> > However, I dont agree with the microsoft remark.  Anyone could have
> > gotten in their position and filled their shoes if they were lucky
> > enough and willing to rape and pillage everything in their path for a
> > few years.
> 
> agreed. But they've done a great deal to get computers as main-stream as
> they are, and as latent result, cheaper.

I disagree with that. in a more competetive marketplace, I think computer
prices would have fallen even faster, and we'd have *far* better OSes on
average.

Linux might not have gotten anywhere quickly, tho. the sheer vileness of the
Windows OS has spurred a lot of people to go to Linux. If MS sold everyone
Xenix instead (as they were planning to, back in DOS 3.0 days); we'd have
decent commercial desktop OSes, and there would be a lot less incentive to
get away from MS.

I'm often not entirely convinced that cheap computers are a good thing... we
have a lot more people using them; but the average technical inclination of
the users is declining exponentially, and the problem of marketing
triumphing over technology is exacerbated, not to mention the increased
legal attention brought to bear on the computing world (the DMCA, the
attempts to regulate Internet content, etc). 

I'm not entirely convinced that personal computers have made most people's
lives noticeably better. it's certainly made them able to do more work; but
does that actually result in a better quality of life? I don't believe so.
It may make things worse, by increasing the stress on people to do more with
their lives. It's allowed corporations to scale larger and span farther; but
has this done much more than make them able to swallow up smaller companies?
(which is not always a bad thing, but often is).
	some of us, of course, wouldn't be nearly as well-off without
computers. it's an outlet for geeks, and a way for us to socialize, away
from a society that often would rather not have us. for us, computers do a
world of good; but the computing world is no longer just 'our' playground. 

Carl Soderstrom.
-- 
Network Engineer
Real-Time Enterprises
(952) 943-8700