[koolmoe]

I think the point of the Vista comment is to illustrate the theme of patenting fairly obvious programming technology, not to take a shot a the "modern day best and brightest."

Microsoft reputedly engages in a fair amount of this kind of inane patent activity.

[mechanical_fish]

Vista is a great example for an essay like this: much of its brokenness is arguably a direct result of design decisions that were driven by entertainment-industry IP lawyers.

The other factor affecting Vista, which Greenspun refers to obliquely when he talks about the "natural progression of an industry", is that the pioneers in a field get to work in an open space. Backward compatibility is not an issue. Installed base is not an issue. Your market is too small to have developed hundreds of independent, politically powerful splinter groups that are each fighting for their own agenda. And your competitors are too few and too poor to have hired lawyers to scrutinize your every move and force you to document exactly how you answer the phone.

This is the real point. In typical Greenspun fashion, he is pretending to call us all stupid, but he doesn't really mean that we're intrinsically stupid. He's appalled by the fact that we live and work in a tangle of legal nonsense that makes us effectively stupid.

[edw519]

Shame on me. As usual, a Greenspun article that is 99% quality and I pick on the sore thumb at the end. I must be still be a little irritable after filling out that 8th TPS report.

I still say Microsoft is not representative of today's best and brightest. When you have $20 billion cash, 85% market share (in some sectors), and total PHB support, you don't have to be as good. So they aren't.