Voices » The Financial Times

Does Windows Still Matter?

Joe Nocera — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:04:32 +0000

By Joe Nocera, Columnist, Talking Business, New York Times

Chrome is not going to replace Windows. A computer requires an operating system such as Windows, Apple’s OS X or Linux to make the machine work. It does, however, have the potential to do what Mr. Gates feared: make the choice of operating system less important.

So writes John Gapper, the fine columnist for The Financial Times in today’s paper. Chrome, of course, is Google’s new browser, which is pretty explicitly designed to be a Windows killer. As Mr. Gapper notes, that precise fear–that an Internet browser could become such a powerful platform for applications software that it would effectively take over the function of the operating system–is what caused Microsoft to start the browser wars in the 1990s, effectively putting Netscape out of business.

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Why Sony Lost the Battle of the E-Book

John Gapper — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:02:42 +0000

By John Gapper, Columnist, Financial Times

Ever since Sony lost the battle between its Walkman music player and Apple’s iPod, it has been trying to strike back. This week, it paid $900 million to take full control of Sony-BMG, its music joint venture with Bertelsmann. Sir Howard Stringer, Sony’s chief executive, wants to make it as easy as possible to download or stream music and films to all of Sony’s electronics devices, from Bravia televisions to PlayStation 3 consoles.

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Music Industry "Should Embrace Illegal Web Sites"

Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:01:47 +0000

By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, Staff Writer, Financial Times

The music industry should embrace illegal file-sharing Web sites, according to a study of Radiohead’s last album release that found huge numbers of people downloaded it illegally even though the band allowed fans to pay little or nothing for it. “Rights-holders should be aware that these non- traditional venues are stubbornly entrenched, incredibly popular and will never go away,” said Eric Garland, co-author of the study, which concluded there was strong brand loyalty to controversial “torrent” and peer-to-peer services.

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