Not only Microsoft: The Maturing of the Personal Computer Software Industry, 1982-1995

Business History Review

Volumn 75, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 103-145

  Campbell Kelly, Martin ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0035632692     PISSN: 00076805     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3116558     Document Type: Article

References (94)

1. The television series was based on Robert X. Cringley's magazine articles and his book, Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date (Reading, Mass., 1992).
2. Richard N. Langlois, "External Economics and Economics Progress: The Case of the Microcomputer Industry," Business History Review 66 Spring 1992 : 1-50.
3. Detlev J. Hoch, Cyriac R. Roeding, Gert Purkert, and Sandro K. Linder, Secrets of Software Success: Management Insights from 100 Software Firms Around the World Boston, Mass., 2000.
4. The literature on Microsoft is not rewarding to study in its entirety. The best semitechnical account of the development of Microsoft and its products is by Daniel Ichbiah and Susan L. Knepper. The Making of Microsoft Rocklin, Calif., 1991. Good economic perspectives are provided by Randall E. Stross. The Microsoft Way Reading Mass., 1996, and Stanley J. Liebowitz and Stephen F., Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Techonology Oakland, Calif., 1999. Of the journalistic accounts, the two best are: James Wallace and Jim Erickson, Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire (New York, 1992); and Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America (New York, 1994). In a different genre, but containing many historical insights, is the excellent book by Michael A. Cusumano and Richard W. Selby, Microsoft Secrets (New York, 1995).
5. The literature on Microsoft is not rewarding to study in its entirety. The best semitechnical account of the development of Microsoft and its products is by Daniel Ichbiah and Susan L. Knepper. The Making of Microsoft Rocklin, Calif., 1991. Good economic perspectives are provided by Randall E. Stross. The Microsoft Way Reading Mass., 1996, and Stanley J. Liebowitz and Stephen F., Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Techonology Oakland, Calif., 1999. Of the journalistic accounts, the two best are: James Wallace and Jim Erickson, Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire (New York, 1992); and Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America (New York, 1994). In a different genre, but containing many historical insights, is the excellent book by Michael A. Cusumano and Richard W. Selby, Microsoft Secrets (New York, 1995).
6. The literature on Microsoft is not rewarding to study in its entirety. The best semitechnical account of the development of Microsoft and its products is by Daniel Ichbiah and Susan L. Knepper. The Making of Microsoft Rocklin, Calif., 1991. Good economic perspectives are provided by Randall E. Stross. The Microsoft Way Reading Mass., 1996, and Stanley J. Liebowitz and Stephen F., Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Techonology Oakland, Calif., 1999. Of the journalistic accounts, the two best are: James Wallace and Jim Erickson, Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire (New York, 1992); and Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America (New York, 1994). In a different genre, but containing many historical insights, is the excellent book by Michael A. Cusumano and Richard W. Selby, Microsoft Secrets (New York, 1995).
7. The literature on Microsoft is not rewarding to study in its entirety. The best semitechnical account of the development of Microsoft and its products is by Daniel Ichbiah and Susan L. Knepper. The Making of Microsoft Rocklin, Calif., 1991. Good economic perspectives are provided by Randall E. Stross. The Microsoft Way Reading Mass., 1996, and Stanley J. Liebowitz and Stephen F., Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Techonology Oakland, Calif., 1999. Of the journalistic accounts, the two best are: James Wallace and Jim Erickson, Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire (New York, 1992); and Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America (New York, 1994). In a different genre, but containing many historical insights, is the excellent book by Michael A. Cusumano and Richard W. Selby, Microsoft Secrets (New York, 1995).
8. The literature on Microsoft is not rewarding to study in its entirety. The best semitechnical account of the development of Microsoft and its products is by Daniel Ichbiah and Susan L. Knepper. The Making of Microsoft Rocklin, Calif., 1991. Good economic perspectives are provided by Randall E. Stross. The Microsoft Way Reading Mass., 1996, and Stanley J. Liebowitz and Stephen F., Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Techonology Oakland, Calif., 1999. Of the journalistic accounts, the two best are: James Wallace and Jim Erickson, Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire (New York, 1992); and Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America (New York, 1994). In a different genre, but containing many historical insights, is the excellent book by Michael A. Cusumano and Richard W. Selby, Microsoft Secrets (New York, 1995).
9. The literature on Microsoft is not rewarding to study in its entirety. The best semitechnical account of the development of Microsoft and its products is by Daniel Ichbiah and Susan L. Knepper. The Making of Microsoft Rocklin, Calif., 1991. Good economic perspectives are provided by Randall E. Stross. The Microsoft Way Reading Mass., 1996, and Stanley J. Liebowitz and Stephen F., Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Techonology Oakland, Calif., 1999. Of the journalistic accounts, the two best are: James Wallace and Jim Erickson, Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire (New York, 1992); and Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America (New York, 1994). In a different genre, but containing many historical insights, is the excellent book by Michael A. Cusumano and Richard W. Selby, Microsoft Secrets (New York, 1995).
10. Anon., "The Shakeout in Software: It's Already Here," Business Week, 23 Aug. 1984, 96-8.
11. Ibid.
12. For a history and discussion of the corporate software industry, see Martin Campbell-Kelly. "Development and Structure of the International Software Industry, 1950-1990," Business and Economics History 24 Winter 1995 : 73-110; W. Edward Steinmueller. "The U.S. Software Industry: An Analysis and Interpretive History," in The International Software Industry: A Comparative Study of Industry Evolution and Structure. David C. Mowery, ed. New York, 1996 ; and U.S. Department of Commerce. A Competitive Assessment of the United States Software Industry Washington, D.C., 1984.
13. For a history and discussion of the corporate software industry, see Martin Campbell- Kelly. "Development and Structure of the International Software Industry, 1950-1990," Business and Economics History 24 Winter 1995 : 73-110; W. Edward Steinmueller. "The U.S. Software Industry: An Analysis and Interpretive History," in The International Software Industry: A Comparative Study of Industry Evolution and Structure. David C. Mowery, ed. New York, 1996 ; and U.S. Department of Commerce. A Competitive Assessment of the United States Software Industry Washington, D.C., 1984.
14. For a history and discussion of the corporate software industry, see Martin Campbell- Kelly. "Development and Structure of the International Software Industry, 1950-1990," Business and Economics History 24 Winter 1995 : 73-110; W. Edward Steinmueller. "The U.S. Software Industry: An Analysis and Interpretive History," in The International Software Industry: A Comparative Study of Industry Evolution and Structure. David C. Mowery, ed. New York, 1996 ; and U.S. Department of Commerce. A Competitive Assessment of the United States Software Industry Washington, D.C., 1984.
15. James Aley, "The Theory that Made Microsoft," Fortune, 29 April 1996, 23-4.
16. Brain W. Arthur, "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal 99 (1989); 116-31: "Positive Feedbacks in the Economy," Scientific America (Feb. 1990); 92-9: "Increasing Returns and the New World of Business," Harvard Business Review (July-Aug. 1996); 100 09; Jeffrey Church and Neil Gandal. "Network Effects, Software Provision, and Standardization," Journal of Industrial Economics 60 (1992): 85-103.
17. Brain W. Arthur, "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal 99 (1989); 116-31: "Positive Feedbacks in the Economy," Scientific America (Feb. 1990); 92-9: "Increasing Returns and the New World of Business," Harvard Business Review (July-Aug. 1996); 100 09; Jeffrey Church and Neil Gandal. "Network Effects, Software Provision, and Standardization," Journal of Industrial Economics 60 (1992): 85-103.
18. Brain W. Arthur, "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal 99 (1989); 116-31: "Positive Feedbacks in the Economy," Scientific America (Feb. 1990); 92-9: "Increasing Returns and the New World of Business," Harvard Business Review (July-Aug. 1996); 100 09; Jeffrey Church and Neil Gandal. "Network Effects, Software Provision, and Standardization," Journal of Industrial Economics 60 (1992): 85-103.
19. Brain W. Arthur, "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal 99 (1989); 116-31: "Positive Feedbacks in the Economy," Scientific America (Feb. 1990); 92-9: "Increasing Returns and the New World of Business," Harvard Business Review (July-Aug. 1996); 100 09; Jeffrey Church and Neil Gandal. "Network Effects, Software Provision, and Standardization," Journal of Industrial Economics 60 (1992): 85-103.
20. John Steffens. Newgames: Strategic Competition in the PC Revolution Oxford, 1994, 211-16.
21. Tim Paterson, "An Inside Look at MS-DOS," Byte (June 1983); 230ff.
22. Richard J. Gilbert "Networks, Standards, and the Use of Market Dominance: Microsoft (1995)" in John E. Kwoka, Jr. and Lawrence J. White, The Antitrust Revolution: Economics, Competition and Policy (Oxford 1999), 409-29.
23. James Chposky and Ted Leonsis, Blue Magic: The People, Power and Politics Behind the IBM Personal Computer (New York, 1988).
24. Paterson, "Inside Look at MS-DOS."
25. The advertisement quoted appeared in Byte (May 1983).
26. Robert T. Fertig. The Software Revolution: Trends, Players, Market Dynamics in Personal Computer Software (New York, 1985), 118.
27. Ibid., 132.
28. Efrem Sigel and the staff of Communications Trends, Business/Professional Microcomputer Software Market, 1984-86 (White Plains, N.Y., 1984), 32.
29. This and the foregoing statistics appear in Ichbiah and Knepper, The Making of Microsoft, 86ff.
30. Paul A. David, "Understanding the Economics of QWERTY: The Necessity of History," in Economic History and the Modern Economist, William N. Parker, ed. (Oxford, 1986), 30-49.
31. Stan J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis, "The Fable of the Keys," Journal of Law and Economics 33 (1990); 1-26. Reprinted in Leibowitz and Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft, 19-44
32. Stan J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis, "The Fable of the Keys," Journal of Law and Economics 33 (1990); 1-26. Reprinted in Leibowitz and Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft, 19-44
33. Brian W. Arthur, "Increasing Returns and the New World of Business,"
34. Bill Gates, The Road Ahead (New York, 1995).
35. Jim Carlton, Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders (New York, 1997), 40-3.
36. John Walker, ed., 4th ed., The Autodesk File: Bits of History, Words of Experience (no publisher stated, 1994); http://ww.fourmilab.ch/autofile/: 3rd ed. published by New Riders Publishing, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 1989. See also Jonathan Richardson, "A Decade of CAD," CAD User (March 1998); 20-2, 26, 28.
37. John Walker, ed., 4th ed., The Autodesk File: Bits of History, Words of Experience (no publisher stated, 1994); http://ww.fourmilab.ch/autofile/: 3rd ed. published by New Riders Publishing, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 1989. See also Jonathan Richardson, "A Decade of CAD," CAD User (March 1998); 20-2, 26, 28.
38. Walker, The Autodesk File, 24.
39. Ibid., 296-304.
40. The concepts of paradigm shift, technological closure, and critical problems are informed by the works of Kuhn. Hughes, and Rosenberg, among others. See Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago, 1962); Thomas Park Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930 (Baltimore, 1983); and Nathan Rosenberg, Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics (Cambridge, 1982).
41. The concepts of paradigm shift, technological closure, and critical problems are informed by the works of Kuhn. Hughes, and Rosenberg, among others. See Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago, 1962); Thomas Park Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930 (Baltimore, 1983); and Nathan Rosenberg, Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics (Cambridge, 1982).
42. The concepts of paradigm shift, technological closure, and critical problems are informed by the works of Kuhn. Hughes, and Rosenberg, among others. See Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago, 1962); Thomas Park Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930 (Baltimore, 1983); and Nathan Rosenberg, Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics (Cambridge, 1982).
43. Douglas K. Smith and R. C. Alexander, Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented. Then Ignored, the First Personal Computer (New York, 1988); Michael A. Hiltzik, Dealers of Lightning: Xerox Parc and the Dawn of the Computer Age (New York, 1999).
44. Douglas K. Smith and R. C. Alexander, Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented. Then Ignored, the First Personal Computer (New York, 1988); Michael A. Hiltzik, Dealers of Lightning: Xerox Parc and the Dawn of the Computer Age (New York, 1999).
45. Steven Levy, Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer that Changed Everything (New York, 1994).
46. See, for example, Anon., "A Fierce Battle Brews Over the Simplest Software Yet," Business Week, 21 Nov. 1883, 61-3.
47. Phil Lemmons, "A Guided Tour of VisiOn," Byte (June 1983); 256ff.
48. Irene Fuerst, "Broken Windows," Datamation, 1 March 1985, 46, 31-2.
49. John Markoff, "Five Window Managers for the IBM PC," Byte Guide to the IBM PC Fall 1984; 65-6, 71-6, 78, 82, 84, 87.
50. Efrem Sigel, "Alas Poor VisiCorp," Datamation, 15 Jan. 1985, 93-4, 96.
51. Lawrence D. Graham, Legal Battles that Shaped the Computer Industry (Westport, Conn., 1999), 35-41.
52. The best account of the complicated history of OS/2 appears in Paul Carroll, Big Blues: The Unmaking of IBM (New York, 1993).
53. As quoted in Wallace and Erickson, Hard Drive, 362.
54. Cusumano and Selby, Microsoft Secrets.
55. Peter Petre, "The Man Who Keeps the Bloom on Lotus," Forftune, 10 June 1985, 92-4, 96, 98, 100.
56. Kelly R. Conatser, "1-2-3 Through the Years," Lotus 8 (June 1992); 38-45.
57. Keith H. Hammonds, "The Spreadsheet That Nearly Wore Lotus Out," Business Week, 3 Jul. 1989, 50-1.
58. For spreadsheet sales statistics for 1988-97, see Liebowitz and Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft, 175-6.
59. W. E. Pete Petersen. Almost Perfect: How a Bunch of Regular Guys Built WorldPerfect Corporation (Rocklin, Calif. 1994).
60. Frost & Sullivan. The Text Processing Market in the U.S. (New York, 1982).
61. Word-processing market shares by units are given in Ichbiah and Knepper, The Making of Microsoft, 132, and Petersen, AlmostPerfect, passim. Liebowitz and Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft, 181, gives market share by revenues, 1988-97. Sales revenues are difficult to interpret in the word-processing market because some high-function packages were much more highly priced than average, while others were priced low to capture market share. Unit sales, used here, was the usual measure.
62. Word-processing market shares by units are given in Ichbiah and Knepper, The Making of Microsoft, 132, and Petersen, AlmostPerfect, passim. Liebowitz and Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft, 181, gives market share by revenues, 1988-97. Sales revenues are difficult to interpret in the word-processing market because some high-function packages were much more highly priced than average, while others were priced low to capture market share. Unit sales, used here, was the usual measure.
63. Word-processing market shares by units are given in Ichbiah and Knepper, The Making of Microsoft, 132, and Petersen, AlmostPerfect, passim. Liebowitz and Margolis, Winners, Losers and Microsoft, 181, gives market share by revenues, 1988-97. Sales revenues are difficult to interpret in the word-processing market because some high-function packages were much more highly priced than average, while others were priced low to capture market share. Unit sales, used here, was the usual measure.
64. Sandra D. Atchinson, "A Perfectly Good Word for WordPerfect: Gutsy," Business Week, 2 Oct. 1989, 79-80.
65. Kathy Rebello, "The Glitch at WordPerfect," Business Week, 17 May 1993, 56-7.
66. Robert A. Sehr, "Beefing Up Software," Datamation, 15 Feb. 1985, 148.3-148.6: David W. Carroll, "The dbase Phenomenon: Nurtured by dBase II. Another Aftermarket has Developed," Software News, Aug. 1985, 62-4.
67. Robert A. Sehr, "Beefing Up Software," Datamation, 15 Feb. 1985, 148.3-148.6: David W. Carroll, "The dbase Phenomenon: Nurtured by dBase II. Another Aftermarket has Developed," Software News, Aug. 1985, 62-4.
68. Market data, attributed to IDC, in Patrick E. Cole, "dBase IV is a Godsend - To the Competition," Business Week, 13 Nov. 1989, 79.
69. Patrick E. Cole, "dBugs in dBase IV Spread to the Bottom Line," Business Week, 17 July 1989, 78-9.
70. Cole, "dBase IV Is a Godsend - to the Competition," 79.
71. Peter Petre, "The Man Who Keeps the Bloom on Lotus."
72. Anon., "A Toe-to-Toe Duel in Personal Software," Business Week, 9 April 1984, 52-3.
73. Irene Feurst, "So Where is the Market?" Datamation, 1 April 1985, 45, 48
74. Richard Brandt, "Software Will Play Hardball Again," Business Week, 10 Jan. 1994, 48.
75. Amy Cortese, "Once Again, Software Is Seething," Business Week, 9 Jan. 1995, 46.
76. Stross, The Microsoft Way, 56.
77. Bill Lawrence, "Three Suite Deals," Byte (March 1994); 120-1, 6.
78. Amy Cortese and Ira Sager, "Gerstner at the Gates," Business Week, 19 June 1995, 30-2.
79. Patrick E. Cole, "Lost a Computer File? Call on Dr. Norton," Business Week, 23 May 1986, 116.
80. Evan L. Schwartz, "The Industry Needs an Alternative - But Will it be Novell?" Business Week, 1 Feb. 1993, 48-9.
81. Interview with Gordon Eubanks, Rama Dev Jager and Rafael Ortiz. In the Company of Giants: Candid Conversations with Visionaries of the Digital World (New York, 1997), 55.
82. Interview with John Warnock, in Susan Lammers, Programmers at Work: Interviews with 19 Programmers Who Shaped the Computer Industry Redmond, Wash., 1986, 40-55. Interview with John Warnock and Charles Geschke, in Jager and Ortiz. In the Company of Giants, 99-113.
83. Interview with John Warnock, in Susan Lammers, Programmers at Work: Interviews with 19 Programmers Who Shaped the Computer Industry Redmond, Wash., 1986, 40-55. Interview with John Warnock and Charles Geschke, in Jager and Ortiz. In the Company of Giants, 99-113.
84. Paul M. Horvitz, "Efficiency and Antitrust Considerations in Home Banking: The Proposed Microsoft-Intnit Merger," Antitrust Bulletin (Summer 1996); 427-46.
85. Richard Brandt, "It's Grab-Your-Partner Time for Software Makers," Business Week, 8 Feb. 1988, 52-3.
86. Katherine M. Hafner, "How Two Pioneers Brought Publishing to the Desktop," Business Week, 15 Oct. 1987, 61-2; Richard Brandt, "Does Adobe Have a Paper Cutter?" Business Week, 6 Nov. 1992, 98-9; Amy Cortese, "This Acrobat Has Really Limbered Up," Business Week, 26 Sept. 1994, 73-4.
87. Katherine M. Hafner, "How Two Pioneers Brought Publishing to the Desktop," Business Week, 15 Oct. 1987, 61-2; Richard Brandt, "Does Adobe Have a Paper Cutter?" Business Week, 6 Nov. 1992, 98-9; Amy Cortese, "This Acrobat Has Really Limbered Up," Business Week, 26 Sept. 1994, 73-4.
88. Katherine M. Hafner, "How Two Pioneers Brought Publishing to the Desktop," Business Week, 15 Oct. 1987, 61-2; Richard Brandt, "Does Adobe Have a Paper Cutter?" Business Week, 6 Nov. 1992, 98-9; Amy Cortese, "This Acrobat Has Really Limbered Up," Business Week, 26 Sept. 1994, 73-4.
89. Michael A. Cusumano and David B. Yoffie, Competing on Internet Time: Lessons from Netscape and its Battle with Microsoft (New York, 1998).
90. Cusumano and Selby, Microsoft Secrets, 141.
91. Kathy Rebello et al., "Novell: End of Era?" Business Week, 22 Nov. 1993, 43-4.
92. Richard Brandt, "A Tricky Tack for Borland," Business Week, 2 Aug. 1993, 44-5.
93. Interview with Gordon Eubanks in Jager and Ortiz, In the Company of Giants.
94. Ibid., 55.