It seems the Google model is the winner then? Give away the software interface client, and host the rest on a server rather than on the local machine, with revenue coming from ads.
The second bit is interesting. Read "Innovator's Solution" by Christensen and Raynor. When a product reaches a point where it is more than the majority of people want or need, they become unwilling to buy the latest and greatest and your market dwindles with each new generation. And when you're at that point, your market is poised for a disruption. Someone comes along with a cheaper, simpler version of your product that, while it won't meet the needs of the high-end consumer, will delight a great many consumers that didn't have ANYTHING. So while MS is, to a degree, cannibalizing its own market, it is better for MS to cannibalize the market itself than for someone else to do it.
Please God no. The last thing I want is a fuckin' Viagra ad popping up in the middle of my word processor.
Since Googles ads are based upon your search I'd love to know what you're writing in word that makes you think Viagra ads would be popping up.
They are just pricing at what the market will bear. Let's face it, there isn't a lot of reason to upgrade to Vista. It's not as bad as a lot of people are claiming... but there really isn't any reason to buy it... just wait until the next time you get a PC. MS will make money on pre-installed retail PCs in markets like china, not by selling boxed copies.
Yes, but profit margins there will be squeezed as well, especially looking at the $100 - $150 laptops they are making there. How much can they possibly charge for the OS on such a price? Make it too much and they'll just pre-install Linux instead. $3 per OS copy will not cover the costs of Windows development for MS. They need to transition from depending on Windows OS as its core business to other business models because that revenue stream will be drying up in the next decade. I seriously believe that Vista will be Microsoft's last hurrah in the OS market. Services are what the market is heading for, and in that regard, Microsoft is actually behind its competition, such as Google.
Well MS has already stated that this would be their final OS release of this manner. They are going to move to a more incremental approach.
Yeah, not even really the same market. The only possible way is if Google managed to pump enough money into Linux to get people to develop for it.
