Technological Communism?

I believe as a society, for technology to properly advance at any sort of speed new ideas and new methods have to evolve around a core goal. But who defines this core goal, who gets that responsibility?
At the moment, we have 2 major factors (in fact the only two factors short of the total expenditure of all the silicone on the planet) that I would say are pivotal in the development of our future technological advancement.

Firstly, there is hardware. Hardware is a very fractal industry, because for every great company There are 10 or 20 smaller companies producing shit. I can't count the times I've gone to purchase a small peripheral, maybe a USB card or 'Data-Fax Modem' and found that I had brought a funky piece of kit with Japanese instructions and out of date drivers. Possibly, if I'm lucky they will have a website that I might be able to arduously extract the newer drivers from, if there are any, and if I'm lucky. But I digress. The hardware industry only requires that people know how to build PCBs and produce them. It's a relatively easy process for a small company to just come along and build a peripheral quickly. They don't even have to get the parts fitted themselves, they can just send the designs off to a board manufacturer and bob is their immediate uncle.
This process gets more complicated further up the technological line. This is where you have outstanding companies, like Asus, Intel, AMD, XFX , Gigabyte, Corsair, nVidia, Kensington, LaCie, ATI, Seagate and Western Dig, this list could go on. Without these companies, we would be nowhere. Granted, some are just good brands. But some have helped shape our present position. Without Intel's x86, where would we be now? Without nVidia & ATI's constant competition to better each other, where would we be now? Would we be better off, Or worse? I can only speak for the present though, and I think we are in a very comfortable position, technologically speaking. In part, it is this healthy competition in the hardware industry that keeps us progressing at such an astonishing rate.

Now to my second factor, Software. Just like the Hardware industry, the Software industry is very diverse. Many companies produce software, but few companies produce exceptionally good software. The wide variety of software out there is just too vast to comprehend. However, this industry is a bit different, because although there is a lot of software, there is a huge imbalance towards only 3 'companies'. These 'companies' produce the 'grass roots' of the computer…the operating system.
Firstly, there is the market holder, Microsoft. This company has done a lot in terms of work done. But this article isn't about allotting praise to a company I happen to like - it's purely about the subject at hand.
Secondly, in second place, Apple, who unlike Microsoft class themselves as a Hardware and Software company. Which some say sets them apart from the rest.
And Finally, Last but by no means least, The Linux camp. I am bunching 'Linux' into one bracket. This isn't because I have a problem with Linux, it's just that the amount of different versions of linux would be too hard to list and describe.
It is fair to say at this point that most software in the world is generally written for Windows. Although software is ported around, if you do a search for software, you will generally find a windows app at the end of your journey.
The wonderful thing about all of these systems is that anyone could just swoop in and create a fantastic piece of software. For any of the operating systems.
This is where I think we have a bit of backward-ness from the industry. We have this industry Behemoth, Microsoft. Who got to where they are by, let's face it, being kinda bastard-ish. Screwing the little guy, or in the case of apple, screwing the big guy. Like a prison rapist. This put them in a position to properly shape where we are now. The real question is, did they have that right? Microsoft are a true capitalists dream. But are they entitled to the position they are currently in?
Let us for a minute place the shoes on another OS' feet. Let's say for instance that the year is 1985 (The year I was born). The Apple board of directors decided not to fire Jobs but to keep him where he was. In this scenario, by 1990, Apple had defeated Microsoft…What would happen then?

It has long been Apple's direction, especially Steve Job's direction, to not allow other people to produce apple computers. Everything would be designed and manufactured by Apple and their contractors. No OEM stuff. What would this do to the software industry, and in turn the hardware industry? Although Linux would still exist, how successful would it be when apple dominate the market and all their hardware is secret and patented. With Apple at the reigns, would we be anywhere near where we are now? The Hardware industry would basically be Apple's playground. If apple wanted Intel to produce all their chips, that would be it. No AMD, no IBM. Nothing.
The thing about Microsoft is that they are a pure software company. By them controlling the software market, it promotes healthy competition in the hardware market.
But surely dominance in one market is just as bad? Or is it? I would have to say that I would find it incredibly frustrating as both an IT person and a Web Designer if I had to learn more than a couple of OS' to do my job properly. And the amount of different practices and standards would be crazy. Although I think competition is good. There is a point where it works against the end goal. This was the case back in 1985 when NeXT, TRS-80, Commodore 64, Atarti ST, Amiga, Mac and IBM were all trying to get a chunk of the hardware/software pie.
Let's ask another question. In this fictional example, If by some feet of wonder, by the year 2011 apple were where they are now, but the only dominating force on the market, the glass and chrome standard, holding a 90% share in both hardware and software industries, probably doing all their own chip designs. What if apple wanted to start charging infinitely high prices? (More than the extortionate prices they charge in reality). They could, and you'd pay it. No other choice against a monopoly. And would you honestly trust apple to do the right thing for the consumer, or do you think that Steve would think he knows best and gives you what he tells you to want? I don't.
Now, here comes the conclusion. I don't think that Microsoft necessarily deserve to be where they are. But I sure as hell like what they have done. Personally I find it quite funny that they played a part in crippling apple the first time round. But that's my opinion. Now whether or not you like Windows is beside the point. If you play the same scenario with any other operating system as the market leader, Nothing is quite as scary and baron as the existence where apple have global dominance.
Apple show their true colours all the time. Suing one company after another in a desperate and sad attempt to own all and 'just work'. The Computing industry survives on ideas, and the one thing Microsoft's dominance HAS brought us for sure is an open Hardware market where things progress as fast as they can.
This is almost like a partial communism. Although the companies involved in our present level of development are technically only working to beat the other guy. They are, by a beautiful swing of fate pushing our society into the future. Hand in hand with software developers who have the ease and harmony of being able to communicate in one voice through one main platform. I personally wouldn't trust apple with the job of instigating free speech (Apple Gestapo). The same applies to the software of course. Games are a prime example. One game comes out which has some awesome new methodology, the next game tries to better that, through competition comes advancement of our race.
I don't even know if anyone is going to agree with me on this one. It's a little bit philosophical and really, no one can design an accurate parallel universe. All I can do is ask some questions and hope that people will understand what I am driving at.

But ok, I'll make it simple – APPLE = EVIL, EVIL=BAD, BAD=NO PROGRESSION.