Delete comment from: Google Public Policy Blog
W. Shedd:
I don't know what version of Firefox you are using, but I just watched a Netflix movie using Firefox 3.0.6 with no problems.
In a free country, it is up to Microsoft what software they bundle into the Operating System. Just as people can easily switch their default search engine, they can also easily get or use another browser. You act like people don't know how to type in a web address or install software.
People even have the choice to use other Operating Systems. Consumers get what they want by voting with their dollars, not by "heavy-handed" government tactics against business.
People do not have a "right" to have their whims fulfilled. If people buy "crap", then complain that they have "crap", then that is their problem.
Of course, Microsoft software is not crap, because if it were, people and business would have switched long ago. Instead, people and businesses have made billions use Microsoft as a technology platform, and they did it by voluntarily choosing Microsoft as their platform. Many people are very productive and effective using Microsoft software, myself included. (Although their direction after XP is causing me to consider changing, which would be my free choice)
Whether the issue is browsers, or prayer in school, the government should stay out of it.
The government has a monopoly on the initiation of force; restricted by the Constitution to be used solely for the preservation of individual rights. I would point you to the works of Ayn Rand for much more complete discussion of these issues.
And by the way, if web sites aren't platform neutral, that is the web sites' decisions. I personally think they are making a mistake and reducing their market share - but in a free country, nobody can force you to make good decisions. You have to learn to make them yourself.
Feb 28, 2009, 11:19:00 PM
Posted to Browsers powered by user choice