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Comment on Ask HN: How did Microsoft hold back the Internet for 6-7 years?parent

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Microsoft had no problem with progressing the Internet. They made billions in investments from 1996 to 2002 trying to do just that. They were a big spur in pushing broadband forward at that time, putting large sums of money into numerous access providers; Gates & Co. did a lot of speeches and articles touting how important broadband was. This was at a time when dial-up was overwhelmingly dominant.

What they wanted, was to prevent the Web from eating Windows. That's a very different context than what you're painting, by claiming they were trying to prevent progress on the Internet.

Case in point: an ethernet jack on the Xbox in 2001. People thought they were NUTS. They wound up owning online gaming for a decade.

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