Today, we need to tone it down a bit. Let's let some of the helium out of our heads and really try to understand something, something simple, yet overlooked. I am going to give you one word to think about, and with that word, I would like you to recognize the fundamentals of American business and the technical means that drive economics and our organizations.
Solidarity.
Without it, you have chaos. Are you with me?
Microsoft: the developers of the Windows operating systems and controllers of the greater part of the world's technical infrastructure, highly criticized for lack of security, problematic system interfaces, poor design, blah, blah, blah. Bill Gates, founder and CEO of the most powerful company in the World, often looked at as the devil himself, conceptualizes a system on the same lines as a forefather of American historic growth Henry Ford who once said, "One Nation, One Car."
Apple: the bastard child of computer system integration, the Christopher Columbus of the computer operating system, "had" the ideas and skill set, but without proper execution, was left in the trade winds smelling dung. Seriously now, what do you really know about Amerigo Vespucci? The one person that we were all named after, and spell check gets stuck on the name every time. Do you get my point? If not, send me an e-mail and I will explain.
Linux: developed and designed by the black sheep, the Internet Underground, the modern day thieves guild hidden but understood by more then you can possibly imagine, (your 14 year old knows more than you do.) These are the technical revolutionaries, the underdogs, the Bad News Bears, the Martin Luther's of Catholicism. In an attempt to liberate the world of Adam Smith tactics, produced by the people for the people, the Linux knights in shinning armor offer the alternative. This discordance to the Microsoft-World saves us from monopolistic chaos by serving up the necessary competition to the Juggernaut that the sad sap Mac system failed to sustain.
Competition, as Adam Smith would agree, influences advancements in development, invention and discovery. Columbus, as we know was filled with this kind of heroic venture. But the road to discontent is always paved with good intentions. The Apple Corporation was cutting edge, on the cusp of greatness, yet in the network operating system game dropped the ball as they were going in for the score and Microsoft picked it up and never looked back.
We can go to Karl Marx and Friedrich List to produce a scientific theory of the whole economy, but we're talking here about the technological market alone, and without the Linux revolution, Microsoft would be the single and only ruler of the entire world hands down. And in retrospect, the Linux population, much more then the Mac pack, helps keep the school of Adam Smith alive in this day and age of technical excellence. Yet, indeed we are just scratching that surface.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
As opinions and criticisms over the past couple years have developed about these three enormously powerful systems, all three are necessary in order for our corporate world to function. We need the competition, we need the fight, and we need the invention brought about by fear!
The insecurities and faults of the Windows system are more or less brought about by attacks against the giant. These attacks are ruthless and really do not tell anything about a problematic system, but really more about the power of defense that the Microsoft Corporation can put up. A strong defense wins games.
So what is meant by all this?
As I said above, the word for the day is "Solidarity." Harmony in your business infrastructure will influence productivity and growth within your organization. We need this, which ever way you choose to perceive it, and Microsoft has offered the world a system. Not without fault, but far superior then all competition, it is in essence aimed at bringing together a cohesive technical environment, which the Apple Corporation so successfully failed to do with the Macintosh.
And again, that is not to say that they are without need. I think Gates himself would agree, we need strength in competition in order to produce. Microsoft, although, is a little too far out in front of the competition. We need the competition to catch up a bit in order to really create a race. Linux is doing just that, but they have a really big hill to climb.
The Beginning
Linux has an angle so awesome that it cannot possibly fail in the long run. It is called "Open Source." I am not saying that it will triumph over Microsoft any time soon, but it will grow. We can discuss that another time, but I just wanted to bring that up to show how they utilized an idea to create power and momentum, an idea that the Apple Corporation failed to discover.
As the gap between the powerhouse and the underdogs close, so too will the levels of differences, and Linux proposes a true threat and fear that is driving Microsoft to invest billions in research & development costs that we all will benefit from down the road.
Our solidarity within our own office environment needs this competition, needs the threats, and needs to be pushed in order to come together. Welcome it, embrace it, but understand, propaganda is everywhere.
