Charlie Rose

aebraun  01/11/2009 08:54 PM Report

I was so surprised by Bill Gate's comment regarding Google and search, “…they are dominant no matter how you define that word. And somebody could say, 'No, just turn it [the market for search] over to them. Let them be the only ones. They can slow down innovation. They can raise the prices…'

What's so surprising is that he could be so lucid about the potential impact of a Google monopoly, while allowing Microsoft to have that exact impact on the world.

Imagine if Microsoft supported open standards for documents, spreadsheets, etc. so others could compete. The variety of programs that would be available to produce these would be enormous.

My personal opinion is that Microsoft applications are easy to learn and hard to use. They are mouse-centric. What a relief it would be to me if there were a competitor focused on the niche market for those who type well, and hate wasting time taking their hands off the keyboard to their hand on the mouse, move the pointer and click.

I suppose the shame is on us for allowing Microsoft to slow down innovation and raise prices. If only we could break Microsoft up. There's a real possibility that it would increase their shareholders' wealth.