radical revamping of techpubs

[Ron Miller]

In my view, the only reason Windows has dominated personal computing  
is because Microsoft bullied hardware company into selling its  
products. It told computer manufacturers throughout the 90s when it  
built its domination to either use only Windows or to have to pay  
more for each copy if they didn't. With small margins on PCs,  
hardware companies were forced to comply until a lawsuit put a stop  
to this practice.  By that time, however, Windows had built a huge  
installed base, making it very difficult to move an entrenched player  
(even when the player became entrenched through less than honest means).

Therefore Microsoft's dominance had little to do with having a better  
image or even better marketing, it had to do with a business plan to  
bully the market into buying its products. It worked, but Windows  
dominance in the OS arena has little do with its quality and even  
less to do with its ease of use.

Ron


Ron Miller
Freelance Technology Writing Since 1988
Contributing Editor, EContent Magazine

email: ronsmiller at ronsmiller.com
blog: http://byronmiller.typepad.com
web: http://www.ronsmiller.com

Winner of the 2006 and 2007 Apex Award for Publication Excellence/ 
Feature Writing



On Oct 19, 2007, at 2:37 PM, Chris Borokowski wrote:

> Another way to say this might, the market is driven by perceived
> quality of product as a product. Microsoft Windows is not as stable as
> BSD, but it installs easily and lets the average user get up and
> running quickly while maintaining high backward compatibility. Is that
> higher quality, or lower quality? Not so clear. However, for the task
> at hand, defined by the purchasing audience, it is a more apt fit.
>
> I believe that the market is driven by image, including the marketing
> you mention, but part of that is a perception of quality as defined by
> the needs of the users.
>
> I'm sure that did nothing to simplify this debate. Feel free to flame
> me off-list for such blatant non-helpfulness.
>
> --- John Hedtke <john at hedtke.com> wrote:
>
>> You're making an assumption that the market is driven by quality.  It
>> is not, though that's certainly a factor.  The market is driven even
>> more by good marketing.
>
>
> http://technical-writing.dionysius.com/
> technical writing | consulting | development
>
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