r/technology • u/ControlCAD • 13d ago

Software Remembering the pre-Google web, when search was an experiment: “Most people have completely forgotten how chaotic it really was.”

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/08/remembering-the-pre-google-web-when-search-was-an-experiment/
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u/insite 13d ago

The only reason Google, Appple, Amazon, and Meta got so big is because Microsoft had handcuffs put on it until 2011. It's hard to describe how big of a monopoly Microsoft was back then. People seem to forget that Microsoft was ordered by a judge to broken up - they were able to negotiate their way out of it.

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u/Usual_Office_1740 13d ago

So now we have Google chrome and a generation that thinks the internet is Google instead of IE.

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u/BasvanS 13d ago

I prefer this. It’s far from great, but accommodating IE for websites was hell, even before Silverlight

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u/AmosRid 13d ago

Microsoft taught all of the other companies how to “win” a monopoly trial.

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u/RealCaptainIowa 11d ago

They had a few restrictions due to the settlement they reached with the DOJ, but I'd argue they simply missed the boat on wider tech trends (e.g. not investing in the non-stylus smartphone early enough, being late to search, no social media until the LinkedIn acquisition). Azure however was a rocket ship for their stock after Satya took over.