So the question is can a corporation prosper whilst screwing its employees and/or customers.

Case #1: Buying a PC. Microsoft made the savvy move of convincing the OEM PC manufacturers to pay Microsoft for a license for each CPU shipped regardless of whether a Windows OS was installed on the system. Was anyone getting screwed?

  • OEM computer manufacturers - well, they must have decided that it was worth their while to pay MS the money for the licenses. Did they like the arrangement? Probably not? They did agree to the deal, though, and ended up making money because of/inspite of it.
  • The computer buying costumer - let's be honest; the majority of people buying PCs from Dell, Compaq, or Gateway don't know RAM from disk space. They're just happy to get a magic box that they can unpack, plug in, and download porn with.
  • Microsoft employees and stockholders - there's not really any scenario where you could see MS emloyees or stockholders ended up badly because of arrangements such as this.

As a computer buying customer who does know the difference between RAM and disk space, I felt rather put upon a few years back when Windows was shit. Of course, my rage was mostly for show, since I built my own machine and was unlikely to purchase a Dell anyway. But if I had wanted to get OS/2 or BeOS on a machine from the OEM...well, I couldn't have gotten a machine with OS/2 or BeOS on it at the time. A year or so after I built my machine one company (it was Indelible Blue) started selling complete machines based on AMD processors with either no OS or OS/2 installed. That only lasted as long as the mini-boom precipitated by the release of Warp 4 before there wasn't enough money to be made in it anymore.

Are customers better off overall by having the landscape dominated by OEM manufacturers charging the customer for Windows whether they want it or not? I'd say no. Broad and varied consumer choice is better for the consumer than no choice or very limited choice. Is the consumer being screwed by this? It's still hard for me to say they definitely are. All these consumers are willingly parting with their dollars and most are happy enough with what they get for it.

So, I'm still left with the question of whether sub-optimal consumer experience = scewing. I'd probably have to say no, if pressed, but I still don't like it.