How Billionaires Got Their Start [INFOGRAPHIC]

Wanna' be a billionaire? Don't give up hope! You gotta' start somewhere - just like these guys:

Facetweet - Will Facebook Kill Twitter?

Well - as seen on numerous blogs around the world today - it's finally come out that Facebook really DID try to buy Twitter last fall. There had been rumors all over the place that Mark and team was vying to snap up the microblogging site - and roll it into their own offering.

So after the negotiations had come to an unfruitful end (from Facebook's perspective) - they took a play out of the Gates handbook for business 101 - and just decided to build their own microblog format. I say good for them!

Now I don't know Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter personally, and I don't have any inside information as to what they have in the works - but it just seems to me that if someone like Mark Zuckerberg and team come to you and want to buy your brand (for an "undisclosed sum" - read: HUGE cash) - then unless you have a really, really, really good plan to monetize your platform - you should just sell the damn thing.

I mean, really! So, you invented the space of microblogging. Bully for you! It's still not really caught on to the mainstream yet - and your own site's features are so anemic that a whole industry and dozens of others have stepped into the ecosystem to siphon off users from your site (read: less eyeballs for ads)...

So, you have a super simple site - which is a good thing. You have a medium that lots of tech folks (and PR folks) use as sort of a "live AP" feed - also good.

But... ummm... the idea and the tech behind it are... well... just NOT that hard to re-create. The barrier of entry to create another service just like yours is, well, trivial. Just look at all the Twitter-like, me-too spin offs that have come about.

Yeah, you have first-mover advantage, but the Facebook people have a little think called "150 million registered users." Oh, and a valuation that's backed by the largest software company in the world - Microsoft. Oh, and some really, really smart people.... AND... a really robust infrastructure.... AND... did I mention 150 million registered users?

I think it's a good thing that Facebook will put in a microblogging feature - I think that people will use it and that it will really be a welcomed addition to their service. In a way - it's already there. You can see the status updates of your friends, get a "live feed" of what others are doing... so it just makes sense that if you could "broadcast" your status to anyone... you're done.

So - Twitter - unless you're going to announce something (and soon) - I'm afraid you'll be relegated to the MySpace bid of "cool idea, first-mover advantage" slow death. The difference is - you didn't sell out for $850 (while the getting was good).

I hope I'm wrong. Maybe all the people who are addicted to Twitter will continue to tweet forever. I'm sure that people who have used the service for a long time will continue to use it. However, all the "new" people who are just discovering social media (both individuals and businesses) - they WILL sign up for Facebook.

And when they do - they will have a new option to "broadcast" their stuff to anyone on the Internet - as well as to "subscribe" to other feeds. All in the CONTEXT of their friends, customers and other relationships.

OR - they could choose to go to yet another source, start cross posting (or do what I do - and use the EXCELLENT Ping.fm to do it for me) and reading two sets of feeds.

Ummmm... yeah. In-context feeds all in one aggregated place with the largest social network on the planet - or a spartan interface in scrolling format.

My money's on Facebook to win and Twitter to place.

IE Round 2? Has the Giant Awakened?

Ok, ok, so as much as I (and everyone else) bitches about Microsoft - I think they've had another "Ah, the Internet!" moment.

I was reading Mary-Jo Foley's EXCELLENT blog entry on Microsoft's "Cloud OS" (code name: Red Dog) and at the same time read in ComputerWorld about how Microsoft was bringing the (almost) full "power" of SQL Server to the cloud... when all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks: somebody, somewhere, (or everybody everywhere) told Microsoft that they were missing the boat.

And here's the "best" part: they actually listened.

It sort of reminded me of when Bill Gates (rest his Microsoft soul) finally "got" that the browser was the wave of the future. Back in 1995 Bill bought the rights to Spyglass - the raw underbelly HTML rendering engine that powered the then-numero-uno Netscape "browser."

Once he assembled Spyglass into "the collective" and renamed it "Internet Explorer" - he proceeded to write an internal memo - a manifesto, if you wish, about the Internet - wherein he basically said - '...NOW I see it. This 'Internet' thing is going to be huge. Let's buy the biggest player - make up our own crap (screw the "standards") and give it away for free. We'll kill those Netscape ass**les yet!" (well, he DIDN'T SAY THAT - but that's my take on the gist of it)

So, they proceeded to kick the browser market's a**, and eventually forced Netscape out of business (only to be revived in the Mozilla project and Firefox).

Get ready for IE round 2.

So, Microsoft is going to port a lot of the functionality of MS SQL Sever into "the cloud." They're coming up with their own OS - Azure (code name: Red Dog), they've got Ray Ozzie and the whole "Mesh" thing going on...

Yeah, the 1.0 version will suck and it will take them 2-3 years to get the 2.7.89.1054 version to where it's actually usable.... but still, I think they've basically "got the plot" on the fact that they can't rely on the Windows OS and Office to fill the company coffers forever.

I'll bet you it's all Bill's idea! He has nothing better to do now - and I mean - how many cocktail receptions can you go to in order GIVE AWAY your children's inheritance? To be fair - Bill Gates didn't get to be the richest man in America so many times by being stupid (or by being "nice").

My personal opinion is that he has daily calls with Steve Ballmer - and Steve has become his puppet master. Meantime, back at the Bat Cave, Bill has been the ultimate puppet master: pulling the heartstrings of charity and overall worldwide "do-gooder" while secretly slipping into his "evil" black spandex "Internet War" suit at night.

He probably has that golden bust that Batman had with the big red button - and he pushes it to open the bookcase where there are pole he slides down into the "Bad Cave" to call his head henchman (Ballmer) to plan how to overtake all the other "losers" in the whole Internet game (Amazon, Google, Zoho, et al).

OR - he really doesn't give a crap. He has enough money to last his lifetime and, as long as the stock stays above... well... ZERO... has nothing to lose... except the thrill of an "evil" opponent and the dream of world domination...

But that's just "crazy talk"....

Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, well maybe my mouse;

The MacBooks and Minis were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Jobs soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of video-gaming danced in their heads;

And mamma in her thong 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nookie nap,

When down on my Dell there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the Vista Windows I flew like a flash,

Tore open the laptop and threw up because it took me 4 minutes to come out of "sleep" because damn Bill Gates decided to do yet another hack and patch job on the crappy OS... but I digress.

Yada yada... home invasion by a stranger with a fetish for "magic" animals... sniffing and stuffing stockings... blah, blah, blah...

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Here's Hoping Gates Gets His Groove Back

As this is the last day of Bill Gates as the head of Microsoft (sort of) - I was wondering if Bill is a little sad or if he's planning a huge "I'm so done with this" party?

I've read a couple of biographies over the years - as well as all the various retrospectives that have been all over the press the last couple of weeks.

If I were him - I'd want to get the hell out and try something else for a while as well. I mean, there are millions of people's lives who have been forever changed because of the luck, greed, ambition, talent, ruthlessness, and genius of a rag-tag group of 13 people at a little start up company no one had ever heard of - more than 30 years ago.

I know that I'm one of those people.

Yeah, sure, he made a few dozen billion dollars doing it. That's what everyone likes to focus on. That's what everyone is jealous of. That's what everyone respects.

Now I don't happen to have a few billion in the bank - but I have to imagine that once you've built a $140 million house outfitted with Michael Jackson-like technology at every turn, and you have traveled the world and met with world leaders, business leaders, tech leaders, social workers, etc. that you're basically just bored with it all.

I think for Mr. Gates, the real challenge is... well... the challenge. From what I've read about him - he's crazy smart and really devours books and information at near computer speeds.

He doesn't seem to tolerate people that "don't get it" (eg him) and has been known to really get in their face and maybe even fire them if he thinks they're too thick to get his meaning (on anything). He seems to be the kind of person whose brain just doesn't shut down.

He always seems to be trying to solve a problem. Trying to find an answer.

Maybe he's just bored of being the whipping post for EU (and US) regulators - just for doing "good business" in his mind.

Maybe he's just trying to spend more time with his kids and his wife in doing something worthwhile with his pile of dough.

Trying to solve the problem of world hunger and disease in 3rd world countries is a little harder than the Sunday crossword - but I for one think it's a really noble cause. Apparently so does his wife, Warren Buffett and loads of other (on both sides of the foundation's money).

So, Mr. Gates - as you're getting older, and your kids are growing up in front of your eyes - maybe it's time to just pick up a few (hundred) books at Amazon, kick back (ish) and see how you can influence another untapped area of humanity.

Best of luck!

Even Bill Gates Thinks Windows Usability Sucks

As this is the last few official days of Bill Gates' tenure as Chief Software Architect at Microsoft - there has been a lot of retrospectives floating around.

Some of them are banal, boring and obvious - but there are a few Gems as well. The one that I particularly like is an ancient email (from 5 years ago) that he wrote to the Windows XP team blasting them for making the OS do really stupid things when he wanted to do something simple (install MovieMaker 2.0).

It's really a cool insight into the fact that the co-founder of the company uses the software and is frustrated by the same stuff that the rest of us are (even after 5 years has passed). It also just feels good that I'm not the only one who is fairly technical, yet is confused and scared when trying to install patches and programs with dependencies on other Microsoft technologies.

This is the text of the email that Todd Bishop of seattlepi.com dug up from the crypts (long):

---- Original Message ----

From: Bill Gates
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 10:05 AM
To: Jim Allchin
Cc: Chris Jones (WINDOWS); Bharat Shah (NT); Joe Peterson; Will Poole; Brian Valentine; Anoop Gupta (RESEARCH)
Subject: Windows Usability Systematic degradation flame

I am quite disappointed at how Windows Usability has been going backwards and the program management groups don't drive usability issues.

Let me give you my experience from yesterday.

I decided to download (Moviemaker) and buy the Digital Plus pack ... so I went to Microsoft.com. They have a download place so I went there.

The first 5 times I used the site it timed out while trying to bring up the download page. Then after an 8 second delay I got it to come up.

This site is so slow it is unusable.

It wasn't in the top 5 so I expanded the other 45.

These 45 names are totally confusing. These names make stuff like: C:\Documents and Settings\billg\My Documents\My Pictures seem clear.

They are not filtered by the system ... and so many of the things are strange.

I tried scoping to Media stuff. Still no moviemaker. I typed in movie. Nothing. I typed in movie maker. Nothing.

So I gave up and sent mail to Amir saying - where is this Moviemaker download? Does it exist?

So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated.

They told me to go to the main page search button and type movie maker (not moviemaker!).

I tried that. The site was pathetically slow but after 6 seconds of waiting up it came.

I thought for sure now I would see a button to just go do the download.

In fact it is more like a puzzle that you get to solve. It told me to go to Windows Update and do a bunch of incantations.

This struck me as completely odd. Why should I have to go somewhere else and do a scan to download moviemaker?

So I went to Windows update. Windows Update decides I need to download a bunch of controls. (Not) just once but multiple times where I get to see weird dialog boxes.

Doesn't Windows update know some key to talk to Windows?

Then I did the scan. This took quite some time and I was told it was critical for me to download 17megs of stuff.

This is after I was told we were doing delta patches to things but instead just to get 6 things that are labeled in the SCARIEST possible way I had to download 17meg.

So I did the download. That part was fast. Then it wanted to do an install. This took 6 minutes and the machine was so slow I couldn't use it for anything else during this time.

What the heck is going on during those 6 minutes? That is crazy. This is after the download was finished.

Then it told me to reboot my machine. Why should I do that? I reboot every night -- why should I reboot at that time?

So I did the reboot because it INSISTED on it. Of course that meant completely getting rid of all my Outlook state.

So I got back up and running and went to Windows Update again. I forgot why I was in Windows Update at all since all I wanted was to get Moviemaker.

So I went back to Microsoft.com and looked at the instructions. I have to click on a folder called WindowsXP. Why should I do that? Windows Update knows I am on Windows XP.

What does it mean to have to click on that folder? So I get a bunch of confusing stuff but sure enough one of them is Moviemaker.

So I do the download. The download is fast but the Install takes many minutes. Amazing how slow this thing is.

At some point I get told I need to go get Windows Media Series 9 to download.

So I decide I will go do that. This time I get dialogs saying things like "Open" or "Save". No guidance in the instructions which to do. I have no clue which to do.

The download is fast and the install takes 7 minutes for this thing.

So now I think I am going to have Moviemaker. I go to my add/remove programs place to make sure it is there.

It is not there.

What is there? The following garbage is there. Microsoft Autoupdate Exclusive test package, Microsoft Autoupdate Reboot test package, Microsoft Autoupdate testpackage1. Microsoft AUtoupdate testpackage2, Microsoft Autoupdate Test package3.

Someone decided to trash the one part of Windows that was usable? The file system is no longer usable. The registry is not usable. This program listing was one sane place but now it is all crapped up.

But that is just the start of the crap. Later I have listed things like Windows XP Hotfix see Q329048 for more information. What is Q329048? Why are these series of patches listed here? Some of the patches just things like Q810655 instead of saying see Q329048 for more information.

What an absolute mess.

Moviemaker is just not there at all.

So I give up on Moviemaker and decide to download the Digital Plus Package.

I get told I need to go enter a bunch of information about myself.

I enter it all in and because it decides I have mistyped something I have to try again. Of course it has cleared out most of what I typed.

I try (typing) the right stuff in 5 times and it just keeps clearing things out for me to type them in again.

So after more than an hour of craziness and making my programs list garbage and being scared and seeing that Microsoft.com is a terrible website I haven't run Moviemaker and I haven't got the plus package.

The lack of attention to usability represented by these experiences blows my mind. I thought we had reached a low with Windows Network places or the messages I get when I try to use 802.11. (don't you just love that root certificate message?)

When I really get to use the stuff I am sure I will have more feedback.

Viva Las Vegas

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

So I went to Las Vegas with some friends to celebrate my birthday. I hadn't been there in four or five years so, needless to say, there were five or ten new "mega attraction" hotels just waiting to swallow my hard-earned money.

We stayed at the Tropicana. When it was built - it was one of "the" places to be. Now, not so much. Although the pool is great - the food sucks and the slots are tighter than a... well, let's just say they don't pay off very much.

I'm convinced that the casino business is the best business model on the face of the planet. Where else in the country can you go and not see one single clock or calendar? It's true. All the flashing signs shout the praises of $4.99 prime rib, show video clips of upcoming concerts, and some even display ADS (like they're not making enough money!) - but there's not a clock to be found in the entire city.

Not only that - but I personally witnessed several people playing $5 and $10 slot machines. This means that for each "spin" it would cost $5 to $25 (1 to 5 "coins" per "spin"). And people would sit at these machines for HOURS. I also saw people playing at the $100 minimum blackjack tables. That's $100 PER HAND, mind you. All these suckers (myself included) kept throwing good money after bad - absolutely CONVINCED that they would win "the big one." Sheesh!

I wish that the software industry used the casino's business model. First of all - it would cost you money just to visit a web site (say, $10). Once you got on to the site, each link you clicked would cost you 25 cents... and there was a CHANCE that you would actually win the "big one" and go to the link you wanted.

Buying software would work the same way. You plunk down a small fee - say $10 and you can get started. You then insert money, pull the handle, and if you get a certain combination (say three cherries) you get a certain feature enabled. So, if you need email capabilities, you would have to keep pumping in money and trying your luck. You know it's possible, because you hear the sounds of glee and actually KNOW PEOPLE who have won. If you win the "big one" (odds are about 1,000,000,000 to 1) - you actually win the entire software with all the features intact.

Hmmmm... I wonder if I have Bill Gates' home number...

The Truman Show

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

I saw the movie "The Truman Show" this weekend... what a COOL movie!

Yep, if you liked the previous "The Crucible" review I did... you're in for another treat. If you hated the previous "The Crucible" review I did - then you can stop reading here.

OK, for those of you still here - the basic idea of the movie is that a human (yep - Truman Burbank played by Jim Carrey) was legally adopted by a large broadcasting company (OmniCam Corporation) for the sole purpose of providing a "real" TV show.

This poor person goes on about his life, without knowing that EVERYTHING in it is being controlled and manipulated by the "mad genius" Christof (played by Ed Harris) the person who conceived and has directed, produced and supervised it through it's entire 30 year run. Christof observes (directs) the entire show from a control room that is disguised as the moon (as in "man-in-the").

Truman lives in a beautiful beach side community called Seahaven. It's a typical picture-perfect little town, compete with beach, picturesque beach cottages, a small downtown including a bank, restaurant, hardware store, etc. However, the entire picture-perfect town of Seahaven is actually a gigantic sound stage. Truman's friends and family - everyone he meets, in fact - are actors - INCLUDING his WIFE, Meryl (played by Laura Linney).

To top it all off he lives every moment under the unblinking gaze of over 5,000 hidden TV cameras. I mean they have these things everywhere from the radio in his car, to behind the two-way bathroom mirror, to the bedroom, kitchen, and thousands of spots all over town. Literally, Truman's every move is caught on tape, and he doesn't know it.

Because it's a live TV show that's on 24 hours a day, seven days a week (including a live international feed) - WITHOUT any commercials. Everything in the show is "for sale." His wife, Meryl (a Carol Brady/Donna Reed/Shirley Jones combo), extolls the virtues of the coffee drinks, the house they live in, the car they drive... holy product placement, Batman!

I know what you're thinking - why the hell doesn't he just get in the car and drive away? Ah ha! It seems that there's only one bridge out of town - and that bridge crosses water. When Truman was a kid, his "father" drown so he's terrified about anything having to do with water, over water, etc.

Fast forward a bit.

He has received clues from some of the "actors" that his life is really a TV show. Of course, he doesn't believe it (I mean come on - would YOU??)... but then he realizes that it's all true. He still has no idea he's actually on a giant sound stage - and when he takes a route out of town, all of a sudden there's an instant traffic jam. He makes a U Turn, goes around the block, comes back to the same intersection and there's not a car on the street.

Good stuff! I won't ruin the ending, but it didn't suck nearly as bad as I thought it would.

So, this is the part of the program where I try to tie this movie into the computer industry... here's goes.

It might as well have been called "The Windows 98 Show." No matter what channel you tune to, or what magazine or newspaper or ezine you read, Windows 98 is the top story. No matter what country you live in.

Although "Christof" is a much cooler name than "Bill Gates" - they are both playing the wizard behind the curtain. Gates, like Christof, is the man behind the conception, production and direction of the entire show. There have been well over 5,000 cameras with "live" coverage of Windows 98, and there will no doubt be more as time goes on.

Like the product placements in Truman's world, everything on the Internet Explorer Desktop (oops, I mean "Windows 98 desktop") is for sale: IF #1 - you're NOT Netscape, #2 - you want to give exclusive content to Microsoft, AND #3 - they don't actually buy your company first.

Gates hasn't yet bought the moon, but he does have a $50 million home on Puget Sound from which he can control the entire show. The picture-perfect setting that Microsoft is trying to portray for Windows 98 users costs about as much as a huge sound stage, but thankfully, we're all free to leave at any time.

The Impending NC Revolution

So Steve Jobs will finally have the last laugh. He co-founded Apple, got booted out by the Board of Directors, started a new hardware company - NEXT - (that never caught on so they changed to a software company), and had enough money from his Apple holdings to buy Pixar. What a "visionary"... NOT!

But, like the unwanted guest in the movie Poltergiest, "...heeeeee'ssss baaaaaack.." but only as "interim CEO" a job he "never wanted."

Guess what? We don't want him EITHER. In the past few months, he's managed to fire (or in Applespeak, "..cause to excercise options..") of all the best and brightest Apple directors - Eileen Hancock, Guerino De Luca, and scads of others. I have it on good authority, from a person who works in highest levels at Apple, that Steve was actually seen walking down the halls in a fit saying to random people in the halls "You're fired! You're fired! You're all fired!".

Yeah, that's mature.

Better yet, he's ousted or "..caused to excercise options..." of almost all of the Board of Directors and replaced them with his own long-time, apple-bashing friends. The most distasteful of these has to be Larry Ellison (CEO and founder of Oracle - a kick-ass company with kick-ass products). Larry has had a "hunkering" for a new type of PC, called an NC (Network Computer) that has no internal hard drive. This type of computer would have a Java operating system, and would link to a powerful server computer to run all the applications.

Old Larry has been hyping his vision in the press, but as yet, no one has actually bought a NC computer, because they don't exist (in mass quantities). Now this makes really, really good demos at computer shows, but that's about it.

Now Larry has convinced Steve that NC's would be a good direction for Apple.

Danger! Danger! Danger Will Robinson!

What in the hell can Steve actually be thinking? I mean do we really want to return to the era of bell bottoms, tie dye, afros, and platform shoes? In the 70's and early 80's NC's (or "dumb terminals" as they were called) was the ONLY way of networked computing. The theory was that you have monitor and keyboard for all the lowly "users" and that all the applications and "cool stuff" to make it all work was housed in a big computer room under the watchful (and often tyrannical control) of the "MIS" department.

Then came the "desktop revolution" that de-centralized the control of the "dumb terminals" with the advent of the "personal" computer. Now every user had the ability to save, copy and open their own files, upgrade their hardware and software, and add new features to their computers without having to wait the 4 to 6 weeks for some MIS guy to "get around to it."

People liked it. Lots of folks sold lots of computers. Bill Gates became a billionaire (for the first time). It was good.

Now we're supposed to buy this NC thing? It's a simple return to the "good ol days" of centralized computing. It takes all the power from the user and re-instills it to the MIS department. Don't get me wrong, some of the MIS people I know aren't maniacle, power-hungry, tyrannical despots who lord their "keeper of the keys" mentality over every "lowly user"... but some are.

Do we really want to return to those days? As for me and mine - the answer is a resounding NO! Hell no, we won't go (NC).. hell no we won't go.. echos from the hallways as I write this.

Maybe I'm too cynical. I long for the kind of Apple that produced the in-your-face-IBM commercial in 1984. I wish for the Apple "evangelists" that would beg, cajole, and actually LISTEN to developers. Was it all for naught? Some say yes (i.e. ALL the PC press), some say no (like me, for now) and some are doing something about it.

If you REALLY want to recapture the passion of empowered computing check out this little company called Be Computing... I know I'll be watching them closely as the replacement for what the Mac COULD have been.

The Crucible

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

Okay, so this weekend I watched "The Crucible" with my Brother and Sister In-Law (Ron & Julie St. Amand - see? I DID mention you!). This movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis (hunk factor and strong, silent, type) and Winona Ryder (good actress that plays a psycho hose-beast) is set in Salem in the 1800's and about a young girl (Winona) who uses witchcraft to cast a spell wishing for the death of her former lover's (Day-Lewis) wife.

Sounds fun so far.

The highly repressed "Christian" people of Salem don't like the fact that Winona's uncle (the local preacher) has caught the girls... gasp... dancing in the woods. These folks see the devil in every corner of human expression, and well... they're really not happy about it.

Act II

They have a trial and put these "devil inside" young girls in the capable hands of the Magistrate (who makes Jesse Helms look like Larry Flint) to either; 1) help the girls confess that the devil has inhabited them, tell them all other people the devil as got a hold of, get exorcised, and go free, or 2) hang by the neck until dead. Choices... choices...

Winona gets the idea that if she "confesses" (and implicates other innocent people to back up the fact that she "sees" the devil in them too) then she can avoid the rope. The townsfolk buy the crap she dishes out, and several unlucky people (including the old "healer" woman who's never hurt a fly in her life) are arrested and sentenced to death.

Meanwhile, Daniel Day-Lewis and his wife (she don't know that ol' Daniel and Winona played hide the salami) are having problems of their own. It seems that one of the girls on trial is staying with them, and that the wife's name "came up a bit" at the trial (courtesy of Winona). Hell-bent on setting the record straight, Day-Lewis marches into court to confront the Magistrate and Winona.

Music builds...

Day-Lewis spills the beans that he and Winona had sex (much to the chagrin of the court), and his wife is brought in to confirm that's why she asked Winona to leave their house. Now, the wife (who has two adorable pre-teen boys), loves her husband, and to protect his "honor" she lies and says that she kicked Winona out (and I'm paraphrasing here) because she sucked as a housekeeper.

She is accused of being a witch (i.e. "devil inside"), and so is he. They're both arrested and taken to the holding jail to await their number to be called for the public hanging.

Fast forward...

The Magistrate offers Day-Lewis a deal; if he will "confess" to being a puppet of the devil, then they won't hang him and his wife will live at least until she gives birth to the baby (his) that she's carrying. Herein lies the moral dilemma. Day-Lewis is an honorable man who's done nothing wrong except disagree that the devil is behind every corner, and that people are people, and sometimes stuff happens.

Because he's honorable, he agrees to sign a piece of paper that will free himself and his wife. The local preacher (psycho that he is) - insists that the paper be hung from the church door (the equivalent of posting it to their web site). Day-Lewis, being the honorable man he is, decides at the last minute that having his "name" soiled is not worth it.

He is lead to the gallows (along with two other innocent people whom you've come to admire during the movie), and is the last one to be kicked off the scaffold (you hear necks breaking). Closeup on the taught rope. Roll credits.

Today's computer industry is very similar. Apple (Day-Lewis) was seduced once by the Press (Winona) and has gone on public trial for having "non Intel Inside." The Magistrate (Bill Gates, et al) is offering a way out ("we'll continue to develop for the Mac as long as Steve Jobs takes the helm, otherwise we won't"). It's up to Apple (Day-Lewis) to determine whether everything they've stood for (their name and OS) will give in to remain alive (and keep their wife [clone makers] and their unborn baby [Rhapsody] alive), or whether they will face death rather than give up their principles.

Even though they're on the path to the gallows, the rope has not yet been put around their neck. There's still time... we hope.