The Great Browser Wars

As the US Justice Department contemplates the future of Microsoft,
Why should You care and what difference has it made already?

Most people, especially those pampered from living in the U.S., don't really like change.
It upsets the routine of their lives. Until recently, most revolutionary technologies which have
permanently influenced human lifestyles have been simple, and were allowed to mature into
acceptance over a period of many years. Things like plumbing, electrical lighting, radio, and
television. Plumbing is thousands of years old, but it wasn't until the 1900's that most homes
in the U.S. were equipped with indoor plumbing. The television broadcasts that you watch have
remained essentially unchanged since the 1950's. Of course, certain features have been grafted
onto the basic NTSC format, like color and stereo sound, but the signals which are broadcast
today may be watched on a television receiver manufactured in the 1950's. Compatibility was a
primary criteria then, and nothing was permitted to be modified if it would compromise the ability
of existing receivers to function properly. The key to the acceptance of new technologies tends
to be standardization. No one wants a product that ceases to function 6 months after purchase.
( Hey, there's a whole new ball game on your Television. Read Opinions on HDTV )

The computer market, however, has defied traditional behavior in this regard. It is generally
accepted that you will replace your computer at regular intervals, simply to keep pace with
changes in the state of the art. At work, it's just the cost of doing business. For the average
Joe Homeboy, it means that his new computer is obsolete before his charge card is paid off.
These are the costs of being an early adopter of any new technology or business tool.

Reasons for War
$ Why else? $

The software technologies that set the standards today will result in millions in revenue to
those companies holding the licenses for code running in the next generation of information
appliances. Computers as such, are far too finicky for many people to use. Even people who
currently own systems have trouble making them function reliably, and still aren't quite certain
what to do with them. They have heard that computers are the future, and don't want to miss out
on jobs or opportunity. Soon, however, many homes will have centralized information appliances
which will control entertainment, personal messaging, and even things like heating and lighting.
Most likely designed as a fixture in your home, these devices will be easily utilized by everyone,
including the elderly and small children. As simple to use as a telephone and just as ubiquitous.

But what about now?

The phenomenal growth of the Internet, whether motivated by any substantive public need
or, most likely, ghastly amounts of sales hype, has spurred thousands of companies into,
and out of, existence. Technologies are in constant states of flux. But what a web it is! The
malformed offspring of a bitter war, and the gleam in Wall Street's eye. Like many things that
begin existence with honorable intentions, it has become influenced by the bile of greed. The
Browser Wars between Netscape and Microsoft are just about over - what with the recent
decision by the Justice Department and the purchase of Netscape by America Online - and
the primary casualties are consumers and the poor fools who have to design code that will
run on all of the computers in WebLand. Netscape's early dominance in the Web Browser
market mattered naught when confronted with Bill's typically obsessive desire to have total
control over the emerging technologies of the Web - be it the Internet or one of his creation.
With personal computers being the Next Big Trend in marketing devices, he dreamed of
Push Technologies on everyone's desktop. Pushing, of course, marketing hyperbola, much
the way TV does today. When his own Microsoft Network failed to draw any attention, he
became focused on dominating the Internet Technology market. While snubbing existing
JavaScript and JAVA standards, which resulted in legal battles with Sun Microsystems, Inc.
over licensing, Microsoft thumbed it's collective nose at everyone and developed their own
ActiveX and VBScript technologies. Pouring vast amounts of R & D moneys into Network
Appliances by Microsoft resulted in vastly differing implementations of heretofore standard
page markup languages, which lead to neither browsers advanced features being adopted by
page creators. All things considered, a poor showing for what was initially designed to be a
network for the exchange of intellectual information between leading engineers, educators,
and scientists. (Although most may have been employed by the U.S. Defense Department.)

Impatience or Domination?

Page last updated on February 27, 2000 - © Video Doctor