bitsifter
friday, november 28 
[rant]  In downtown Boston, the Italian section of town is a big rental sport for young single woman.  The reason being that there is little to no crime this part of town thanks to the Mafia.   A rumor goes like this, a young woman is running near her home in this part of town when it becomes obvious that she is being followed, redirecting her route home, she is terrified as her stalker follows her into the entrance to the apartment and up the stairs.  Upon locking her door, the stranger breaks it down and attacks her.  Not ten seconds later, an Italian gentleman rushes into her home and throws the attacker through the second story window and out onto the street, killing him.

The Mafia continues to exist in downtown Boston primarily because no one particular wants to get in their way.  They're a organization reeking of tradition which is known for working in devious ways.  The situation reminds me of a line from 'The Untouchables' when Sean Connery made the following statement regarding Al Capone's illegal alcohol franchise, "Everyone knows where the booze is, it's just no one wants to cross Al Capone."

When the United States Department of Justice sued Microsoft for breaching their consent decree, it suddenly became chic to rail on Microsoft.  Heck, even Texas is suing the software behemoth for it's anti-competitive practices.  Suddenly, everyone thinks Microsoft is the bad guy, and guess what, anyone paying attention to the industry knew that five years ago.

With every lawyer with a PC smelling class-action suit, it is entertaining to watch the Microsoft spinsters spew web page after web page of why they're being falsely accused.  Here are two of my favorite Microsoft spins and why I find them particularly humorous.

#1) The United States government is attempting to slow down releases of Microsoft's products

The spin here being that the DOJ is hurting consumers by slowing down releasing of Microsoft's products.  The real question is:  How could Microsoft's product releases possibly be slower?  We're talking about a company that decided to do away with conventional release numbers (1.0, 2,0, etc) in lieu of tying product releases to years (Windows 95, Windows 98).  Unfortunately, this requires Microsoft to schedule their products so that they might actually arrive within the period of a year, a task they've failed at so consistently that they resort to delaying the announcement of the actual name of the product to six months before release.

#2) Why should the United States government dictate innovation in software?

I agree with the idea, but fail to see how it applies to Microsoft.  Remember, the model Microsoft uses for innovation has always been 'wait-and-see'.  I challenge any reader of this column to come up with significant innovation that Microsoft has created in-house.  Spreadsheets?  No, that was Visicalc.   How about Windows?  Try Xerox.  Graphical Internet browser?  Mosaic.

It's an enviable tact for a company can take.  Microsoft waits and sees what technological paradigm shifts filter to the top and then integrate them into legacy products.  That strategy happens to be the crux of the DOJ's suit against Microsoft.   It has nothing to do with stymieing innovation, the DOJ is attempting to limit the manner with which Microsoft dominates all markets of software with it's 'wait-and-see' attitude.

You can't believe every story you hear about Microsoft's wrongdoing, but in the hi-tech world the stories are endless.  Whether you're a competitor or not, you've heard a story regarding Microsoft's practices that will force you to ask, "Why do they get away with that?"

[sift this]  With the upcoming Holiday season, folks are getting to their gift lists early this year.  Of course, they’ll still comprise a majority of the shoppers looking for the perfect (ok, maybe not so perfect) gift come December 24th.  Save yourself the trouble, send your favorite geek one of the following Bitsifter approved works:

The Soul of a New Machine – Tracy Kidder

This is the classic “how geeks work” non-fiction piece.  It is dated by the fact that the geek’s life and their interaction with the “company” (and the hardware) has drastically changed in the Silicon Valley World, but still an essential read.

Microserfs – Douglas Coupland

I read a preview of this work in Wired magazine and was instantly hooked.  While Coupland exaggerates the lifestyles, the people are ones you’re likely to meet wandering the halls of today’s software companies.  The book lacks a real ending, but the first ¾ are simply brilliant.

Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date -- Robert X. Cringley

Possibly the most important book written on the industry.  Very likely that a good portion of it is untrue, but, trust me, you won’t be able to put this down.

Startup : A Silicon Valley Adventure – Jerry Kaplan

Actually, this piece is really ‘Soul of the New Machine’ for the ‘90s.  The rise and fall of the GO Corporation as told by the CEO.  Follow the life-cycle of a great idea in the cut-throat hi-tech industry.