Well, they did it. Recently, the federal government announced that it would like to see the Microsoft corporation split into two parts: An operating-systems company and an applications company.
Well, they did it. Recently, the federal government announced that it would like to see the Microsoft corporation split into two parts: An operating-systems company and an applications company.
Personally, I think that this is a terrible idea. For one thing, I’d like to see Linux win in a fair fight. If the government breaks up Microsoft, it’s not a fair fight any more. But the worst thing about it is that splitting up Microsoft is just a stupid thing to try to do. It’s like saying you want to split up your house. The rooms in your house could all become little houses, but odds are that it would cause a lot of problems. Suddenly, you would need lots more phone lines, a lot of new electrical wiring, and your centralized air-conditioning wouldn’t work so well. You’d have to change houses to eat or go to the bathroom, and no one would know where to send your mail any more.
OK, so that’s a stupid analogy, but you get the idea. Microsoft’s products are so tightly integrated in complex ways that it would probably produce a tremendous number of ill effects if they were to be split up.
There’s an old saying that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Well, this is just an example of the government applying its hammer. It has applied the break-up remedy to monopolies in the past, and in the cases of Standard Oil and…
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