computer market dictatorship

Computer Market Relegated to Prefab and Hypnosis

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I have noticed these days that the computer market is either falling into some sort of dictatorship or some other power of influence that is forcing the computer market into a no choice market where the choice is handpicked by either some monopoly or by a misperception made by the wrong decision makers in today's computer industry. The computer market of today as we know it is being prefabricated by influence while hypnotizing the public of that influence. --

The Microsoft Windows Monopoly

The biggest problem today in the computer market falls on the shorts of Microsoft and its Windows monopoly. The dominance of Windows has caused a shortsightedness in the computer industry spurred by the old adage of "IBM or PC compatible" that seems to haunt the vast competitive landscape not selling Windows on the desktop. Microsoft has been able to take advantage of the misperception made by the public and how computers interact today. Most people new to computing don't realize that the compatibility problems that plagued interoperability during the '80s have pretty much been eradicated since the advent of the World Wide Web other than the proprietary standards being pushed by companies like Microsoft who instead of thinking of what is best for its customers, goes out of its way to protect its padlock on current and future markets. Microsoft is not the only one guilty of this, but is one of the biggest players in this market, which means it has a major impact on the industry as a whole.

The Open and Closed Internet

I recently noticed one of my favorite sports team websites get a makeover, and a makeover for the worst because the website was very web browser unfriendly. After trying to view the website using various web browser with no luck, it was evident that the website was created to be only accessed by Internet Explorer 6. I emailed the web master of this site to inform them of the problems I experienced and I even sent them screenshots of the problems I encountered. After a couple of weeks and no reply to at least say; "we're looking into it" I figured maybe this guy (or gal) gets so many emails that he may have overlooked my particular email, so I sent another email and sent a carbon copy to the actual web design company responsible for this mess, but I still have not heard a word. It seems that they either do not care, or feel that catering to all computer users is just too much a hassle, even though there is web development technology out there today that is web standards compliant and covers the basis of all computer users.

The other problem that alarmed the W3C Group was FEMA and their not so easily accessible website for those needing to fill out online applications and utilize other such services, which apparently only worked for Windows users. This seems to fall short of the promise made by the E Government Act of 2001 that was put in place to get rid of such problems. The US Copyright Office is also affected by such problems.

The Internet and the World Wide Web was originally designed to be very open and accessible by everyone, not just Windows users, who don't realize that Microsoft's monopoly is hurting the computer industry in so many ways and is affecting computerized harmony on the web and beyond.

Open Standards versus Closed Standards

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has finalized its decision to go with open standard file formats (hence OpenDocument), which will ensure that all its government agencies and its own citizens will have ease of access to online documentation and other such services which until now, was restricted to proprietary formats not accessible by everyone. The CAGW (Citizens Against Government Waste) have been criticizing the move saying it will hurt the competitive bid process. I'm not sure of their motive, but I disagree with that notion because if there is an open format supported by multiple technology vendors, then the bidding process will come down to price and technical merit of the very product supporting that open file format, which goes a long way and the Massachusetts State Government avoids any sort of lock-in by a single vendor because their data is not housed inside some proprietary file format or standard keeping competitors from being chosen in the bidding process in the future because of the complexities of translating data from one format to another.

The Google Threat Will Liberate

Microsoft is very worried about Google creating the computerized harmony that the world wants to embrace. If Microsoft loses control of its Windows dominance, the World Wide Web may eventually return the old days as an open to all experience where no one is discriminated against and information is accessible to all. Google has been using a more open approach to its business strategy by making sure all computer users can utilize its software and services, either directly and/or indirectly so that all computer users can enjoy the Google experience. If Google wins out over Microsoft and maintains a dominant position, it will benefit all computer users as well as the computer market as a whole. Imagine being able to use whatever computer system you want, whether it was Windows, Mac, Linux, Amiga and etc... to seamlessly interoperate over the Internet with no inhibitions created by some proprietary and other lock-in mechanisms that keep absolute choice and freedom at bay. Google seems bent on delivering such a paradise where all computers users are served, not just Windows users!

Prefab and Hypnosis

The Prefab...

Many of those in the Windows developer community have gone out of their way to push the world into a Windows-only world, hoping that the alternatives in the market will just go away. Since Microsoft's grand plan to totally dominate the computer market has failed, the Pro-Microsoft camp have resorted into prefabricating the market by locking out competitors, purposely or not. You'll notice websites that offer services only to Windows users like Yahoo, Napster and so on have helped create this prefabrication, which in the end helps protect Microsoft's desktop monopoly from any competitive threat! Of course this is not to say they're doing it for Microsoft's benefit, but maybe it's because they're either too lazy or too cheap to provide a seamless cross-platform compatible and interoperable approach to their products and services, so only Windows users need apply for such products and services while non-Windows users can take their business elsewhere.

The Hypnosis...

Of course part of this strategy to wipe out choice in the computer market and lock the world into a Windows-only strategy, are those of influence that utilize psychological tactics to sway the computer market to their own way of thinking. It's gotten to the point of name calling by some very not-so-professional, yet childish tech analysts and other so called experts who are either receiving blood money under the table to spread such FUD or have their own vendetta and want to taint the market with their not-so-educated opinions and ill advice. Coining the terms like "cult" and "zealot" and whatever the like to make anything non-Windows sound like the devil while creating falsehood of normalcy for their cause and wallet is amusing at best, but seems to have some eating up their rhetoric like candy. Those of great influence inside and outside of Microsoft are doing their best to steer the computing world into a locked box that will only benefit Microsoft and those directly connected monetarily and/or politically (computer industry wise).

Bureaucracy As Usual

The public is being played the fool in today's computer world, while monopolies go unchallenged while creating a misperception in the eye of the consumer driven by IT bureaucracy that originated from long ago and has yet to be shaken from the psyche of a more technological advanced generation still thinking in the "IBM or PC Compatible" mode. Until the public is better educated and the computer industry is no longer being held captive by a shortsighted mindset, then we'll remain victims of our own doing. It's time to open the computer market and let it roam free with competition and great compatibility and interoperability. At the end of the day, we want absolute choice in any free market and the computer market should be no different. ::