In five pages this paper discusses concepts of monopoly and perfect competition in a consideration of whether or not Microsoft qualifies a monopoly from an economic standpoint. Six sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: CC6_KSmicroMonoEco.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
about Microsoft for years, grumbling all the while we purchase computers with Microsoft operating systems and Internet Explorer loaded on. Many have forgotten the early days of the PC
when a PC purchase only brought a blank machine without any way to run it included. Operating systems were extra purchases and there was little choice - users could
opt for Apple products with its proprietary system for which there were few business applications existing, or we could choose the PC format. There, it was a choice between
PC-DOS or the current incarnation of MS-DOS. In IBMs pre-humbled days and while that company was in the throes of arrogance toward customers and their needs, products were inferior
to nearly any alternative. MS-DOS was the only reasonable PC format choice available. Background
In the ensuring years, Microsoft has grown exponentially, and not only because it was able to provide the only reasonable choice in the early years. As the PC market
exploded and new technology was made available at the rate of less than a full year, committed users found it necessary to replace outmoded equipment long before it lost its
ability to perform. Hardware manufacturers dealt with intense competition and found it beneficial to include operating systems and some basic software on their products. Entering into agreements with
the leading operating system publisher was beneficial, but that publisher eventually turned to predatory practices to build a monopoly. While it is doubtful that Bill Gates set out 20
years ago to monopolize the fledgling software industry, that is the reality - in practice - that has developed. Price Takers and