Removing a load-bearing wall from a structure causes that structure to crumble. Sometimes rapidly, sometimes slowly, but inevitably and inexorably it becomes rubble.
Microsoft is crumbling. It is slowly losing face to a world of Open Source software, and increasing freedom of information. The traditional conservative capitalist mentality of the United States is facing an increased threat that comes by way of the libertarian principles of freedom, particularly the freedom of information. RIAA v. Napster, MPAA v. 2600, etc. etc. etc. The rallying cry has long been "Information Wants to be Free" and we're hearing it more and more. This, I think, indicates the direction of my generation as a whole. We will not sit idly by and let people take from us those things that we feel are ours by right.
Microsoft has taken these things for the past 20 years.
Microsoft is dying because new seeds have been planted. Microsoft crumbles because of the underlying ideological shift. Microsoft will fall because the world will eventually shun and reject those who are devoted to masking innovation, and keeping the product away from the users.
The proof that this is true: Microsoft has been struggling with antitrust investigations since roughly 1994. In the same amount of time, Linus Torvalds and Linux have become household names...bringing "Unix" into mainstream vocabulary. This isn't a fad or fleeting media hype. People know, understand, and care because this is a potential alternative, and a historically significant paradigm shift. As the Open Source movement continues to gain momentum, the user interfaces for these platforms will become increasingly friendly. The desktop environments will become faster, and more efficent. The software will be ported, distributed, used, and improved, because of the user and not because of the business. We'll be oriented once again toward the idea of filling a demand, rather than supplying what we think the average user needs because we assume they're too stupid to understand what they want.
Microsoft fails at this very endeavor. This is the load-bearing wall of future economic advancement in the technology industry. Without a radical paradigm shift in Redmond, Microsoft will crumble. The Open Source movement is the sledgehammer.
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Removing a load-bearing wall from a structure causes that structure to crumble. Sometimes rapidly, sometimes slowly, but inevitably and inexorably it becomes rubble.
Microsoft is crumbling. It is slowly losing face to a world of Open Source software, and increasing freedom of information. The traditional conservative capitalist mentality of the United States is facing an increased threat that comes by way of the libertarian principles of freedom, particularly the freedom of information. RIAA v. Napster, MPAA v. 2600, etc. etc. etc. The rallying cry has long been "Information Wants to be Free" and we're hearing it more and more. This, I think, indicates the direction of my generation as a whole. We will not sit idly by and let people take from us those things that we feel are ours by right.
Microsoft has taken these things for the past 20 years.
Microsoft is dying because new seeds have been planted. Microsoft crumbles because of the underlying ideological shift. Microsoft will fall because the world will eventually shun and reject those who are devoted to masking innovation, and keeping the product away from the users.
The proof that this is true: Microsoft has been struggling with antitrust investigations since roughly 1994. In the same amount of time, Linus Torvalds and Linux have become household names...bringing "Unix" into mainstream vocabulary. This isn't a fad or fleeting media hype. People know, understand, and care because this is a potential alternative, and a historically significant paradigm shift. As the Open Source movement continues to gain momentum, the user interfaces for these platforms will become increasingly friendly. The desktop environments will become faster, and more efficent. The software will be ported, distributed, used, and improved, because of the user and not because of the business. We'll be oriented once again toward the idea of filling a demand, rather than supplying what we think the average user needs because we assume they're too stupid to understand what they want.
Microsoft fails at this very endeavor. This is the load-bearing wall of future economic advancement in the technology industry. Without a radical paradigm shift in Redmond, Microsoft will crumble. The Open Source movement is the sledgehammer.