Sir, Matthew Hickford (letter, June 14) is right only in his factual account of the origins of the internet. The rest of his letter, including his coy reference to Microsoft as “a certain American corporation”, is prejudiced nonsense.
Most of us have no more need to understand the inner workings of our software than we need to know the details of our car’s increasingly complicated technology. Once upon a time the Ford Model T dominated the motoring world; then came General Motors and then Toyota.
If Microsoft doesn’t supply the best products, it will be overtaken by other software suppliers. What is certain is that the winners will be commercial organisations, not the geeky free-software fraternity. I can’t think of anything more stupid for the Government to waste our money on.
ADRIAN EVANS
London SE24