On Tue, Feb 03, 2004, Shlomi Fish wrote about "Better Deals from Microsoft [was Re:
Debian-installer i18n bidi and Hebrew news.]":
> Why should it? If Microsoft lowers its price, it would be good for the
> customers, who can get the software at a sane price. And it would be good
> for us and here's why:
Your arguments are correct, but you should be aware also of the negative
aspects of Microsoft's "dumping" practices (selling some software for cheap,
to achieve some other goal such as better sales for a second product, or
more importantly destroying competition with less cash reserves and achieving
a monopoly).
For example, I have seen more than once on web-sites (Israeli web-sites,
especially... :( ), a message saying something like:
"This site only works on Internet Explorer. Click *HERE* to get the
this browser, for free!"
In other words, the cheaper Microsoft products become, the more likely they
are to achieve their 100% monopoly (instead of their current 98% monopoly :))
and destroy any hope of having open standards.
And in case somebody missed this obvious fact yet: this is exactly why
piracy helped, rather than hurt, Microsoft. It is this piracy which allowed
Microsoft products to be available for $0, and help it corner the market.
Only after it cornered the market - and after over a decade of continued
piracy of Microsoft software - Microsoft finally decided to do something
against piracy. Maybe they realised that now they no longer have anything
to lose. Well, they forgot about Linux :)
> Of course, I would prefer if the Government would try to convert as many
> people to OpenOffice or Linux, so they'll be motivated to fill in the
> gaps. If I were the government, I would have demanded Microsoft to either
> reduce their prices globally in Israel, or suffer the consequences.
I don't want the government to convert anyone to OpenOffice or Linux.
I want the goverment (and every other institution or company) to realize
that some users are using Linux, some are using Macintosh, some are using
BSD, or whatever, and some (a large majority) are using Windows. Allowing
all these people to use the services is more important, much more important
in fact, than providing a "snazzy" interface. And if you insist on a snazzy
interface, spend a little more time and make it work in all known browsers,
including a text browser.
> Note that I never support closed formats. They are a major form of
> headaches, and even Microsoft got a bad reputation for lack of proper
> backwards compatibility between its (at least Hebrew) office versions. A
> vendor should always document his formats or else I'll never choose to buy
> his products. (albeit it's perfectly legitimate for others to burn
> themselves at that - it's a free world.).
These close formats are exactly the reason Microsoft got its monopoly. They
don't care if *you* buy their product - everyone else does :(
--
Nadav Har'El | Tuesday, Feb 3 2004, 12 Shevat 5764
[EMAIL PROTECTED] |-----------------------------------------
Phone: +972-53-790466, ICQ 13349191 |Life is what happens to you while you're
http://nadav.harel.org.il |busy making other plans. - John Lennon
=================================================================
To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command
echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
