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Apple Offers "Family License" for Jaguar
DietFluffy writes "According to this article, Apple Computer
will offer a $199 5-user family license for Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). The article
notes that the family license program depends on an honor system because unlike
Microsoft, Apple 'does not put technical
barriers in place to prevent people from installing software on more than one
machine.'" It's likely that most families would buy only one license anyway, so Apple stands to lose little. Sounds like a smart move to me. (For those keeping score on today's game, that makes it Apple 2, Microsoft 0.)
Putting the whining and moaning about the cost of upgrading to 10.2, it is nice that Apple is providing such a package. At $199, the cost of each upgrade for five machines (be it an iBook, an older iMac, a new iMac, etc.) comes down to around $40 a pop. It is much cheaper than the cost of five upgrades to Windows XP Home Edition, as those go for $99 for the first one and $89 for each additiona license (more info can be found here); add $100 for each license/copy for Windows XP Professional.
Lambast Apple all you want for the price of 10.2, but remember you won't suddenly find that your iMac stopped working because somebody thinks you've stolen the license.
I really want to see how many people will avail themselves of this option. Perhaps the MPAA and RIAA will sit up and notice if people demonstrate that they're willing to pay for reasonable licenses.
It's a nice thing to do, but only something that Apple can really afford to pull of (what with the honor system and all). The five machines that Jaguar will be installed on under this license have allready brought money to Apple. I'm sure that they don't like people to pirate their OS, but they surely aren't going to lose sleep if somebody does it. They are, after all, a hardware company. They can "risk" to play nice and improve their image. After all people are going to be buying Apples again in the future - especially if they feel like the company treats them with respect.
Hank! White!
It's likely that most families would buy only one license anyway, so Apple stands to lose little. Sounds like a smart move to me
Right, except this probably means that there will be more anti-copying mechanisms and perhaps a network-aware multiple copies checker. As you said, most families only buy one copy so unless Apple forces them they wouldn't buy the multiple license scheme. Given the fact that Apple likes to put loyal customers into corners focusing on scoring more money on the OS sounds like something they'd do. It is well within their bounds to this, though, so I'm not too bothered by it. I wouldn't score this as a plus, just another way to squeeze out more money from their limited customer base.
Microsoft has gone off the deep end with their paranoiac approach to the world of PC owners and enthusiasts. Each perceived threat is treated as if it was a terrorist in the nursery, leading the world's dominant OS vendor to hurl lawyers, lobbyists, licenses, FUD, anti-theft code, and the BSA at everyone and his cousin. What a waste of their "freedom to innovate." It's no wonder so many major tech companies are taking the plunge - before it's too late! - and deploying Linux all over their enterprises.
I can tell you exactly why Microsoft's crap OS has dominated for so long. Because there wasn't anything of demonstrably better value or quality to challenge them. For my part I never liked Windows and vehemently stuck with Mac OS all the way from System 7.5 through 9.1. Despite the near-constant crashing (moderated only by vigilant system maintenance) and antiquated underpinnings of classic Mac OS I nevertheless revered it for its overall simplicity. But my Mac OS X experience has made me realize just how bad the old days really were. I can now understand why Apple didn't - and couldn't - launch a serious "switch" campaign until now.
But a few weeks ago I gave a PC-owning buddy of mine his first tour of Mac OS X. His response: "God, I'm so sick of the crappiness of Windows! I've got to kick it to the curb - and soon." Prior to this we had spent the weekend with his PC running Win2K dealing with one BSOD after another after another.
As Mac OS X and Linux gain speed, robustness, and maturity, and Windows gets longer in the tooth the irony will only get thicker. But to me it seems a relatively new phenomenon, only beginning to gain momentum right here and now.
Behold the Quickening!
-- thinkyhead software and media
That was awfully nice of you to say.
In the interest of reasoned debate, I want to challenge you on something. Feel free to ignore me; I'm just striking up a conversation.
You say-- or, more accurately, imply-- that you don't approve of Apple's using its control of the software against the will of the customer. I'm wondering if you really mean that in absolute terms, or if you're just generalizing. Because clearly there are cases in which the will of the customer can be contrary to Apple's best interest. For example, it might be the will of the customer to make copies of Jaguar CDs and sell them for $10 each, but that would clearly be an activity of which Apple would not approve, and which Apple would try very hard to stop.
Would you care to elaborate on what you meant by "uses its control of the software against the will of the customer?"