Tuesday, Dec. 7 —
If Microsoft is legally found to be a monopoly and that ruling holds up on appeal, suing the company on antitrust grounds gets easier, much easier. I have no doubt that competitors and consumers — and competition itself — have been harmed by Microsoft’s behavior. But I have a lot of qualms about the raft of civil cases being filed purportedly on behalf of consumers.
I explain why in Tuesday’s column.
Mars Lander, but Not the Space Program, R.I.P.
Tuesday, Dec. 7 —
Okay, so the Mars Lander has failed (CNN). This is a bad day for one part of a larger program of exploration.
Before we join the latest round of hand-wringing, however, let’s remember that space exploration is inherently dangerous. Failure is part of the process. There’s no evidence that this mishap was caused by human error, as was the case in another recent Mars probe. It appears to have simply been the luck of the draw.
The need for space exploration is so vast that we cannot stop. Not only is such questing in our very nature, but we are an expansionist species. Curiosity is an admirable trait, even if imperialism is not. We must learn what we can about our neighborhood, and thereby learn about our origins, and we must eventually move off of this planet. The survivial of the species may depend on it.
Should NASA, JPL and the like continue to have a near-monopoly on space exploration? I’d like to see private industry get more and more into this game, but I don’t see corporate interests looking to do the kind of research that our tax dollars have been funding. I’m happy to see some of my taxes go toward the space agency.
There will now be the inevitable calls for investigations into the competence of the people running the space program. Yes, let’s investigate the failures. But the failure of some risky unmanned missions — and, yes, even some future ones with human beings aboard — is not just a possibility. It’s inevitable, too, and part of the process of human exploration.
Keep going, NASA, JPL and the rest of the space-faring community. You still have plenty of support out here.
The 39 Questions
Tuesday, Dec. 7 —
A Website devoted to the Year 2000 computer glitch has put me and other journalists on a list of people to be contacted, and as a result I’m getting bombarded with near-identical e-mail messages. Each tells me my publication is doing a poor job of reporting Y2K issues, and demands answers to 39 Y2K questions.
A few of the questions are at least interesting, and I’d like to know the answers. Others are just ridiculous, such as:
“31. Why are Californians urged to have a two-week stockpile of supplies for earthquake preparedness, but only a three-day stockpile for Y2K? Should Californians throw out eleven days of supplies to be politically correct for Y2K?”
Huh?
I remain convinced that the biggest single danger we face from Y2K is panic. And I won’t hold my breath waiting for the panic mongerers to apologize when and if they’re proved wrong.