browser Wars Reflection

The Browser Wars Documentary was very compelling to me. Overall, the story hit on a lot of different topics one that I was really intrigued by specifically the story about Microsoft and their covert business tactics to destroy Netscape. This aspect of the story really highlighted the dangers of monopolies in America. Microsoft for years was the largest technology company in the world. They could always buy out their opponents or use their leverage to force them out of an industry. But, the internet changed that. You did not need to buy a Microsoft computer in order to use the internet thanks to Netscape, and Microsoft could not have that. So they tried to force them into a deal and when that didn’t work they destroyed Netscape by using the size of their company in ways that Netscape as a startup never could. Even though they had to correct their mistake, at the end it was too late and Netscape had already been destroyed. This is the story of most industries in America, from car manufacturers to movie studios every industry has a monopoly and they can bend rules that small businesses simply can not. This documentary also spelled out exactly how bad this is for consumers, how Microsoft got lazy and for years the world had no idea how much better their internet experience could be if Microsoft still had competition to beat out. A lot of that can be seen in the state of technology now. Apple has such a massive monopoly on the American Smart phone industry that they have not had to improve in years. We as consumers are suffering from that as a result. I also found it interesting how Steve Ballmer kept showing up in the video as a Microsoft co founder when they were discussing Microsoft breaking SEC rules when he has recently been accused of breaking NBA salary cap rules in the last couple weeks.