SOMETIMES a seemingly modest business deal can change the course of an industry. This is particularly true in high tech. In 1980, IBM licensed an obscure piece of software known as DOS from an unknown start-up called Microsoft—thus creating the conditions for Bill Gates to build the world's largest software firm. Will a settlement announced on May 29th between Microsoft and AOL Time Warner, a huge media conglomerate, one day be seen as the birth of another Microsoft killer application: the platform for delivering music, video and other digital content?
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