On Fri, 2005-06-24 at 12:50 +0800, Clair Ching wrote: > On 6/24/05, JM Ibanez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On 6/23/05, Dean Michael Berris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > <snip> > > > > computer shop that doesn't offer computer games. It can be shown that in > > > urban areas, computer shops are easily substituted for gaming arcades -- > > > in that almost all the people that pay to play in computer shops would > > > want to play games more than surf the net. > > > > I guess it varies from one area to another. Take for example the > shops near schools (more like universities). A lot of the customers, > as far I have observed, are into typing and internet surfing rather > than gaming :) >
Granted, a demographic survey of your potential market will be very helpful. If in case you ask them what operating systems they know, you'd be surprised at how very little will know Linux (perhaps we can do something about it, but that's another discussion), and there is also a small portion of these people who will prefer to use Linux over windows in their computer shops. For my case, I go to computer shops to be able to do things that I can not do on my laptops with Linux -- which is use Windows and Microsoft Applications. Yes, I know there are alternatives, but when it requires me to use M$ products that I don't have a license to use/install on my systems then I pay to use computer shop services. Of course, this all comes with proper market research, and demographic information in different areas. YMMV ika nga. ;) <snip /> > > > > Why would this be a Good Thing? Well, in this case, the shop owner can > > concentrate on providing more services to his clients-- it's a win-win > > situation. People can listen to streamed music while gamers have > > lag-free Ragnarok. With such a gateway box, the owner could likewise > > True. That would give customer satisfaction :D A must! > Yes, and you have to conform to your customer's needs in this age of business to become and stay competitive. Forcing your customers to use Linux wouldn't be good business sense, but giving them an alternative offer (perhaps a discount on the cost of using Linux based systems instead of M$ based systems) would be one way of going about it. Sabi nga, if there's a will, there's a way. ;) > > expand into other uses (say, being able to hook up a monitoring client > > or even a cafe timekeeper), without too much additional cost. And the > > enabling technology here is the Linux gateway-- not the desktop. ;) > > > > So maybe the desktop isn't a good fit at the moment. Big deal. The > > backend is also an enabler, and does make good business sense. > > > > Then again, case to case basis =) Depends on one's market. I suppose > that this plan of the shop owner you have talked with is a win-win in > his case and I think that he has really given it much thought. And > that is good because it means that he has been looking around for > means to keep his business running. > > In the case of the shop in Philcoa, I think that they'd be fine with > Linux on the desktop because of the needs of their customers which are > school-related more than gaming. There are other shops that offer > games in the area and I guess that they have specific markets already. > > The good thing here is that there are various approaches and solutions > that are available to them =) > True. Which is basically what businessmen consider when acquiring systems. And the best thing for businessmen is to be able to consider all the viable options to solve a problem or fill a need. Somehow, they think that having someone to call 24x7 when something's wrong without having to pay for the benefits and time of another employee is a more cost-effective solution for their case. > > > It boils down really to where the money is -- and right now (AFAIK) > > > Linux/Open Source and Computer Shops do not mix well, and that's not > > > where the money is. > > > > This is where I beg to differ. Although Linux will not prosper *at > > front*, it will, as I point out, prosper at the backend. Eventually, > > of course, we'll see shops with Linux desktops. Soon, my pretties. ;) > > > > Sounds like a Grand Plan to me ;) And sure looks like a very good one at that. ;) > > > > > > However, I still like Linux and it's place in the market -- only not in > > > computer shops. > > > > Sometimes it's the invisible presence that counts more than the visible one. > > > > Let's wait and see what happens next. These might be exciting times =) > I'll join in on the waiting. :D -- Dean Michael C. Berris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> GPG Key: 0x08AE6EAC http://mikhailberis.blogspot.com Mobile: +63 921 7841815
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