Question: How much venture capital has dried up for tech entrepreuneurs because Microsoft will likely squash anyone who dares compete with them?

Microsoft tends to claim that they are driving the economy. I contend that their monopoly abuses have helped to drive the economy lower while stifling innovation in the software industry. IMO, if Microsoft is allowed to release XP with all the commingled apps then innovation, venture capital and the economy will all suffer even more than they have already.

... it it makes it look like I plaguerized him.
(in actuality I just ran across it 5 minutes again so I can blame it on the 100th monkey phenomenon.)
[link|http://www.osopinion.com/perl/story/12097.html|
Ayn Rand Comes Full Circle - at Microsoft]
Contributed by Tom Nadeau
osOpinion.com
July 19, 2001

When Microsoft executives dictate that a rival product must die, they rig their operating system code to disable the rival product's access to vital operating system functions.

The socioeconomic theory that Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) claims to espouse is similar to Ayn Rand's implementation of "Objectivism" -- the idea that individual thought and creativity ought to be rewarded and unrestricted.

However, Microsoft has brought this theory full circle. What was once considered noble and heroic has become oppressive and contemptible, even corrupt.
....
This is what Microsoft realizes. Its greatest fear is not government regulation or breakup, but rather the "danger" that the superior technologies like Unix, Linux, OS/2 Warp, BeOS and Novell will someday obliterate Microsoft's pitiful, botched products from the marketplace.

So the slick characters at the company's top decided to play the victim's role, pretending that the government was "out to get them." In reality, the illegal monopolists were out to prevent progress and innovation from "getting them."

Bitter Truth

The harsh, cold reality? Microsoft's illegal monopoly has ruined more great products, impoverished more genius innovators, and sponsored more smear campaigns than all the governments since the beginning of time.

And the governments cannot realistically be counted on to properly punish the convicted felons (the Sherman Antitrust Act calls convicted monopolists felons) at Microsoft, because Microsoft products have become a huge cancerous growth in the infrastructure of government agencies.
....
Preventing superior alternatives from accessing capital, distribution, and media attention is not only practiced by oppressive governments, but by oppressive totalitarian commercial regimes as well.

... and that it is oil prices that have put the economy and stock market in the dumps?

Maybe drilling the artic will solve all our problems, eh?

Who needs software anyway. It's oil that runs companies.

Or was technology and the internet more of a determining factor?

If you recall, I never suggested that oil didn't have an influence on the downturn. I merely suggested that a certain abusive monopolist may have caused venture capital to dry up for start-ups, etc because Microsoft was onced again a threat to dominate all competitors. For example, they choked off Netscape's air supply while their .net vaporware started causing people to think that Microsoft would rule the internet the way they dominate the OS market, the suites market, the browser market, etc....
Plus everyone figured Microsoft would win on appeal with a Republican in the white house.

Venture Capital may not return to the high tech sector in full force until Microsoft is put on a short leash.

In summary, software is just a part of the new economy but to discount it's effect is silly, if you asked me.

(or were you merely stating that you think I am naive?)
I been called worse so I guess I ought not to take offense, eh?

"duh, energy prices climb 40% and someone claims software to blame.
drilll the fscking arctic so I can go home!"