What went wrong at Microsoft: all the clues are in The Wire

David Auerbach writing for Slate on Microsoft’s obsession with making Windows an essential part of the internet:

There was no room for a Stringer Bell–style dove to strike out and make a deal with an ambitious youngster like Marlo Stanfield (Google) or a wily long-standing rival like Proposition Joe (Apple) for a share of profits and a shot of innovation. (“It’s not even a thought, man,” Avon chided Stringer.) Why should they cut deals with the riff-raff? They had crushed Lotus, Novell, and Netscape. Office and Windows were stable, profitable behemoths. Sure, Linus Tovalds—aka Omar Little—was a perennial annoyance, robbing Microsoft of server profits by giving away Linux for free, but he didn’t threaten the main business.

Admittedly almost any piece that mixes in The Wire has my attention, but my mind’s a bit blown with this one.