Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Microsoft's Hidden APIs
Author: Wesley Felter Posted: 12/2/1998; 7:23:10 PM Topic: What would peace look like? Msg #: 709 (In response to 706) Prev/Next: 708 / 710
Your hypothetical situation is no different from game consoles like the Playstation, Nintendo 64, and the (Windows CE-powered) Dreamcast. To become a developer, first you mush spent $5,000 on the development system. Once you have written your game, it can only be released if it authorized by the platform owner. If the platform owner decides to authorize your game, it usually has the exclusive right to manufacture it, taking whatever cut it wants from your profits.Alternatively, imagine WebTV (which is a totally closed system) with word processing and other productivity applications. $200. There would be no software from other developers. Would anyone buy it?
Closed systems are nothing new, but I've never seen a closed system that attempted to provide the same thing that PCs attempt to provide. Presumably that's because no one company had the resources to develop a complete desktop software suite (which would be required for such a system). Enter Microsoft.
A closed PC would solve many problems. It would be cheap because it could use a MIPS or ARM CPU (which can be bought from multiple, competing companies). It would have no software compatibility problems (hopefully). It would have no hardware compatibility problems because it would not be upgradeable. Maybe you wouldn't even buy it but instead rent it month-by-month. Would people accept this?
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