____/ Mark Kent on Tuesday 15 January 2008 09:43 : \____
> [H]omer <spam@xxxxxxx> espoused:
>> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>>> Asus Says Eee PC is Most Successful Product Ever
>>
>> Cool!
>>
>
> This is a particularly interesting snippet of news, which might not
> appear to be very important, but in fact, shows that another major
> hurdle for linux adoption has been overcome. Asus is a hardware vendor
> which has shown that supplying a linux-based machine in direct
> competition with Microsoft-based machines can not only be successful,
> but can, in fact, lead the company into greater success than ever
> before.
Soooo.... does that mean that Linux is "ready for the desktop"?
> Products like TomTom, Nokia N800, Motorola A680 etc., Gamepark GP2X, Tivo
> and many others entered markets which were *not* Microsoft dominated,
> and all have had respectable success.
I look at a large number of news items per day. Windows appears to have totally
lost devices. Most of them appear to run Linux, but sometimes you have to look
closer to find out because it isn't mentioned explicitly.
> Asus Eee entered a market in direct competition with Microsoft's
> offering, indeed, in a market segment which Microsoft has monopolised
> for more than a decade, the laptop/portable computer.
If Microsoft does not go back to XP (as some people predict), then it's in
serious trouble. Some say they should maintain separate codebases, but then
again, Microsoft has just patented the modular O/S, so there's a plan. Have
you noticed the undeniable fact that many executives have been dumping the
company since the year began? A veteran and key Windows developer gave up as
well (yesterday, the Microsoft blog let the word go out).
> In just a few months, Asus' Eee has become their most successful ever
> product, demonstrating that Microsoft's hold on the laptop market is
> over. With competition from Apple from the top-end of the market, and
> Asus, OLPC and more from the bottom end of the market, Microsoft lack
> any clear direction.
Remember that Asus released all the source code, so any company can now use
that as a starting point and mimic the Eee. OLPC's former CTO intends to make
$75 Linux laptops. Vista without restrictions costs about $730 in Holland
(without any hardware and no software like an office suite). Intel is fearful
for similar reason. Cost proporations are going mad and Intel's stock crashed
last week for this reason (never mind the corruption and antitrust).
> They cannot compete on hardware quality and user
> interface with Apple, and they cannot remotely compete on price with
> Linux-based machines. Indeed, as Microsoft's market share continues to
> fall, they will need a *greater* margin per sale than ever before in
> order to keep their group margin positive, in an environment where they
> can charge less and less, and an equivalent and/or superior offering,
> Linux with OO.org is free.
Microsoft's last chance (long-term) is taxing Linux. That's why battling
Novell-like deal is crucial. We need not to lose all 'forts'. Novell and
Linspire will go away, in due time. Both were struggling before giving up to
Ballmer.
> This does indicate that the desktop computer market, that last bastion
> of Microsoft's monopoly, will not be long in being conquered. That the
> relevance of the desktop is waning fast is also not missed by many
> observers, so again, the twin impact of a dwindling desktop market
> coupled with a free, equivalent and/or superior offering of linux plus
> oo.org, indicates that Microsoft have only a few years, or perhaps even
> months, during which they can squeeze that market before it is no longer
> able to support Microsoft's voracious needs for cash.
Tomorrow's desktop is today's internet tablet. The desktop may become secondary
in terms of market presence. With projected mobile keyboards and head-worn
displays, it's hard to tell where things will go. As Microsoft's monopoly is
weakened, /real/ innovation will finally be rewarded and thus encouraged.
> Microsoft's attempts to impose a new Microsoft tax on Linux through
> companies such as Novell, Linspire and Turbo-Linux as well as by tying
> up major institutions such as the BBC, The National Archives, The
> British Library, the US Library of Congress and others have not proven
> to be particularly successful, indeed, the experience with the BBC has
> led to the BBC DG being questioned in parliament about the massive costs
> and abject failures of the programmes with Microsoft. No doubt the same
> questions will soon be asked of the National Archives and the British
> Library.
I put together a lengthy type of report about this over the weekend. Microsoft
plays the same type of tricks in the US. Even the Library of Congress will
be 'infected' soon.
> Perhaps, one day, it will be possible to view Magna Carta in all its
> glory, with the best possible eXPerience, using any standards-compliant
> system stack, rather than having to choose one from Microsoft. And
> perhaps that day is not so far away.
MPs like John Pugh will keep their feet on fire, hopefully. With fera of
getting caught (in bed with Microsoft), we might see less of that corruptuion.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | Windows: backward-compatible, even for viruses
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT GNU/Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
run-level 2 2007-12-10 11:12 last=
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