But debates over technology will be with us for years and any wisdom gained from this trial will make a difference as citizens and consumers gain a better understanding of how monopoly players can distort and undermine technology markets. That wisdom is the key step in citizens demanding the open standards and democratic access to technology that advocates like NetAction see as the only route to broad- based innovation that serves all citizens. A software company is born when a single person has a dream to bring a software program to life. With the help of friends and supporters, the software program comes to life over a period of months. The excitement is palpable when the process nears completion, for software, like music, is created from thin air.
Software is a product of the imagination.
On the flip side of the coin, here's how a software company dies. Late at night the founder tosses and turns in bed, and realizes that no infusion of time, work or money can keep the company alive. While the birth of a software company is often a public event, its death is quiet and private. What isn't private, though, is the dream that died. The death of dreams has public effect.