Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> __/ [ [H]omer ] on Saturday 28 April 2007 06:16 \__
>
>> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>>> Is Novell Poised for a Turnaround? It Doesn't Look Like It
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | Is this the same Novell that in every quarter for more than a year
>>> | either missed analysts' targets or made disappointing forecasts? Is
>>> | this the same Novell where less than 10 percent of annual revenue
>>> | is actually open source-related? Is this the same Novell that upset
>>> | the open source community by signing away its soul to Microsoft?
>>> `----
>>>
>>> http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070427/33755_id.html?.v=1
>>>
>>> That's what one gets for 'getting together' with Microsoft.
>>
>> Ballmer's bribe didn't help then?
>>
>> Well ... it helped Ballmer, certainly.
>
> http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070426/33579_id.html?.v=1
>
> [Ballmer:] "If somebody came to you and said you have a new competitor that
> has no price and has no cost structure you might stay up a night or two on
> that one."
>
> Google has made him lose some sleep. I'm telling you, that guy is mental.
>
The problem is that Ballmer and Microsoft just do not comprehend the
development/support model of business. They are still 100% wedded to
the lock-in model, with licensing as their revenue stream. I can see
why, though, as it is extremely lucrative, and really, you don't need to
deliver a great deal. Of course, when someone comes along with the
right product for the development/support model, then your particular
house of cards will collapse, which is precisely what has happened to
Microsoft.
There was an opportunity for them to stem the tide by adopting linux and
building their applications on top - they would've managed to hang on to
probably one more round of lock-in, but their insatiable desire for
insane levels of lock-in seems to have prevented them from pursuing that
angle.
They still have an amazingly large number of fans out there who would
leap onto a reasonable product given half a chance, and have been
genuinely convinced by the anti-Linux/anti-GPL/anti-FSF FUD, but every
day here we see another bunch of Ubuntu conversions or Dell preloads or
new linux devices, phones, sat navs, palmtops, games machines, so even
the most die-hard Microsoft fans must be questioning whether the crowd
has gone the other way.
Google does, of course, have a cost structure, as do Microsoft. Unlike
Microsoft, however, Google do not rely on lock-in for their business.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
|
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