I have a few ideas about capitalism also. Like seeing people rewarded for their efforts. Like seeing living standards advanced through technological innovation and the maintenance of fair markets. And not allowing the rights of people to be controlled in the name of the public interest, then have those rights abusively administered for the financial gain of administrators and their friends: I think that the failures of capitalism stem from this last point, and extreme examples are The Phillipines, Albania, and the administration of land development in Australia.

Antonios, I think its pretty safe to say that without MS, there
would not be a PC industry and an internet as we know it.

Alot of Microsoft's disputes have been about browers, which they
give away for free. Their email programmes, they give away for
free. Why on earth should I complain?

You are free to use an Apple OS, or Linux if you wish. In those
days there was no competition. It cost a fortune to buy Apple.

Thank you Bill Gates from me and if he got rich in the process,
good luck. As it happens, now that money is benefitting the poor
in Africa etc, as he is the world's largest philanthropist.

Rache, when Frank Blount ran Telstra, it was a lazy Govt monopoly,
which screwed its customers for all they were worth. Those phone
lines were already there. Unlike electricity, it cost Telstra no
more for me to be online. My US friends were online for 10% of the
cost of what I was paying.

The difference was that I lived in the country, wheras in the cities
they had the first ISPs set up as competition. So Telstra could
screw me for all they wanted. I wrote to my local MP, but at that
stage he did not know what the internet was :)

Eventually I had to hire another phone line half way to the nearest
large town and by double jumping two local call distances, I managed
to join a new ISP, who had exactly 10 customers to start with.

Meantime this beloved Govt owned company, was fat and lazy, its
staff were fat and lazy and its attitude stank. Long live
some competition to get people who work for Governments off their
friggin butts. Lazy can be worse then greedy.

Yabby
When I lived in Mile End I paid $49 per month for high speed connection , unlimited downloads.
I moved to Ingle Farm, but I can not have DSL OR DSL2, my connection to internet is dial up, about $22.00 per month plus about $25.00 or more to phone to telstra for the connection to internet.
With DSL you can use the line for the internet and phone at the same time but with dial up I need an extra line for the phone, now I have to pay much more money for worst services!
Telstra could upgrade its installation for DSL,DSL2 but why to do that when with the old one, with worst services they earn more money?
Do not you know that state or private monopolists behave with the same way?
I do not live in a remote area but close to salisbery and Adelaide.
Do you understand Yabby? This is the real telstra today, FAT AND LAZY!
Hundrends of thousands of Australians knows very well about it.
It is seemed that you do not care very what happened to the next door.
As consumers we could be in much better contision if MS respects and follows the rules.
=competition, not questionable patent and trade secret claims, drives innovation and creates greater consumer value"
http://www.linux.com/feature/119242
Antonios Symeonakis
Adelaid

*Do you understand Yabby? This is the real telstra today, FAT AND LAZY!*

Ah, but you should have been here 15 years ago lol. What you see
today is higly efficient and cheap, compared to what Telstra used
to be !

Internet access today in Australia is an absolute bargain, compared
to what it used to cost. I have a crook phone line, so I went
onto mobile internet. That let me dump 1 phone line, no more dial
up costs, 10 times the speed as what I had.

Anyone can build new phone lines today, or build mobile towers
if they wish. Closer to cities, there are plans even much cheaper
then mine. I pay 50$ a month for 1 gig.

Govts make the rules, if they think that MS is not being competitive,
they can fine them. I personally can't see the issue, for they
give their media player away for nothing as well. But then right
now MS has been outsmarted by Google, once again consumers are
laughing all the way. Why should I care if the Google owners
make billions or are perhaps greedy ? I love my google bar lol, all
free.

In terms of value for money, where I get screwed most is in the
services that Govts provide, as of course they have their monopolies.

Lazy public servants cost me far more then innovative companies,
providing ever cheaper consumer goods. We little people benefit
from all that competition.

Fester again and again in this thread I have said we must retain reward for effort.
Your fixation on the right to develop land is surely a flea on the back of todays problems with capitalism.
Yes councils are often useless, more often criminal, mine is both, including ALP Representatives.
But that is greed a real driver of capitalism, it is also slothfulness, by voters who let it happen.
Not just this crisis but stretching years back, billions have been lost or stolen, and nothing really is done.
Wealth creation is shouted from the roof top but without change investing is gambling.
capitalism needs rules, not chains but rules.

<Fester again and again in this thread I have said we must retain reward for effort.>

My comment was an opinion. It was not directed at anyone.

<Your fixation on the right to develop land is surely a flea on the back of todays problems with capitalism."

Given that a home is the main asset for most Australians, I would hardly regard the property market an insignificant component of capitalism. Having prices significantly higher than would exist under free market conditions has a very significant impact on first home buyers.

<Yes councils are often useless, more often criminal, mine is both, including ALP Representatives. But that is greed a real driver of capitalism, it is also slothfulness, by voters who let it happen. Not just this crisis but stretching years back, billions have been lost or stolen, and nothing really is done. Wealth creation is shouted from the roof top but without change investing is gambling.
capitalism needs rules, not chains but rules.>

My only difference here is that I see greed as a destroyer of the public trust upon which capitalism is founded. The greedy scheme dreamed up, be it stapled securities (fixed liability shares ) or obscure land administration, ultimately undermines that trust.