Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2005 10:48:42 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Darwin...was, Re: Better than politics!

> kfl at KeithLynch.net 6/9/2005 9:43:21 PM >>>

snippage

>I like Charlie Stross's theory that Windows is a plot to save mankind
>from emergent AI by retarding progress and by causing the best
>minds
>to be repelled by computers and work in some other field.  It makes
>more sense than any other theory for how anything so awful ever
>caught on.

Darwin.

Microsoft was far better at marketing themselves than any competitor.

My immediate thought is that Microsoft was very very clever in having
their software bundled with IBM machines, and with the open architecture
of the IBM-PC, DOS, then Windows. became the default "standard", mainly
with those folks who wanted to, so to speak, putthe key in the ignition
and drive away. (None of this manual transmission stuff...)

My 2 cents worth.

mjw