Brendan Tompkins [MVP]

Blog First. Ask Questions Later.

Don't Misunderstand Darwin...

Just wanted to make a small point about Frans Boumas latest post. Which has really fired up some people, BTW. Good post, but classic Darwinism may be misrepresented here.

Don't get me wrong, I think that Darwinism is at play here, AND that Firefox is superior in many ways BUT, that IE May still win out, even in it's current incarnation. See, Darwinism doesn't propose that the "best" will win out, simply that the "fittest" will. What is fit may not be what's best, epecially in terms of features, performance, security, etc. - the things we developers look for. This is a common misunderstanding of Darwinism.

IE may be "selected for" for other reasons, completely unrelated to features we devleopers look for. Anything that it does to promote it's use will be selected for. IMO, IE will win out, because Microsoft owns the environment, therefore controls, for the most part, what is the most "fit" for the platform.

-Brendan

Published Dec 21 2004, 06:57 AM by Brendan Tompkins

Comments

Frans Bouma said:

"See, Darwinism doesn't propose that the "best" will win out, simply that the "fittest" will. What is fit may not be what's best, epecially in terms of features, performance, security, etc. - the things we developers look for. This is a common misunderstanding of Darwinism."

Exactly!

And now the point: my (apparently idiot) point of view is that 'the environment' (the internet) requires change to the user (change browsers) to survive in that environment, i.e.: if you don't change (change browsers), you are less fitting into the hostile environment the internet is today and will likely 'die' (i.e. avoid being online).

Make no mistake, the group who is already too afraid to use the computer because of spyware and malware is very very big and growing fast. No wonders MS bought that anti-spyware company the other day.

Your remark:
"IMO, IE will win out, because Microsoft owns the environment, therefore controls, for the most part, what is the most "fit" for the platform."
is IMHO debatable as I don't see that MS owns the environment (i.e the internet), on the contrary... :)

# December 21, 2004 2:33 AM

Frans Bouma said:

Just to add: Darwin explicitly doesn't say that if you're LESS fit you'll die out. Only the UNFIT or the individuals which are too less fitting in the disadvantages are too big will die out.

So projecting that on the subject at hand, IE-followers still can survive on the internet, it is however less likely they'll do so as the environment gets more hostile with the day and IE doesn't offer them enough protection, which makes them easy prey. :)

# December 21, 2004 2:36 AM

Brendan Tompkins said:

Good points Frans! So is the Internet the platform? I'm not sure? To many, many people, MSN or Compuserve or AOL is the platform - not the Internet. These services are specifically designed to separate themselves from the Internet at large - which is a hard task.

The Grandparents of the world, and the Online shoppers see the Internet though these platforms. These use, for the most part, IE. Commerce sites will be tailored for these people, and to IE. IE will work best for these people, and will be fitter, although it's really less secure, slower, etc.

Need an example. Go to www.christmas.com. See the pretty snowflakes? If you don't, you're not using IE!

# December 21, 2004 2:50 AM

Opera Lover said:

Ha! I see the damn snowflakes, and I am definitely not using IE. :P

# December 21, 2004 1:49 PM

Brendan Tompkins said:

Go Opera!

Frans. Sorry for spelling your name wrong. Won't happen again!

# December 22, 2004 5:36 AM

No Pun Intended said:

My comment is one that is concerned with radiation. what are the risks of exposure? (i. e shut downs, maintenance, failures, etc) Plants are no different than any other plant. (i. e. gas, oil, pulp,etc) They all have there failures and maintenance schedules

# March 26, 2008 5:05 PM

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About Brendan Tompkins

Brendan has been programming with .NET since the first public beta and is owner and operator of Port Technology Services, a consultancy company providing .NET application development services to the Maritime industry. In July, 2007, he was awarded the Microsoft MVP award for ASP.NET. He's also a proud co-founder of failed .COM startup Intrinsigo, and has had a hand in the failure of numerous other businesses. He currently runs CodeBetter.Com and Devlicio.us, and lives in Norfolk, Virgina with his wife Tiara and son Ian.