The Economics of Microsoft

Once windows became prevalent, Microsoft office bundled (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) were successfully integrated into Windows. The bundling of Office increased market share, profits, and limited competition. The end result was Microsoft Office bundle were priced much lower than the competition base on functionality and features. This in fact was the guiding principle of economics of information.

Back in the 1990s Internet was just getting popular. AOL Dali up was the popular choice and most people used Netscape as their browser. Bill Gates and Microsoft sensed the Internet was ready to explode, so they developed Internet Explorer in the mid-1990s. Of course, Internet Explore was bundled into Windows for free, which eventually killed Netscape. Since Microsoft was quickly becoming a monopoly, antitrust trails followed. At one point, the antitrust court tried to break up Microsoft, but was unsuccessfully due to Judaical mistakes and a somewhat flimsy case.

One of the key things Bill Gates did at Microsoft was attract and surround Microsoft with best people in the industry. Many of the most innovative software design and development people came to Microsoft due to Bill Gates. To stay successful, Microsoft must evolve again in the web 2.0 environment.

Bill Gates Boy Wonder

Bill Gates Boy Wonder

Back in the early day of Windows 1.0 produces in 1983 through Windows 3.0 which debuted in the 1990. Throughout these years, Microsoft surpassed Lotus as the Largest software company. Gates plan was always to wait for the market to develop and then move in once he fully understood the market.

Gates and Microsoft over took pioneers such as Lotus Notes 123, Netscape web browser, and countless others. Many of the business practices seemed to be designed to push out competition and dominate markets that resulted in some antitrust cases. One of the early crucial moves Gates made was, developing a relationship with IBM(D.O.S.) This relationship eventually allowed Windows to over take IBM as the leading developer of PC software.

Barack Obama's Harvard years influence

Barack Obama Harvard years

Barack graduated from Harvard law school J.D. magma cum laude in 1991. He was the first black student elected as president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review.

Barack made his distinction at Harvard law school via a well known path to academic excellence. Barack broke down many barriers that existed for minorities. He supported and helped his classmates and the Coalition of Civil Rights to get Harvard to hire more women and minority professors.

When Barack decided to run for president, most people did not give him a chance. Many minorities did not believe that "white people" would support a black candidate. Once it was clear that Barrack could relate and appeal to all people, then people began to believe he could win.

Many Harvard educated people are helping reshape Health Care, turn the economy around, and save the environment with green initiatives. I will be reviewing who these people are and how we can help turn things around.

Computing Domaince at an end for Microsoft and Bill Gate

Bill Gates and the computing revolution

Bill Gates built a computer empire that crushed rivals and dominated the desk top software market for the last two decades. Gates brilliance revolved around great technical knowledge, strategic business development, and a personality that was a great driving force.

Gates no longer runs the day to day operations, but Microsoft has approximately 84,00o0 employees and 68 billion in annual revenue. Gates now spends his time running the Gates foundation. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx

The magical combination Gates used was technological brilliance along with uncanny business sense. Gates was able to build upon technical and business knowledge at the MIT Sloan school of management. Gates used his technical knowledge to build and design PC operating system software that allowed for a relatively inexpensive PC's that every one could afford. The windows operating system is installed on 1 billion PC's or has a user base of 1 billion users.

With these vast resources and now that Bill Gates is retired, can Microsoft maintain it's dominance and fend of Google? I will look at Bill Gates' legacy at Microsoft and the computer industry in general.

Harvard's Black eye

A young man named Justin Cosby was murdered on the haloed ground of Harvard yard. The death of an alleged drug dealer on campus has stunned many. In the fall out, a young black woman's future comes crashing down as she is expelled due to her link to the killing.





Chanequa Campbell 21 claims she is being targeted because she is black and poor "The Boston Globe". She won a scholarship from NY Times and Coca-Cola an was due to graduate during the spring or a week after the murder. She has since been kicked off campus.





According to the investigation, the murder was a result of a botched robbery.The alleged drug dealer was shot for marijuana and $1000 in cash according to police. Chanequa was friends with the alleged murders girl friend who is a student a Harvard.



Supposedly, the issue revolves around a security pass that was given to the killer. According to sources, the murder took place in a different dorm then were Chanequa lived.



According to police investigation, this robbery was planned but resulted in murder. To the causal observer, this young woman future has crashed due to her association with the thug element. So the question becomes, if this woman has not been convicted of a crime; is it fair to punish a student based on association?



Many people come from varied back grounds and have friends or associations that have made mistakes. As a society, do we expect people to change over night. If you are from a poor neighborhood, should you have to give up all your friends because of a possible criminal element. Many people and institutions (Harvard included) make decision based on good or bad publicity, not always bases on the facts. It is very disappointing that some ones fuure and goals can come tumbling down and collapse due to some dumb decision or mistake.

Harvard has done tremendously good job at helping and promoting minority who have acheived great things in the U.S.A and through out the world. Barack Obama being the latest and current president!

Cyber Security

As the U.S. department of Defense reviews it security initiative and policies, what can we do to improve our personal security?



The first step to improving your personal security is to have good anti-virus and spy ware. Viruses and spy ware are usually installed on computers that have security holes or vulnerabilities. It is very important to keep your software (Microsoft Windows, Office, Adobe, Apple) up to date with latest security patches.



Many computer systems are infected by getting tricked into visiting malicious web sites that install viruses and spy ware to gain control of your PC. The hackers launch attacks, steal information, once access is gained.



A properly configure firewall can prevent infections and keep you safe. To improve your security, you should run a virus and spy ware scan at least monthly.



If you need assistance removing viruses or spy ware, please feel free to contact me directly. Here is to safe surfing and computing.

Economic Stimulus and security

The economic stimulus plan should help us improve infrastructure (roads, Bridges), save energy by going green, expand high speed Internet, and improve computer security. For many of our unemployed workers, competition for jobs is very steep. You have to have specific skills or go back to college or technical school.



The government and the prior sector has acknowledged the need for more technically trained worker force especially in the science, math, and engineering fields. We must lead in the creation on the next wave of technology innovation especially related to green energy and computer security.



A computer security expert like myself, is very interested in getting more talented people interested in computer science. There is such a demand for highly trained and skilled individuals in the science fields (computer science, green energy, health care, mechanical engineering related to road design).



For the US economy and it workers to prosper, we must lead once again in all facets.