Microsoft's Failure and the Success of the Market

Ten years ago, Microsoft was on top of the world. Newspapers predicted it would rule the world and governments from Europe to the United States launched antitrust investigations, set on breaking up the company that seemed well underway to establishing a permanent monopoly.

In just a few short years, Microsoft is on the decline. Competitors who once complained of its "Death Star" might are doing better in new areas of information technology. What happened? The Huffington Post explains:

In short, changing appetites of the marketplace, technological evolution and questionable decision-making inside Microsoft itself have combined to accomplish what antitrust regulators never did: rolling back the company's dominance and opening the terrain for newer, nimbler entrants.

Imagine that. The free market at work.