Why Microsoft Should Fear Bandwidth
Mike writes "Microsoft should fear increasing bandwidth to the consumer more than any other single factor as a threat to their monopoly. The average user has no desire to be the sysadmin of their machine(s), and telcos and cable companies would be glad to take this task from them -- for a nominal fee, of course, as application service providers. The PC as we know it probably only has a decade or so left."
The question wrong - it isn't the cost of an ink cartridge vs a microwave oven, it is the retail price.
The answer brings us back on topic, people generally pay what things are worth to them. That means tangible (utility) and intangble (coolness/snob factor) worth.
Software application rental will fly or fail depending on the preceived value buyers receive.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.