____/ Mark Kent on Sunday 02 March 2008 08:57 : \____
> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>> ____/ Linonut on Saturday 01 March 2008 16:44 : \____
>>
>>> * Roy Schestowitz peremptorily fired off this memo:
>>>
>>>> The EU's New Heat on Microsoft
>>>>
>>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>>| On top of fines and new inquiries, Microsoft is in danger of EU
>>>>| governments effectively banning its software to create documents
>>>>|
>>>>| [...]
>>>>|
>>>>| Compatibility Advantage
>>>>|
>>>>| The new European investigations come as Microsoft finds itself in danger
>>>>| of seeing EU governments effectively ban its software to create
>>>>| documents. The European Commission and its member states have been
>>>>| mulling a mandate that all government documents be created in the Open
>>>>| Document Format (ODF), an open source competitor to the proprietary
>>>>| format used in Microsoft Word.
>>>> `----
>>>>
>>>>
>>
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2008/tc20080227_967982.htm?campaign_id=yhoo
>>>
>>> Didn't that hostile goober, Ballmer, once threaten to remove Windows
>>> from the European market?
>>>
>>> Promises promises.
>>>
>>> Well, if you want something done, ya gotta do it yerself.
>>
>> Microsoft /needs/ Europe. Very few countries pay (or can afford to pay) for
>> Windows and Office. Always remind yourself that no matter how many
>> people /use/ these cash cows, not many people actually /pay/ for these. The
>> European market is more affluent, so that's where a lot of Microsoft's
>> income will arrive from.
>>
>> People get distracted by Windows and Office 'market share', but how many
>> people in China and India, for example, actually pay for the software (esp.
>> outside the business setting)? Oh, and be sure that not many people use the
>> XBox and the Zune outside the US. In fact, even though I cannot recall the
>> specifics at the moment, Germany rejected the Zune (or maybe Microsoft did
>> not introduce it there because it was abysmal).
>>
>
> I've always been amused by the threat of "we'll withdraw from one our
> our largest and most profitable markets just to spite you". It doesn't
> really seem to be very scary, does it?
It's more like blackmail (that swpatent story from Denmark comes to mind).
Maybe they should talk about those poor children who want Zunes and make that
sentimental blackmail a la:
Sentimental blackmail: (RED)mond && Dell
,----[ Quote ]
| Recently, Microsoft is luring you with a tag line like this: "Windows and
| Dell are proud partners of (PRODUCT) RED™ — New PCs designed to help
| eliminate AIDS in Africa."
|
| [...]
|
| This is one of the most abject way of creating a psychological dependency of
| Windows Vista Ultimate: making people buy it for giving them the peace of
| mind that they helped to save lives in Africa!
`----
http://beranger.org/index.php?page=diary&2008/02/03/22/48/51-sentimental-blackmail-red-mond-a
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | Open syntax, Open API's, Open standards
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
11:20:01 up 37 days, 21:14, 3 users, load average: 0.87, 0.90, 1.00
http://iuron.com - Open Source knowledge engine project
|
|
