[1716] in Humor
HUMOR: The Browser Wars
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Andrew Bennett)
Thu Nov 21 17:56:43 1996
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 1996 12:56:47 -0500
To: humor@MIT.EDU
From: abennett@MIT.EDU (Andrew Bennett)
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 23:05:52 -0800
From: connie@interserve.com (Connie Kleinjans)
From: "Karen Kienitz (415)725-5817" <KIENITZ_K@HOSP.STANFORD.EDU>
From: Patricua Erickson <pce@cfcl.com>
Subject: Browser wars
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP, Sept. 2, 2002) - Senate Majority Leader Ray Noorda
(P-Utah) today demanded that the Department of Justice order Microsoft and
Netscape to cease development of new Internet browsers, saying the
ever-escalating battle for Internet dominance had sapped the American
economy of its vitality.
In an impassioned speech before the Perotista-controlled Senate, Noorda,
once a key figure in the information technology industry, claimed American
workers and shoppers are so consumed with downloading new browser versions,
Netscape plug-ins and Microsoft ActiveX Controls that they no longer have
time to produce anything of value or to consume products. "We have been
transformed from a nation of thinkers and doers to a nation of downloaders
worried about whether we are keeping up with the technological Joneses,"
Noorda said.
Noorda's comments came only a day after Netscape released Version 407 of its
Navigator browser, which includes the ability to listen to AM radio from any
laptop. Version 407 had just completed its 37-hour beta trial, while
versions 408-441 are in development. Microsoft, which has been criticized
of late for slipping behind Netscape in the browser race, vowed to deliver
Version 405 of its Internet Explorer "before the next major religious
holiday," though company spokesman Jim Manzi declined to specify which
religion the company was referring to. Mark Gibbs, author of IDG Books'
bestselling "Deleting Old Browsers for Dummies", said the continuing
instability in the Internet market has virtually halted development of new
applications. "How can you build to a platform that only lasts 51 days?"
asked Gibbs. "The only apps being developed now are crossword puzzles and
3-D, rotatable crossword applets."
According to research firm International Data Corp., the average PC user now
has 62 browsers installed. That has significantly limited the usefulness of
the desktop machine because each "browser/operating system/object bucket/API
repository" consumes a minimum of 1G bytes of storage and requires 256M
bytes of RAM to operate (somewhat less if the touchscreen option is
disabled). Intel Corp. recommends the use of at least a 757-MHz Decadium
processor to support current browsers. "There is no capacity left to run
any other application," said IDC Chief Executive Officer Bob Frankenberg.
"Our PCs, in essence, are simply containers for browsers."
In the late 1990's, it was hoped that the browser model of accessing
information would actually allow for the development of simpler, less
expensive desktop devices that would rely on applications and data housed on
Internet servers. But the dream of the so-called Internet device died with
the release of Internet Explorer Version 231, which cracked the 800M byte
storage requirement and supported some 250,000 ActiveX Controls.
"It's a shame, really," said former Oracle CEO Lawrence Ellison, who was a
vocal proponent of the Internet device idea at the time. "We could have
been freed from the Web of Microsoft control, no pun intended. But Bill
outmanuevered us again," added "Big Larry" Ellison, who now runs the Used
Cars 'R' Us operation on the Auto Mile in Redwood City, Calif.
In response to Noorda's call for federal intervention, the Justice
Department issued an electronic press release available on its Web site
www.bookem.gov.
"We firmly believe the free market is the best arbiter of whether
development should continue on Web browsers and servers." (This statement
best viewed with Internet Explorer Version 396.)
=======================================================================
Andrew Bennett MIT Department Ocean Engineering
MIT Room 5-424 77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139 <Standard Disclaimers Apply> Phone: (617) 253-7950
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