Oracle Corporation CEO Speaks to Students

Larry Ellison, chief executive officer of Oracle Corp., lost $2 billion in two days earlier this week when his company's stock plummeted, but the down-turn did not stop him from keeping his speaking engagement yesterday with the Harvard Computer Society.

Before a standing-room-only crowd of about 500 undergraduates and graduate students in Science Center C, Ellison briefly presented his vision of the Network Computer (NC) before engaging in an interactive dialogue with the audience.

"After the last few days, low-cost computers are more important to me than ever before," Ellison joked as he began his presentation.

According to Ellison, the relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use NC presents a viable alternative to the personal computer. Without built-in hard drives, NCs will offer word processing and research functions through network access coordinated on a remote server.

Dubbing the device "a simple, low-cost appliance," Ellison explained that uniformity of structure and reliance on Internet standards will make the NC the computing product of the future.

Ellison devoted a substantial part of his speech to ranting against Microsoft Corp.--"that company in Redmond"--displaying vitriol that drew laughter and applause from the crowd.

Ellison said his San Francisco-based firm, the second largest application company in the world, is "in the business of breaking other people's monopolies."

Although Ellison claimed "no malice of intent," he railed sharply against America's computer industry giant, Microsoft.

"Microsoft dominates with proprietary technology," Ellison said.

(The Justice Department yesterday ordered Microsoft to stop packaging its World Wide Web browsing software with its popular Windows operating system.)

He told the audience that Microsoft unfairly excludes competition by charging for the use of its operating systems.

Ellison also compared Microsoft's delivery of its word processing software to the kind of market planning that occurred in the former Soviet Union.

Throughout his discussion of the growing inefficiency of personal computers, Ellison attributed blame to monopolistic practices by Microsoft.

"Do you realize that if you upgrade from Microsoft Word Version 6 to Microsoft Word Version 7, you now have the ability to control how your misspelled words are underlined?" he asked.

He followed such attacks on the Gates empire with endorsements of the NC.

An advantage Ellison stressed was that the NC will render conventional operating systems irrelevant. Given the current Microsoft monopoly, Ellison said he thinks this development will be positive for consumers.

Many members of the audience did not seem surprised, only amused, when Ellison replied aggressively to a question about the current Justice Department investigation of Microsoft.

"If I were a federal judge," Ellison said, "I'd jail Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates and their families," referring to Microsoft's executive vice president, Steven A. Ballmer '77, and Gates, Microsoft's chief executive, who originally was in the Class of 1977 but left the College after his sophomore year.

The crowd reacted with laughter to most of Ellison's barbs.

"That guy has really got something against Microsoft," said Dylan M. Morris '99.

Despite the emotional pitch of his anti-Microsoft sentiment, some students said they found Ellison's presentation quite reasonable.

"The NC is a good idea," said Ron Rosenman '98, a computer-science concentrator. "Students won't have to drop $4,000 for a computer.

Dubbing the device "a simple, low-cost appliance," Ellison explained that uniformity of structure and reliance on Internet standards will make the NC the computing product of the future.

Ellison devoted a substantial part of his speech to ranting against Microsoft Corp.--"that company in Redmond"--displaying vitriol that drew laughter and applause from the crowd.

Ellison said his San Francisco-based firm, the second largest application company in the world, is "in the business of breaking other people's monopolies."

Although Ellison claimed "no malice of intent," he railed sharply against America's computer industry giant, Microsoft.

"Microsoft dominates with proprietary technology," Ellison said.

(The Justice Department yesterday ordered Microsoft to stop packaging its World Wide Web browsing software with its popular Windows operating system.)

He told the audience that Microsoft unfairly excludes competition by charging for the use of its operating systems.

Ellison also compared Microsoft's delivery of its word processing software to the kind of market planning that occurred in the former Soviet Union.

Throughout his discussion of the growing inefficiency of personal computers, Ellison attributed blame to monopolistic practices by Microsoft.

"Do you realize that if you upgrade from Microsoft Word Version 6 to Microsoft Word Version 7, you now have the ability to control how your misspelled words are underlined?" he asked.

He followed such attacks on the Gates empire with endorsements of the NC.

An advantage Ellison stressed was that the NC will render conventional operating systems irrelevant. Given the current Microsoft monopoly, Ellison said he thinks this development will be positive for consumers.

Many members of the audience did not seem surprised, only amused, when Ellison replied aggressively to a question about the current Justice Department investigation of Microsoft.

"If I were a federal judge," Ellison said, "I'd jail Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates and their families," referring to Microsoft's executive vice president, Steven A. Ballmer '77, and Gates, Microsoft's chief executive, who originally was in the Class of 1977 but left the College after his sophomore year.

The crowd reacted with laughter to most of Ellison's barbs.

"That guy has really got something against Microsoft," said Dylan M. Morris '99.

Despite the emotional pitch of his anti-Microsoft sentiment, some students said they found Ellison's presentation quite reasonable.

"The NC is a good idea," said Ron Rosenman '98, a computer-science concentrator. "Students won't have to drop $4,000 for a computer.