Dyson's Fear 3.0

Oh, those wacky European courts

(Apologies if this a little 'off', I'm still in the process of waking up. I might come back and expand on this when I'm more awake.)

In North America, it was Internet Explorer that set off the great anti-trust suit. In Europe, it's Windows Media Player.

While I'm not exactly Microsoft's biggest fan, even if I know people who work for the corporation, this is ridiculous. It's obvious that the suit was put forward by people who don't understand technology, but were manipulated by people who do. People who have a vested interest in Microsoft losing dominance.

How do I know this?

First, bluntly, you'd have to be an idiot not to get this.

Second, and simply, of all of Microsoft's sins, WMP is probably the least. Just like Internet Explorer, it's a red herring. Microsoft isn't trying to rule the internet, or media, by including these applications in the Windows installation, they're trying to make things easier for consumers. (For the record, they are trying to rule the internet and media, but not with the inclusion of IE or WMP.)

As evil a corporation as Microsoft is, they really do believe in ubiquitous computing. They really do want a better, easier experience for end users. It's not corporate spin, it's actually their guiding design principle.

It annoys me that lawmakers are going after Microsoft for the wrong reasons. Sure, they think they're going after Al Capone for tax evasion, but what they're really doing is going after O.J. Simpson for a moving violation.

Labels: current events, tech

posted by Jason @ 10:18 AM