[ale] [Fwd:Hear, hear, Sen. Schumer]

Wed Jul 25 15:44:03 EDT 2001

Alan Hightower wrote:
> OK, I'm definately not a MS advocate, but for once I'd have to side with
> Bill on some of what the good Senator is arguing for:
> 
> "All customers, even those who specifically install the Kodak software
> applications, are presented with the Microsoft application, scanner and
> camera wizard, meaning additional steps are necessary for those consumers
> to access the Kodak software," Schumer said.
> 
> The only reason Kodak spent time developing this software in the first
> place was because the OS didn't provide it.  You can't tell me Kodak is a
> software company.  I think having wizards that give you a uniform
> interface to digital cameras, scanners and other A/V equipment is a good
> thing.  The only reason the Senator is upset is AOL & Kodak saw this as
> an excuse to take another shot at MS.  They pulled the Sentor's strings
> because they employ a large number of his constituents.  If I were Kodak,
> I'd gladly dump my investment in their dinky software - there is no
> doubt in my mind they are loosing money on it as it stands.

The problem is that Kodak was working with MS during the development of the
Kodak software, and suddenly the new Windows makes it very difficult to get
to the Kodak software, at the saem time that MS has their own image processing
software available.  It totally refutes the MS position that they can't abuse
their OS monopoly to gain a position in another market.  It's not an issue of
which software is better - if I choose to install Kodak, I should be able to 
run it without MS putting a wholly gratuitous barrier in my way.

-- 
Pete Hardie                   |   Goalie, DVSG Dart Team
Scientific Atlanta            |
Digital Video Services Group  |

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