The Changing IT Landscape

[garyc2011]

For years I used Linux, and It *really* pi$$ed me of the way Microsoft strongarm tactics stopped OEM's selling bare or Linux based PC's.

As far as I Can see the IT landscape is rapidly changing, and competition is good.

I think its sad all these patent cases against Android , but I was surfing the net and came across this article

Sony Ericsson Still Open On Making Windows Phones | WMPoweruser

Can I say RAGE !!!!!!!!!!!!!! For years these sort of people thought it was OK for Microsoft to hand out free copies of windows to best buy workers in return they put people off linux......christ they have less than 2% market share and think they OWN the Mobile space.......so sad

Personally Im glad to see some innovation Injected into the IT world, partly due to Android, what do you all think ??

Gary

 

[Martimus]

I feel compelled to disagree with you.

Many of the big technology companies market their products in a manner similar to Micro$oft. This can be seen in numerous companies in the silicon valley such as Apple, Oracle, Cisco, Intel, and others.

Apple... stifled competition within their Macintosh space for years by closing the architecture. I remember that for a very short time there were start-up companies building MAC clones. Those companies didn't last very long...

Oracle... well what does one have to say after mentioning Larry Ellison. He's been buying up companies for years and actively trying to destroy Microsoft for as long as I can remember.

Cisco... (one of my favorite companies). When John Chambers has an idea for a new product line, he goes out and starts buying companies. Cisco no longer innovates like they did in the early years. They stifle their competition by buying best of breed products in the areas that they want to expand to. And when they do decide to develop their own products (e.g., CIUS), they typically miss the mark.

Linux... it's beginnings were that of shareware. I remember the first time I installed a copy of Slackware on a PC (back in the early 1990's). It was a lot like DOS though it's command structure was pure Unix. In more recent years it's expanded and developed it's own GUI. To date there are still not a lot of third party applications being written for Linux. And only in recent years have companies started marketing commercial versions of Linux.

About 12 years ago I was Network Manager on a US Army installation. Some of the civil servants wanted to start running Linux. My team pushed back because it was difficult to insure that products like Slackware were secure... after all Linux started it's life as an OS authored, in part by Linus Torvalds, and a number of other well known computer hackers.

Over the years, and numerous iterations of Windows, Microsoft did exactly what one would expect from a 700 pound gorilla... they made deals with manufacturers to get their product in the hands of prospective customers. IBM could have done similar with OS2 as could some of the Linux resellers. Intel, on a number of occasions, bought their way into numerous PC manufacturers. In the case of Micro$oft, they were also successful at doing this because they had deeper pockets then their competitors...

With respect to Sony Ericsson, one of the reasons that they are looking at WM7 is due to the recent Google purchase of Motorola Mobility. Many smartphone manufacturers were taken off guard by this purchase. After all it turned Google into both the Android OS provider and a direct competitor in the Smartphone space.