Comments on: The Myth of the Benign Monopoly http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/ Wed, 22 May 2013 02:49:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: MickyB http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242275 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:31:08 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242275 Why is it when Apple’s name is mentioned some people get so upset? There is good and bad about each company.
“But I cant get past the first paragraph: describing Apple as a monopoly in any sense of the word is a nonsense.”
When it comes to music yes, even with all the phones that can “play” Apple is a monopoly with iTunes.
And I think Sebastian is refering to the early days when the Apple II dominated computing.

]]> By: Zach http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242274 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:06:47 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242274 For a desktop, sure. However, unless I purchase from zareason or system 76. I’m stuck paying for windows whether I want it or not.

]]> By: mgriscom http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242273 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:44:37 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242273 @zach: buy components and build your own computer. You won’t have to buy any software if you don’t want to.

]]> By: zach http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242272 Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:09:49 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242272 the difference between google and microsoft/apple is that google is an opt-in system. no one is shoving google services down your throat and no one is paying to preinstall it. almost every oem has to pay the microsoft tax which the oem passes on to me at purchase, whether i use the software or not.
so sometimes i dont even have the choice to opt-out of the microsoft tax. if you dont believe me, try to call an oem and ask for a refund because you never agreed to the eula and are a linux user and see how far you get.

]]> By: mgriscom http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242271 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:49:45 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242271 Well hey, I had an epiphany:
probably the reason people like to think of Microsoft is a monopoly (other than the obvious: it’s just fun to have a villain, and Microsoft is a great big successful target, and there are many people in small businesses out there who stand to gain if Microsoft fails) is this: there are some free alternatives out there, but yet Microsoft still has huge market share, therefore Microsoft must be strong-arming them, and they’re probably sending disloyal customers over the pier in concrete galoshes while they’re at it. That’s just silly.
I use open-source software daily for a bunch of applications, and generally, the quality just sucks. I waste so much time working around the flaws, restarting the applications, etc. that it would save the company money if they just sprang for licenses for some quality tools.

]]> By: mgriscom http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242270 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:08:48 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242270 @Paul: no, it’s not at all esoteric of a definition.

Look it up: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monopoly

Can anyone here argue that Microsoft is or was a monopoly, without also implying that Apple is also a monopoly? Or, Google?

Microsoft has dominant market share because of general product excellence. No, they’re not perfect, but they’re always improving, and they serve their customers very well. Apple will never be successful in business unless they can deliver without all the secretiveness and control (e.g. of the very expensive hardware).

]]> By: Paul http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242269 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:30:41 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242269 What would it take for Microsoft to count as a monopoly? Since Microsoft owns market shares starting with 9′s for both PC OS and office applications, yours must be a pretty esoteric definition.

]]> By: Paul http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242268 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:10:57 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242268 Great comment.

]]> By: Paul http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242267 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:08:39 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242267 If you count only dedicated mobile music device, yes, but not if you include all the music-capable mobile phones that are now displacing dedicated devices.

]]> By: MGriscom http://gigaom.com/2010/02/26/the-myth-of-the-benign-monopoly/#comment-242266 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:31:32 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=102139#comment-242266 “Monopoly” never applied to Microsoft, and it doesn’t apply to Google today. Consumers have choices, they’re not getting gouged, and the products keep getting better, with a few exceptions:
*Apple’s hardware is ridiculously expensive, and their security has some catching up to do. (Please: don’t make the mistake of confusing obscurity with security.)
*Google’s search and maps are being overtaken by Bing. Try it! Bing 3D maps are much better than Google Earth for some uses e.g. aerial views from various perspectives, and it’s integrated right into IE or Firefox with Silverlight.

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