Someday, many years from now, I'll have to explain to my grandkids why Microsoft was so dominant in the early part of the 21st century. "Granddaddy," they'll ask me, "why were Microsoft products so popular when you were young, despite the fact that freely available alternatives were so clearly superior?" And I won't know what to tell them. I'll say, "I'm not sure, kids, I think people were doing a lot drugs back then. Or maybe Bill Gates was paying us lots of money to use his software. I really can't remeber, I try not to think about those days."