From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Fri Nov 15 2002 - 11:24:27 MST
Dickey, Michael F wrote:
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Alexander Sheppard [mailto:alexandersheppard@hotmail.com]
>" Do you think the fruits of Bill Gates labor is really all that $50
>billion?"
>
>Do you think that the fruits of his labor are not?
>
I have been in this business 22 years and have used almost all MS
technologies at one point or another. I can say quite knowledgeably
that there is no way he could have amassed that kind of a fortune off
the qualities of his or his company's products and services alone by
strictly legal means.
>If not, how much do you
>think they are worth? And how to you justify how much you think they are
>worth?
>
That is not the question. They question is whether illegal means were
used in the production of that pile of wealth. The verdict of the
courts is that illegal means were used.
>Is it just an arbitrary whim? If it is, why is it more valid than
>the arbitrary whim of the millions who use the fruits of his labor for their
>own productive gain? If 1 million people all think his product is worth 10
>dollars to them, then he now would have 10 million dollars. What if 10
>million people all think it is worth $100 dollars to them? Who are you to
>argue with them? They chose of their own free will to value his product at
>$10, or $100. Would you point a gun at their head and force them to
>de-value it?
>
>
If an illegal and artificial monopoly coerces X million people to buy a
product from M$ at inflated prices then it is pointless to talk as if
the people made a free decision. Again the courts found ample evidence
of such a monopoly.
>The only options here is a centralized group determining how much his
>products are worth, at the end of a gun no less, or each individual deciding
>of his own free will how much it is worth to them (by buying or not buying
>his product)
>
>
It is not at all that simple and it is boring hearing this false
dichotomy trotted out yet again.
- samantha
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