
way I do about this monopolistic giant.  Here's a newsflash for you:
whilest working in the PC world from 1985-present, I have used plenty of
MS apps and a few of their OSs.  Most of their apps, even those ported
to Macintosh, are bloated, loaded with unneeded "extras", and take scads
of memory to run (Word 6 is a prime example, though not the only one).
I'm not missing a DAMN thing by not running MS apps.  Installing
Clarisworks (that came bundled with my home Mac) not only runs slimmer
and trimmer, but converted all Word and Excel docs perfectly.  So I
ceased to use MS apps. altogether.  And you don't even want me to get
started on the biggest of bloated beasts, MS Office....

And no one *but yourself* is comparing boycotting Microsoft to achieving
world peace or the elimination of nuclear weapons, saving the rainforest
or any other such noble cause.  But the protection of the consumer
market from monopolies such as this one is important, and not fantasy.
The easiest way for a giant to take over is for everyone to sit back and
do nothing.

-- 
--bj    Auto reply will not work; please remove "black" to reply.
Proud owner/user of Apple Computers since 1984.  
"None of my computers do Windows."