Winners, Losers & Microsoft [Paperback]

Stan J. Liebowitz (Author), Stephen E. Margolis (Author), Jack Hirshleifer (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001

Few issues in high technology are as divisive as the current debate over competition, innovation, and antitrust. Analyzing famous examples of economic “lock-in” by dominant corporations of supposedly inferior products, this book makes the case that free markets in high technology industry deliver better products to consumers, at lower prices, without government intervention. This publication's careful scholarship, well-founded hypotheses, and refutations of previously accepted theories—extending far beyond the Microsoft case—make this publication a vital piece of understanding for the future of technology and economics.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Winners, Losers & Microsoft, two top economists punch some big holes in the government's antitrust case against the software behemoth. Stan J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis argue that government lawyers are dead wrong to say that consumers are being forced to accept inferior standards and high prices because of Microsoft's hegemony.

With some well-documented and original research, the authors conclude that Microsoft is as successful as it is for a simple reason: good products win. "Whether they are lowly mousetraps or high-tech networks, better products prevail in the marketplace. People choose what they want, and what they want survives, at least for a while," they write. The authors also challenge the economists who believe that when it comes to technology, inferior standards get locked in because of unfair corporate actions or irrational consumer behavior. Through cogent analysis, Liebowitz and Margolis tear apart the two key examples used by these other economists: the VHS videocassette format and the so-called QWERTY typewriter keyboard layout. The authors argue that those formats dominate today because they truly were as good as, if not better than, their competitors, the Beta videocassette and Dvorak keyboard. While most of the book is theoretical and aimed toward those interested in public policy and economics, Winners, Losers & Microsoft can also be an eye opener for anyone who wants to learn more about the antitrust case against the company. --Dan Ring --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"By a long way, it is the best single thing to read on this tangle of issues."  —The  Economist

"Features what appears to be the first systematic look at the real-world history of the software industry."  —Wired News

"In Winners, Losers & Microsoft, economists Liebowitz and Margolis present powerful evidence that Microsoft lowered prices."  —Newsweek

"Th[is] fascinating history and analysis can guide us toward a better understanding of the newer forms of competition."  —Jack Hirshleifer, professor of economics, UCLA

"Everyone interested in public policy toward high technology industries will want to read this excellent book."  —Sam Peltzman, professor of economics, University of Chicago

 

"Powerful stuff, Winners, Losers & Microsoft promises to have an important impact on the debate about the appropriate use of antitrust in high-technology markets. It does indeed exhibit a very high caliber of scholarship, addresses the key questions posed by the proponents of anti-competitive 'lock-in,' and bases its conclusions on a wealth of new empirical evidence." —William F. Shughart II, Barnard Distinguished Professor of Economics, University of Mississippi

"If only the Clinton Justice Department read Winners, Losers & Microsoft, the American economy would be spared much pain and legal expense. Stan Liebowitz and Stephen Margolis really know their stuff, and they can write too." —Wall Street Journal

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Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Independent Institute; Revised edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945999844
• ISBN-13: 978-0945999843
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,436,510 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant debunking of current antitrust law, March 20, 2002

By 

GUEST ACCOUNT (Amazon.com HQ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winners, Losers & Microsoft (Paperback)

Forget Microsoft. This book will make you doubt everything you've ever been taught about lock-in, bundling, and the ease with which market dominance can be abused.

But don't forget about Microsoft entirely--the book makes clear that the conventional wisdom about how the company achieved dominance could lead to "remedies" that would have a terrible effect on the software market as a whole--inevitably dooming winners to constant hamstringing or worse in order to enforce an artificial measure of competition.

The movie puts the lie to much that has been said about Microsoft by its critics, competitors, and even its advocates. Certainly no one connected to Microsoft has made such a devastating rebuttal of the charges against it. This book is a must-read for those interested in the outcome of that case.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about time this work is made available for everyone., October 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Winners, Losers & Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Technology (Independent Studies in Political Economy) (Hardcover)

Liebowitz and Margolis have done research on intellectual property issues for over two decades. Their work on new technologies began over a decade and a half ago. Their piece on the Fable of the Keys, was the lead article in the Journal of Law and Economics in 1990. Unfortunately, their other work on path dependency has languished in less well-known journals.

It is a wonderful asset finally to have all their work on technological lock-ins put together in this one volume, and accessibly written for anyone who is interested in the topic.

I've been a long-time Microsoft user/hater, but I find most of the arguments put forward by the authors to be very compelling: When MS products receive top ratings, those products tend to dominate the market and prices fall. I'm not sure I agree with most software reviewers that MS IE is better than Netscape, but perhaps that's a personal preference.

But as I said, this book is a superb and accessible summary of the authors' work on path dependency and is a telling condemnation of BOTH sides in the antitrust suit agains Microsoft.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, August 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Winners, Losers & Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Technology (Independent Studies in Political Economy) (Hardcover)

There are a lot of myths about why products succeed or fail. Many claim that customers get "locked into" products simply because they arrive on the scene first even when much better products are available. Some claim that Microsoft has taken over different markets despite inferior software simply because of the monopoly that it has in operating systems. Liebowitz and Margolis provide straightforward, convincing, and imaginative evidence that these claims are false.

It is amazing how many stories like the superiority of the DVORAK keyboard hang around for years with no supporting evidence. They make for great stories, but as these authors point out they are false.

If you want to learn about how markets work, read this book.

Finally, the previous commentor's remarks about these authors being bought off is offensive and false. Liebowitz and Margolis wrote about these issues a decade before Microsoft became involved in its current legal problems. Anyone who reads this book will realize that Microsoft would have been a lot better off if they had hired them rather than the lame effort they got from the MIT business school dean.