A Letter to Ralph Vader

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Leave Microsoft Alone
Wednesday 25 Feb 1998

Dear Senator Feinstein,

I am a software developer with a San Diego software company; however, the following views are my own and do not necessarily represent the company's.

I believe that the persecution of Microsoft by the DOJ is a disgrace. All companies -- including Microsoft -- have a moral right to negotiate deals with customers, without competitors or the government having veto power over those deals. If they want to bundle Internet Explorer with Windows and Jim Barksdale objects, the proper reply is, "Mind your own business." The DOJ claims that its antitrust action is "pro-consumer," but it is Microsoft's competitors, not their customers, who are complaining.

Re: the issue of Microsoft's "monopoly": As far as I'm concerned, they don't have enough of a monopoly. As software developers, every additional operating system we need to support is a huge expense. We are in the process of moving our development efforts from multiple Unix platforms onto Windows. Knowing that we can target a single platform and hit over 80% of the market yields a great cost savings for us.

Our customers also have faced large overheads from the diverse operating systems they had to support. The dominance of Windows does not reflect a lack of competition in the software industry. Rather, it reflects the rational assessment of the marketplace that a single standard is much less costly for everyone than multiple, incompatible operating systems. In fact, the software industry (and computer industry as a whole) is brutally competitive; every single product sold today will be obsolete in three years. If a company doesn't make its own products obsolete by continuing to innovate, then some other company will. As IBM learned in the 80's, no one -- including Microsoft -- is immune from this fact.

Bill Gates is an American hero who we should thank for the fact that PCs are now accessible to virtually everyone in this country. One reason he has been able to achieve this is that the computer industry is arguably the freest, least-regulated industry in America. If Congress or the DOJ changes this, we will all be worse off.

Sincerely,
Dana Honeycutt

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.	.	Leave Microsoft Alone Wednesday 25 Feb 1998 Dear Senator Feinstein, I am a software developer with a San Diego software company; however, the following views are my own and do not necessarily represent the company's. I believe that the persecution of Microsoft by the DOJ is a disgrace. All companies -- including Microsoft -- have a moral right to negotiate deals with customers, without competitors or the government having veto power over those deals. If they want to bundle Internet Explorer with Windows and Jim Barksdale objects, the proper reply is, "Mind your own business." The DOJ claims that its antitrust action is "pro-consumer," but it is Microsoft's competitors, not their customers, who are complaining. Re: the issue of Microsoft's "monopoly": As far as I'm concerned, they don't have enough of a monopoly. As software developers, every additional operating system we need to support is a huge expense. We are in the process of moving our development efforts from multiple Unix platforms onto Windows. Knowing that we can target a single platform and hit over 80% of the market yields a great cost savings for us. Our customers also have faced large overheads from the diverse operating systems they had to support. The dominance of Windows does not reflect a lack of competition in the software industry. Rather, it reflects the rational assessment of the marketplace that a single standard is much less costly for everyone than multiple, incompatible operating systems. In fact, the software industry (and computer industry as a whole) is brutally competitive; every single product sold today will be obsolete in three years. If a company doesn't make its own products obsolete by continuing to innovate, then some other company will. As IBM learned in the 80's, no one -- including Microsoft -- is immune from this fact. Bill Gates is an American hero who we should thank for the fact that PCs are now accessible to virtually everyone in this country. One reason he has been able to achieve this is that the computer industry is arguably the freest, least-regulated industry in America. If Congress or the DOJ changes this, we will all be worse off. Sincerely, Dana Honeycutt .
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