Author Topic: Help with Bill Gates quote [in re: file format specs]  (Read 523 times)

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A while back, BillG gave an interview in which he indicated that [after IBM's disastrous decision to license DOS instead of purchasing it outright] the second biggest blunder in the history of the computer industry was the decision by [as I recall] Lotus to publish the specs on the file format for [as I recall] the 1-2-3 spreadsheet/database program. Gates said that this allowed Microsoft to seize almost all of Lotus's 1-2-3 business, and propelled Excel to its position as the most profitable piece of software in the history of the industry.

My question: Am I remembering the quote correctly? Also, does anyone have a link to the original interview [maybe somewhere in the greater Ziff-Davis empire]?

Thanks!

Senile