"Roedy Green" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in
message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 22:21:55 -0700, "David Schwartz"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote or quoted :
>> I don't think any of it bordered on force or fraud. However, their
>>obligation to their shareholders requires them to do anythign that borders
>>on force/fraud so long as it isn't force/fraud.
> I avoid MS products whenever possible. Surely others feel the same
> way because we have had it up to the teeth with MS dirty tactics. That
> has to be factored into profitability as well.
Definitely. Sometimes you have to make nice if you want to make money.
I have no complaints with people who choose to avoid a particular
company's products because they don't like that company's tactics. And I
have no problem with them spreading their views and sharing their beliefs.
Heck, I work for a company that probably has made quite a few sales
because people were looking for a product by "anyone but Microsoft".
That said, I do agree there were some "dirty tactics" in the sense that
they were pure hardball and could have resulted in inferior products getting
greater market share. However, I don't think they came anywhere near force
or fraud, with very few exceptions.
Notable exceptions included cases where Microsoft told companies they
had no intention of releasing a competing product to get technical details
and later turned around and released competing products or cases where
Microsoft threatened legal action they knew they had no chance of winning at
a fair hearing. These did border on force/fraud and in some cases, Microsoft
did get spanked for these tactics.
DS
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