"Instead of demos we got Microsoft-bashing"

Dave Winer writes about losing (a small amount) of faith in Firefox. He had switched from IE, after coming to the determination that Microsoft's Web browser constituted malware (software that tries to damage your computer).

He attends an event, where FireFox developer Blake Ross speaks. Winer expects to hear how Ross plans to make the world's #2 Web browser better. "Instead of demos we got Microsoft-bashing."

What's the alternative? "Look, you don't see Steve Jobs doing that. He's thinking beyond Microsoft."

We get a lot of competitor-bashing in the CAD world. At a CAD user conference I attended earlier this year, the ceo bashed Autodesk. To me, it came across as "we are less significant than Autodesk." That's the wrong message, because to this CAD company's customers, Autodesk is the insignificant one -- as are all other competitors.

"Their [the ceo's] fight is not ours, and the fight is not even useful to them; it's all a distraction," concludes Mr. Winer.