Technologists aren’ t usually known for their sense of humor, but last week Scott McNealy, chief executive of Sun Microsystems, was working hard to come up with the Quip of the Day. For four contentious hours, he and another casualty of the software wars, Netscape’s Jim Barksdale, took turns before the Senate Judiciary committee slamming their nemesis, Bill Gates. They called him a predator, a monopolist, the "most dangerous and powerful industrialist of our age!. Microsoft’s Windows operating systems, driving 90 percent of the computers across the land, are the railroads of our dawning Information Age. No one person should be allowed to control them, they argued. Cyberspace should be open to all, Gates insisted it still was. He’s no monopolist, he told the senators. Windows is vulnerable. So is his company. "Technology is ever-changing," Gates retorted. Who knows what new wave will come along and sweep even mighty Microsoft into the dustbin of history To many that sounded a bit disingenuous, given Microsoft’s dominance, and the lawmakers were skeptical, to say the least. But might Gates be right Last week’s other big tech news gave just such a hint. First, Intel announced a surprise drop in first-quarter earnings. That was followed late Friday by report that Compaq’s financials would also be disappointing. Demand for computers seems to be slowing, analyst suggested--a trend due in part to a range of short-term factors, including Asia’s economic crisis. "I don’ t think we have clear date either as a company or an industry as to what these numbers mean," says Intel spokesman Howard High, True enough. But the slowdown is a sharp reminder that consumer demand for computers has fallen short of the hype surrounding the Info Revolution. Three years ago, 31 percent of U.S. house holds owned a computer. Today, 40 percent do. "We should be at 60 to 65 percent," says Nick Donatiello, president of Odyssey Communications, a San Francisco market-research firm. For most Americans, he suggests, the personal computer is not yet the indispensable tool that digital enthusiasts think it is. Today, new products are coming out that resemble computers but aren’t, and they may eventually appeal to frustrated consumers more than hard-to-use PCs. The computer "is a technology-driven device made by technologists for technologists who don’t know any better," says Donald Norman, senior technical adviser to Hewlett Packard. At the same time, new alliances between companies and industries are aiming to dash in on the Internet of tomorrow--without partnering with the titans of today. If all this poses a challenge for Intel, it portends even greater difficulties for Microsoft. All the challenges and threats pose a compelling question: if Microsoft enjoys the monopoly critics say it has, how long will it last According to the passage, it can be inferred that______.

A. Bill Gates is a monopolist
Bill Gates is complacent
C. Bill Gates is worried about the future of Microsoft
D. Bill Gates won’t ally with other companies except Intel