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Changing of the Guard (1/7/99)
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As "Redmond Justice" nears the halfway point of its broadcast run (at least in terms of number of witnesses to testify), the pattern of Microsoft's legal tactics has become abundantly clear: batter the government's witnesses with an unceasing barrage of questions in hopes that they say something self-contradictory or otherwise damaging to their credibility. For the most part, that strategy hasn't been overly entertaining-- it's actually pretty repetitive and dull. But it produces its own lively brand of entertainment by annoying the holy heck out of Judge Jackson, who has had to warn the Microsoft legal team several times about their "needlessly belligerent or cynically repetitive questions," as Charles Cooper calls them in his ZDNN commentary.
Now that the government's last witness is on the stand, we're anxious to see how Microsoft handles its own witnesses instead-- and how the government lawyers plan to face down the twelve people testifying in Microsoft's defense. We're hoping that the government's antics are at least as entertaining as Microsoft's turn out to be, because now that excerpts from the Bill Gates Video Deposition Party are no longer being shown, we're getting a little starved for thrills and laughs.
In fact, we can't even change channels to the other big Microsoft lawsuit for much fun anymore. According to a Bloomberg News article, Microsoft and Sun have been ordered to seek a "mediated settlement" in the fight over Java. That means there's a distinct possibility that we won't get to see an epic court battle over Java's heart and soul. Then again, given that Java has already figured quite prominently in "Redmond Justice," we'd probably just think we were watching a rerun anyway...
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SceneLink (1255)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 1/7/99 episode: January 7, 1999: Did you just buy a Yosemite at retail? Are you planning on hooking up a modem? Does the phrase "not gonna happen" ring any bells? Meanwhile, Mac-market vampires Intergraph get themselves booted from Macworld Expo, and in "Redmond Justice," halfway through the season, the show prepares for a turning of the tables...
Other scenes from that episode: 1253: The Connectivity Blues (1/7/99) Faithful viewer John Farr (the Apple news editor over at Applelinks and the author of the Farr Site) brought an issue to our attention which we can only describe as "one thorny pickle." You know those cool-looking new Power Mac G3's that became available on Monday?... 1254: Banished from the Realm (1/7/99) Sometimes you just gotta bust some heads. Windows workstation maker Intergraph has been banned from Macworld Expo for trying to lure the pure of heart to the Dark Side™. Intergraph, you may recall, specializes in making Windows machines that integrate as well as possible into all-Mac graphic design environments-- meaning they've been building a solid business over the past few years by taking advantage of the public uncertainty over Apple's future...
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