Reply #8: the goal can be accomplished by changing the rules

[ulTRAX]

I'm well aware that technical innovation might be unpredictable. Yet the current model can't guarantee that the best ideas float to the top. We see an economy filled with corporations leveraging inferior products and brand name loyalty to maintain market share. See any rational discussion of just what NSAID is best for whom?

I think it's clear that while Microsoft was not capable of producing a decent product arguably until NT.. it was in a favorable market position ONLY because it's licensing agreement with IBM made an inferior product a de-facto standard and brought in the money.

How many of the industry's best ideas fell by the wayside because Bill Gates happened to be at the right place at the right time? So who's calculating the economic losses for this travesty of MS-DOS kludge becoming a standard?

Anyone?

We have successful models of government-mandated and voluntary industry cooperation. Do you deny this?

I think we can have the best of both worlds by encouraging cooperation at the early stages of technological development. How? One way is to beef up the royalty system to encourage all players to consult early... and to change tax laws as to what is deductible for research.