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Software Piracy Due to Expensive Hardware, Says Ballmer
frdmfghtr writes "ZDNet is running a story where Steve Ballmer tries to pin the blame of software copyright infringement on expensive hardware: 'One way to stem piracy is to offer consumers in emerging countries a low-cost PC, Ballmer said. "There has to be...a $100 computer to go down-market in some of these countries. We have to engineer (PCs) to be lighter and cheaper," he said.' Does he think that cheaper hardware will make copying software harder to do?"
When Google integrates an OS as their service. Imagine that one-day a Google like service where you turn on your computer and it connects to Google without any local OS (other than a BIOS and hopefully the BIOS is the Open Source one). Your files, settings and information are stored on the service. Sure you could have USB drives locally to store private info if you desire. But I wonder what Mr. Ballmer would say to that lowest of low price cheap hardware? You could take the money that would have been spent on the OS and allocate that to help pay for the service. At $100/12 = $8 a month; even at $300/12 = $25 per month - not bad having a use anywhere service whereby you don't have to maintain the OS or the Hardware.
I'm sorry, but less than 24 hours after a story here discussed the pirate industry in Russia, and made the point that the average monthly wage is $240, and some software licences cost $600, comes this?
Please. Cheaper hardware is going to exacerbate the situation by providing even more poor people with the desire for new software that the can't affoard. The only solution is to take computers from poor people. I'm joking, but I hope you can see my point...
It's not an accident. Microsoft has been trying for a long time now to convince consumers that software is more valuable than hardware. The problem is that I don't think Microsoft understands the issue of tangibility. Even the greenest user understands that hardware is tangible (they can touch it, see it, pitch it out the window, etc.) while software is intangible (can't do much other that look at it and interact with it).
When you take into account how natural it is to place more value on a physical object vs. an intangible (e.g. a service rendered such as plumbing), is it any wonder why consumers are ignoring Microsoft's mind-bender campaign?
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Exactly. A rational response to piracy would be to lower prices. The hidden problem here is Microsoft is loath to lower prices, because doing so would hammer its stock price and lead to an inevtiable downward stock price spiral.
Microsoft is stuck between a rock and a hard place. High prices in the third world inevitably lead to piracy and an added incentive to move to Open Source software. Lowering prices means lower margins and a drastic reduction in market capitalization.