| ▲ | kens 5 hours ago | |
Seriously, I consider this to be Microsoft's key innovation: the idea that people should pay for software and that people should be forced to pay for software. | ||
| ▲ | smackeyacky 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | |
The payment for software was well established on big iron by the 1970s before Microsoft were established | ||
| ▲ | flomo 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | |
What Microsoft actually did was make deals with OEMs and distributors so they got paid for every machine sold. In the 1980s, home computers had MS-BASIC in the ROMs, and PCs came with "Vendor DOS", you couldn't even buy MS-DOS. | ||