Tuesday, July 17, 2007

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(I'm writing a periodic column for the Financial Times . Here's the one that appeared today.) Early last week, Bill Gates demonstrated Microsoft’s next Windows desktop computer operating system at a conference for manufacturers of computer hardware. Later in the week Apple started selling its latest version of the Macintosh operating system, known as Mac OS X Tiger . Although the Microsoft product is a long way from hitting the retail marketplace, Gates’s talk garnered lots of coverage in the trade and popular media. The timing, coming next to the Apple launch, was part of the reason; the media can not resist the Microsoft versus Apple story. But the Tiger release and Microsoft hypefest were only the latest engagements in a never-ending campaign for the hearts, pay per click keywords inds and wallets of computer users. Their interests, not corporate power games, are why this matters. Microsoft, for a variety of reasons, now holds a nearly unassailable monopoly on the desktop. Thankfully for the users of technology, however, innovation keeps coming from a variety of quarters. How different, and how similar, the landscape looked a decade ago. While history rarely repeats itself in the fast-moving and frequently surprising technology sphere, it’s always worth looking back for perspective. I well recall the avalanche of hyperbole from Microsoft and a then-adoring media when Windows 95 hit the market. I also remember how a Macintosh enthusiast came up with a lapel button at the time.

(I'm writing a periodic column for the Financial Times . Here's the one that appeared today.) Early last week, Bill Gates demonstrated Microsoft’s next Windows desktop computer operating system at a conference for manufacturers of computer hardware. Later in the week Apple started selling its latest version of the Macintosh operating system, known as Mac OS X Tiger . Although the Microsoft product is a long way from hitting the retail marketplace, Gates’s talk garnered lots of coverage in the trade and popular media. The timing, coming next to the Apple launch, was part of the reason; the media can not resist the Microsoft versus Apple story. But the Tiger release and Microsoft hypefest were only the latest engagements in a never-ending campaign for the hearts, minds and wallets of computer users. Their interests, not corporate power games, are why this matters. Microsoft, for a variety of reasons, now holds a nearly unassailable monopoly on the desktop. Thankfully for the users of technology, however, innovation keeps coming from a variety of quarters. How different, and how similar, the landscape looked a decade ago. While history rarely repeats itself in the fast-moving and frequently surprising technology sphere, it’s always worth looking back for perspective. I well recall the avalanche of hyperbole from Microsoft and a then-adoring media when Windows 95 hit six sigma for dummies he market. I also remember how a Macintosh enthusiast came up with a lapel button at the time.

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