Buggy whips for India
Like the automotive age, the open-source age is inevitable, but Microsoft won’t give up easily
OCCASIONALLY, I hear people say about open source, “Hey, it’s just software.” But from a market perspective, open source is far more than software — it is the force that is recreating the software market.
The combination of an operating system, e-mail client, Web browser, and office software has proven to be powerful in the current market. So powerful, in fact, that the combination has led many to believe that Microsoft has a lock on the business desktop market. Even the court found Microsoft to have a monopoly in this area.
But that was the old software market. In the new software market, these pieces don’t enable a monopoly, but a choice. Using open standards and open source, these components can be mixed and matched, giving the user or IT department maximum flexibility and control at minimum cost. That’s a far cry from giving the software provider maximum power.
In the United States, the old software market has the advantage of being entrenched in business management. But that is not the case in other nations.
Take, for example, India, which has been a hotbed of growth in the computer industry for the past decade. It is no secret that many American companies staff project teams with highly talented but economically priced Indian consultants. The growth of the programming industry is yielding positive effects on India’s economy.
I remember reading in reports not long ago that Indian computer students were rapidly learning Windows to become competitive in the market. But recently, I have been reading about open source’s massive growth in India. It seems that many in the Indian computer industry, educational system, and government now believe that the new software market model can benefit their nation far more than the old model.
Lo and behold, the beneficiaries of the old market are not going away quietly. Recently, Microsoft announced a $400 million investment in India’s computer education system. Coincidentally, I’m sure, Bill Gates himself is donating $100 million to fight the spread of AIDS in India.
So, when the old market loses to the new market’s value proposition, purveyors of the old market will try to perpetuate it with money. In this case, lots of money. The ink isn’t even dry on the government’s settlement with Microsoft, and already the company is attempting to “invest” its way into a growing country.
Will it succeed? Well, would the arrival of the automobile have been averted if some rich buggy whip manufacturer taught classes in whipping technique? Even organized lessons in yelling “Get a horse!” could not have stopped the arrival of the automotive age. It might have delayed things a bit, but it would not have stopped the auto.
No, spreading around lots of cash won’t prevent the inevitable. The realities of the open-source market will not be denied. Not even for $500 million.
