From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.4 required=5.0 tests=AC_FROM_MANY_DOTS,BAYES_00 autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,92c39a3be0a7f17d X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-12-20 13:50:05 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!psinet-eu-nl!psiuk-p4!uknet!psiuk-p3!uknet!psiuk-n!news.pace.co.uk!nh.pace.co.uk!not-for-mail From: "Marin David Condic" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: RE: Portable GUI (was Re: Future with Ada) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 16:14:20 -0500 Organization: Posted on a server owned by Pace Micro Technology plc Message-ID: <9vtkbe$kth$1@nh.pace.co.uk> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: dhcp-200-133.miami.pace.co.uk X-Trace: nh.pace.co.uk 1008882862 21425 136.170.200.133 (20 Dec 2001 21:14:22 GMT) X-Complaints-To: newsmaster@news.cam.pace.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Date: 20 Dec 2001 21:14:22 GMT X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:18177 Date: 2001-12-20T21:14:22+00:00 List-Id: Luck probably has a lot to do with it. But then, you've got to do a lot of practice to be standing at the plate during the World Series when that easy-to-hit pitch comes your way by "luck". Sure, Microsoft has been "lucky". (Whenever someone else wins and I don't, its *always* because of luck! :-) Bill Gates got lucky that IBM, et alia, dropped the ball on more than one occasion and he was there to pick it up. It could have been someone else, right? But there still has to be plenty of skill to explain the results as well. I believe that many of Microsoft's competitors have dropped the ball and failed to exploit all of the opportunities they might have had to win. But that doesn't mean that Microsoft will *always* win or that luck didn't play a role. But for some people, luck itself is a form of art. :-) MDC -- Marin David Condic Senior Software Engineer Pace Micro Technology Americas www.pacemicro.com Enabling the digital revolution e-Mail: marin.condic@pacemicro.com Web: http://www.mcondic.com/ "Ted Dennison" wrote in message news:edsU7.5948$XC5.7777@www.newsranger.com... > For instance, lets take the alternative theory that everyone is equally > (in)compentent, but that everything's basicly a crap shoot. Whenever you talk > about gambling, in the long run the odds favor the party with the most money. > This theory would predict that if any software company were to get in a dominant > financial position, it could just outlast anyone it competes with because it > will have the resources to survive blunders that will take down the lesser > companies. This theory may not be fully correct, but at least it explains *why* > the winners and losers are who they are, and gives you something you can draw > testable conculsions from. >