Ellison: Gates a liar about Microsoft's 'innovation'

Joachim Feise (jfeise@ICS.uci.edu)
Wed, 27 May 1998 08:58:35 -0700


Again from ZDnet;)

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/pcwo/0526/319140.html

"Microsoft has innovated nothing. The thing I find most contemptible is Bill's
lying, this thing about innovating. It makes me want to puke. That's innovation
a la Rockefeller, not innovation a la Edison," the database tycoon said in an
exclusive interview with PC Week Online. He added that the Excel spreadsheet is
the only Microsoft product with demonstrable innovation.
Pressed on what remedies the U.S. Department of Justice should apply in its suit
against the software giant, Ellison at first said he didn't know. Later,
however, he suggested that Microsoft should be stripped of its Internet Explorer
and forced to re-enter the browser business with a product built from the ground
up.
"They should stop raising the price of their operating system and doing poor
copies of Netscape [Navigator]," Ellison charged. He claimed Microsoft has
consistently raised prices on Windows and that the browser is not free as many
think.
The DOJ should determine whether Microsoft must pay a fine for revenues that can
be traced back to IE 4.0 and what he called the Windows monopoly.
As for buying Netscape, Ellison said talks were held, but "not recently." Asked
for details, he said "no comment."
...
Ellison admitted that the Macintosh is the same laggard as the PC but added that
"it is still easier to use." He considered buying Apple Computer Inc. and is a
strong supporter of its CEO-in-residence at the moment, Steve Jobs.