Spring Break
Getting played
Microsoft must not be forced to dumb down product
By: Mike Walters
Issue date: 12/1/03 Section: Opinion
In this case, Microsoft's rights are being violated.
RealPlayer and Apple display obvious disregard for legal rights in the proposed "solution" to their problem: They want Microsoft to create a new program, a version of Windows without Media Player. What authority can they claim in forcing another company to send programmers and testers to work on a program when they don't have to? RealPlayer and Apple claim no such right, only their desire to be on an "equal playing field."
This "playing field" is an illusion that inferior companies try to create for themselves.
RealPlayer, Quicktime and Media Player are not equal, despite any litigation or coercion the companies may try to exercise. All these programs have individual differences, which are up to the customer to evaluate. The choice between generic cola and Coke is one of preference, in which the customer weighs cost over taste to decide which is the best choice. The principle for buying soda and computer programs is identical - it is the choice of a free consumer.
Microsoft refuses to produce a product that is inferior to the version of Windows it has worked hard to produce, and no one has the right to force the company to sacrifice its integrity because of other lazy corporations who find it easier to shackle their superior competitor rather than work harder to make a better product. Their case is a mockery regarding the principles of justice and capitalism - exchanging the best of the customer's productive effort for the seller's best product.
Should Microsoft lose this case, the economic impact of fines and extra work would undoubtedly return upon the American consumer in the form of higher prices, but the moral loss would be far worse. The legal system must never be used as a tool for irresponsible companies to pervert justice for their own ends. Competition must get out of the courthouses and back on the shelves.
RealPlayer and Apple display obvious disregard for legal rights in the proposed "solution" to their problem: They want Microsoft to create a new program, a version of Windows without Media Player. What authority can they claim in forcing another company to send programmers and testers to work on a program when they don't have to? RealPlayer and Apple claim no such right, only their desire to be on an "equal playing field."
This "playing field" is an illusion that inferior companies try to create for themselves.
RealPlayer, Quicktime and Media Player are not equal, despite any litigation or coercion the companies may try to exercise. All these programs have individual differences, which are up to the customer to evaluate. The choice between generic cola and Coke is one of preference, in which the customer weighs cost over taste to decide which is the best choice. The principle for buying soda and computer programs is identical - it is the choice of a free consumer.
Microsoft refuses to produce a product that is inferior to the version of Windows it has worked hard to produce, and no one has the right to force the company to sacrifice its integrity because of other lazy corporations who find it easier to shackle their superior competitor rather than work harder to make a better product. Their case is a mockery regarding the principles of justice and capitalism - exchanging the best of the customer's productive effort for the seller's best product.
Should Microsoft lose this case, the economic impact of fines and extra work would undoubtedly return upon the American consumer in the form of higher prices, but the moral loss would be far worse. The legal system must never be used as a tool for irresponsible companies to pervert justice for their own ends. Competition must get out of the courthouses and back on the shelves.
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