A Case for Unbundling
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computer needs to be as simple to use as an appliance. Whenever you switch it on, it enters a mode of full operation.
When you install software on it, everything should be set up completely, without a hitch.
Failing to achieve a simple installation, it’s clear that something is amiss.
PCs should be sold separately from software. If the software is trivial to install, then it can be offered as an option alongside hardware. It only takes minutes to install from a CD-ROM.
A good set of software can also include customised images and plenty of software of interest, such as an office suite.
Why can’t PCs be sold without an operating system? Because, as Microsoft wishfully argues, customers would struggle to install the operating system.
So make it easier.
Windows will continue to be a hard-to-install mess as long as it provides this argument that Joe Sixpack can’t have it installed.
In other words, as long as Windows is bad, it’s more likely to be bundled, without the offering of choice.
Apple and its separate universe of ‘xenophobic’ hardware and software is another matter altogether.
Should houses also be built with furniture bolted in? Or restaurant serve just one meal because choice is bad and cooking is too complicated?
Being a norm does not make anything right or acceptable.
