The drive to coerce users into buying unneeded upgrades has resulted in bloated tools to do simple things. Bad software has often canceled out gains in hardware speed. A computer might be faster in theory, but if it's not more convenient from a human perspective, the gain is illusory. It's not a quantity problem, but a quality problem. Meanwhile, the desktop interface is becoming more cluttered and confusing, thanks to Microsoft.
Digital monopolies are inevitable.
The dynamics of standards are brutal. A digital product that survives long enough has no competitors. The only way it can die is if its niche dies. In the last five years, Bill Gates has become the richest person in the world and software has become a vital element of American economic power. Our notion of productivity has changed in a subtle way.