Locals agree Microsoft breakup will affect everyone

The breakup of Microsoft ordered by a federal judge Wednesday may bring higher costs in the computer industry, some local experts said Wednesday.

But their views about whether the breakup itself is desirable differ sharply.

Ric Worstell, who sells Windows-based computers, questioned whether anyone can truly compete with Microsoft. Andy Bang, a consultant who favors Apple's Macintosh systems, applauded the judge's decision and predicted technology buyers will be able to make decisions that will benefit from a Microsoft breakup.

And Certified Public Accountant Kress Cave said people may not realize how much businesses and individuals have benefited from having a standardized operating system on most computers.

"The government is supposedly doing this to increase competitiveness and to cut down costs," Worstell, co-owner of PC Discounters, said. "But Microsoft's development costs for Windows were partly covered by the income from the other software products it sold.

"For instance, if I can sell several brands of cars, I can make a good living. If all I can sell is Cadillacs, the only way to make more money is either to sell a lot more cars or raise the prices.

"Microsoft will still have the same overhead to develop and support Windows, so this is likely to drive up costs."

Worstell said other operating systems, like Linux, Unix or Mac OS, are probably five years away from competing with Windows for marketplace acceptance.

Bang, director of Computer Base's consulting division, also turned to an automobile sales metaphor to explain what he expects to happen on the computer marketplace.

"If everyone in the marketplace chooses Microsoft, then the consumers are at fault for the lack of competition and innovation," Bang said. "If everyone bought blue Geo Metros, then there would be no reason to improve the car and sell a better product.

"I'm tickled to death about the breakup of the Microsoft hegemony. The company has been stifling creativity because people have been afraid of coming up with new ideas - Microsoft would just throw money at it and take it away."

Though Computer Base sells Windows as well as Apple machines, Bangs is an avowed Mac booster.

"I prefer a marketplace where innovators succeed more than do imitators," Bang said.

He pointed out that Microsoft founder Bill Gates originally developed the popular Word and Excel programs on Apple machines while working on an operating system that mimics many of the Mac OS' interface elements.

"I would hope that companies and individuals will take the opportunity provided by the decision to evaluate the alternatives available, to evaluate whether another system actually offers advantages for what they do with their computers," Bang said. He said a recent independent survey showed Mac users are more productive, use their machines longer and are more satisfied with them than are Windows users.

Cave, who has purchased several generations of computers and software over years of accounting, said the consistency provided by Windows' dominance of the marketplace paid off for employers, employees and eventually consumers.

"Microsoft did something different, lowering the price and making Windows more affordable and so more universal. Employees who learned Windows had a skill that they could take with them to the next job, employers were assured an employee with computer experience knew the system and consumers benefited from lower costs in the end," Cave said.

"We all benefited from Microsoft's decision to mass market their product and make it affordable to everyone. It didn't matter as much whether it was the best as that the standardization saved businesses thousands of dollars in learning expenses."

Cave said having other operating systems like Mac OS or Linux available may be important for national security reasons because their lesser numbers make them less likely targets for creators of computer viruses.

Bang looked back to the development of the telephone system to put perspective on the current computer industry.

"The telephone was invented in 1876 and at the turn of the century Mark Twain was writing diatribes about the confoundedness of the telephone system," Bang said.

"The personal computer is finally emerging from its infancy. It's in its unruly teenage years and it all will be better in the future, as long as there's marketplace competition to encourage it."