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Author Topic: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?  (Read 11637 times)

40hz

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Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« on: September 08, 2012, 01:16 PM »
In a previous thread we were discussing Migiel de Icazza's analysis of why he felt Linux failed to gain more widespread adoption on the desktop.

Now, from the good folks over at MakeUseOf comes this op-ed piece that I think hits the nail on the head about something Microsoft could - and likely may do - to drastically increase Windows 8's chances for adoption and success in the same environment.

savvy.png

Thinking Of Stealing Windows 8? Microsoft Probably Won’t Mind [Opinion]
    September 7, 2012
    By Erez Zukerman

Stealing is wrong. Downloading software illegally, without paying for it, and then using it, is wrong. There are no two ways about it. That said, I can’t help but feel that some companies want you to break the law. Take Adobe for example, whose discriminatory international pricing scheme actively encourages piracy.

In truth, companies sometimes derive important advantages from users stealing their software — widespread adoption being just one example. And recently, I couldn’t help but notice a confluence of factors that made me feel that Microsoft really won’t be very sorry if you steal Windows 8. Here’s why
.
.
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Right or wrong, the article does raise some important points about how having an app store, and gradually moving towards a closed (or at least more closely controlled) ecosystem, radically changes the business formula for Microsoft and its Windows users.

Read the full article here.

Carol Haynes

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2012, 03:07 PM »
Is it my imagination or does that look like Tim Minchin?


TaoPhoenix

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2012, 04:02 PM »
Sorry, I believe that "article" is of the purest cotton candy fluff - about as insubstantial and then sickening when you consume any of it.

It's purely the snark meme saying "go ahead, MS wants underground adoption blah blah." Sorry. Not if it means copyright infringement on that scale. *This* crowd should hopefully see through it. (Remember the SOPA PIPA ETC thread?)

It's that same stunt I ranted about a couple days ago on another thread. If you want it to be adopted, *make it something like Creative Commons truly free-as-in-beer at least*, even if not open source. Make a special "Community Edition". Then people can "share it" to their hearts content.

Instead, what this article refers to creates a permanent "Blackmail List" so that the MS execs can snicker and wink-wink-nod at the increased sales, but then when they need a good bat to whack someone with, they pull up your entry in the Terrorist Copyright Infringer list, and do a media slam on you. Sorry, not having any of that. (For context, some guy was saying he wanted to "explore piracy on sales with the same blah blah. I made him a special legit-to-share copy relabeled creative commons, and he magically backed away. Funny huh?)




40hz

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2012, 04:14 PM »
^Umm...did you actually read the referenced article? :)

TaoPhoenix

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2012, 11:21 PM »
^Umm...did you actually read the referenced article? :)

Yes, what parts of it I could before becoming nauseated. Still no mentions of Creative Commons Free Licensing. My points still stand.

40hz

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2012, 03:55 AM »
^Umm...did you actually read the referenced article? :)

Yes, what parts of it I could before becoming nauseated. Still no mentions of Creative Commons Free Licensing. My points still stand.

I see...

Well...I suppose one should never let what was actually said in an article get in the way of one's foregone conclusions. Or a good rant.

 ;) ;D

xtabber

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2012, 09:02 PM »
Some twenty years ago, WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 dominated the office software market and both had effective copy protection schemes.  Microsoft Word and Excel did not and were widely copied and distributed.  Once Microsoft's software became the dominant player in the office, it adopted a license activation scheme to prevent widespread piracy (at least by general users).

Today, Microsoft is in the position WordPerfect and Lotus were in two decades ago. The challenge to Windows is not Linux, but Android and iOS, which power the devices consumers are using more and more in lieu of PCs for everyday tasks.

I really don't see how selling Windows 8 for PCs makes any difference to Microsoft. Most people who acquire it will do so when they buy a new computer. Individual copy pricing is mostly for system builders anyway, and they have little choice in the matter.  The real battleground is on tablets and phones, and Microsoft is way behind there.

40hz

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2012, 09:27 PM »
Today, Microsoft is in the position WordPerfect and Lotus were in two decades ago. The challenge to Windows is not Linux, but Android and iOS, which power the devices consumers are using more and more in lieu of PCs for everyday tasks.

Bingo!

More and more it looks like it's going to be tablets and smartphones for the average Joe's day to day requirements.

PCs are now starting to transition back into office/business/professional environments. In short, they'll be found in the hands of those that want a PC because they still create content as opposed to exclusively consuming it.

Some twenty years ago, WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 dominated the office software market and both had effective copy protection schemes.  Microsoft Word and Excel did not and were widely copied and distributed.  Once Microsoft's software became the dominant player in the office, it adopted a license activation scheme to prevent widespread piracy (at least by general users).

Also spot on. Microsoft didn't push restrictive activation until it knew it had become the "standard" and there was no real competition left for either office productivity suites or a desktop OS. The competition had already quit the field by that point since they couldn't compete with software that was, for all practical purposes, available free of charge. And that's something I have heard certain employees of a certain company (purely off the record mind you!) acknowledge was part of their business plan.

There will always be a market for a 'real' personal computer. But as time goes on, I think the PC (as we know it today) will become more and more of a 'specialist' or 'professional' device. The average person wiil be content with a locked-down appliance as long as they can: surf the web, access their social sites, send and receive text messages and email, share photos, do a little shopping, play a game, watch a movie, listen to music, read a book, and generally be a consumer.

f0dder

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #8 on: September 10, 2012, 07:54 AM »
The average person wiil be content with a locked-down appliance as long as they can: surf the web, access their social sites, send and receive text messages and email, share photos, do a little shopping, play a game, watch a movie, listen to music, read a book, and generally be a consumer.
The ever-useful quote strikes again: "I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit - it's the only way to be sure".
- carpe noctem

40hz

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #9 on: September 10, 2012, 09:14 AM »
The average person wiil be content with a locked-down appliance as long as they can: surf the web, access their social sites, send and receive text messages and email, share photos, do a little shopping, play a game, watch a movie, listen to music, read a book, and generally be a consumer.
The ever-useful quote strikes again: "I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit - it's the only way to be sure".

To which I will +1 with the very next line in that script:
NSFW
Fuckin' A!

(Great movie btw!  :up: :up: ;) )
 ;D

TaoPhoenix

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #10 on: September 10, 2012, 09:22 AM »
How about "I am Sick and ****ing tired of a Tablet OS on my **********ing Desktop PC!"

(Samuel J. Jackson dramatization of seeing Windows 8 for the first time.)


Stoic Joker

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2012, 09:35 AM »
How about "I am Sick and ****ing tired of a Tablet OS on my **********ing Desktop PC!"

(Samuel J. Jackson dramatization of seeing Windows 8 for the first time.)



I'm thinking his middle initial is actually 'L' ... But either way you just gotta like the guy. I love that line from Snakes on a Plane.

Deozaan

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2012, 12:06 PM »
(Samuel J. Jackson dramatization of seeing Windows 8 for the first time.)

I'm thinking his middle initial is actually 'L' ... But either way you just gotta like the guy. I love that line from Snakes on a Plane.

I'm pretty sure his middle initial is "M" for "MoFo" ;)

zridling

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #13 on: September 16, 2012, 03:32 PM »
PCs are now starting to transition back into office/business/professional environments. In short, they'll be found in the hands of those that want a PC because they still create content as opposed to exclusively consuming it.... There will always be a market for a 'real' personal computer. But as time goes on, I think the PC (as we know it today) will become more and more of a 'specialist' or 'professional' device. The average person wiil be content with a locked-down appliance as long as they can: surf the web, access their social sites, send and receive text messages and email, share photos, do a little shopping, play a game, watch a movie, listen to music, read a book, and generally be a consumer.

Based on the number of devices sold and activated, this already seems to be the trend. Take any random sample of users and, assuming you could record their computer time, they likely spend more time (outside of work) playing among various social media. If for no other reason, that's what they find interesting. Google has their TV ad that states: "The web is what you make of it," and that's more true than ever. The days of buying and mastering complex apps like Photoshop -- and even MSOffice -- for the public are long gone. I see people looking around and asking: "I have $500, how do I want to spend it -- on software or a new tablet/phone? I guarantee you most today are picking the tablet.

FROM THE ARTICLE:
-- When you grab Windows 7 without paying anything, Microsoft won’t see a dime from you for years.
Apple figured this out a decade ago: how to keep the sucker coming back with more cash. Amazon just figured it out by essentially charging you time (ads) or money every time you use one of their devices. Hell, even Google will rent you a Chromebook if you want. All for the built-in cash stream. And now that everyone has their own little garden to play in, notice how, one by one, they're dropping support for each other's software.

-- Windows 8 faces so many mixed reviews, and is oh so very important for Microsoft’s future, that MS should really have just given it away, at least for the first few months. It could have been like a one-time pardon for pirates: Stole Windows for years? We forgive you — this one’s on the house, now buy something from the Store.
This would be especially smart if MS delivers a quick Win9 to the market, correcting Win8's least liked features. They wrote the book on getting people hooked. I bought Google's Nexus7 tablet and love it, but it came with all kinds of goodies that I didn't mind -- free book, movie, music, and $25 to spend in their Play Store, with which I promptly bought three chess games and two shooter games.

But with Win8, is it worth getting stuck with an OS you don't like? That would be the punishment.


TaoPhoenix

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #14 on: September 16, 2012, 03:42 PM »
In fact, Apple's hyper aggressive updates and obsolescence turned me away from trying to ever get serious about a Mac. I have an ancient unused iMac here at home and a box of OS X Panther, which I gather is already being phased out as "So 2003". (Wow, March of Time and all that, but still...)


Josh

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #15 on: September 16, 2012, 05:22 PM »
As a user of Windows 8 for about 3 weeks now, I can say that I do not see the issues with the interface, operation, or configuration of the OS. I am actually quite enjoying it. It is well thought out and works quite nicely. Even made my 3 year old laptop feel a bit snappier.

Stoic Joker

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #16 on: September 17, 2012, 11:34 AM »
As a user of Windows 8 for about 3 weeks now, I can say that I do not see the issues with the interface, operation, or configuration of the OS. I am actually quite enjoying it. It is well thought out and works quite nicely. Even made my 3 year old laptop feel a bit snappier.

You're trolling us aren't you... :)


I'm not quite that happy with it, but I have had in on my laptop for a month or so and haven't had any major issues. Old habits do occasionally trip one up, but overall its been fine.

I've got it running on a touchscreen AIO here in my office that I've shown to a few clients that gave mixed but semi-positive responses.

Josh

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Re: Steal Windows 8 and Microsoft probably won't mind?
« Reply #17 on: September 17, 2012, 11:45 AM »
Nope, no trolling at all. "I says what I means and I means what I says" -Popeye