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Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation
CasterPod writes "As of February 28, Windows users who purchased their PC will no longer be able to reinstall without calling Microsoft and answering a series of questions. The move is part of an anti-piracy effort to close 'a loophole that enabled unscrupulous resellers to use Windows XP product keys that were stolen from large OEMs.' Specifically, Certificate of Authenticity (COA) labels on PCs are often unused because OEMs preinstall Windows and bypass product activation. The product keys can therefore be stolen and reused. First WGA, and now this."
Right when I am peeved that I had to re-install, I have to get back on the phone with M$. Enough is enough - has their 'activation' programs really impacted priacy at all? Has it done anything beyond bother paying users?
*This* is the reason we don't want monopolies abusing their power/position - they can impose whatever onerous conditions they like, and you just have to play along.
Whaddya gonna do - install *another* OS???
OK, oscar
Microsoft was dumb enough to put the product activation code on the outside of the damn PC. Anyone can walk into a store, take a pic of the code on a new PC (since they are bulk activated) and get free Windows.
This can only be good for free software however. Part of the Windows dominance comes from the fact that it is free for those who want it.
More
I'm just waiting for the customer to ring up and say they don't have the original media. The last 3 PC's i know people have bought just come with a copy of Windows on a partition. If you run Fdisk then they are screwed
rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
right now, it was easier to spread corporate (or educational) keys. Many of these don't require activation at all. Once MS disables this, crackers will resort to patching the activation code. .. It's just a matter of time, like the XBox was cracked eventually.
On the other hand : this will just make the difference between Windows and OSX/linux even more apparent. Every user-restricting move of microsoft is, in the long run, a shot in its own foot
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
I am just going though some training and one of the hot points is understanding your customer. Making something more difficult for customers (home users and companies that do tech work) is not one of the moves known to improve market share and is in most industries considered a bad move.
Evolution or ID?
Microsoft depends on the ubiquity of Windows (and Office, Outlook, et al). When everybody is using Microsoft products, everybody needs Microsoft. Their proprietary formats are a de facto standard (except Massachusetts), so if you want to do business with people who use Windows (et al), you have little choice but to also use windows.
As their piracy initiative starts to pick up steam, this will only enhance the "value" of free (or at least lesser cost) alternatives. I predict a large swell of Linux usage-- on the desktop, in these emerging markets, or other areas where the hight cost of Windows (et al) simply locks people out. With that will come a groudswell of support for open formats.
Consider what you need if you are going to do business with the government of Hamburg. You will need to provide and exchange documents and other material in a format they can read (it won't simply be Word and PowerPoint). Now the same thing will happen in these emerging markets, creating more of an interest in these alternative formats, and thus alternative applications (e.g. OpenOffice).
More choices are good for everybody. Use the application of your choice, on the platform of your choice, and produce documents and other material in a format anyone else can read. Right now, I have any number of such choices to produce graphics for a web page (jpg, png, even gif). The formats for Flash and Acrobat have been opened up, and happily they are becoming more standard. But the U.S. Government still requires all RFP submissions in Word.
More choices, however, is bad for Microsoft. They don't want open formats and lots of choices, they want (and need) everone using and exchanging MS Word documents. They want (and need) everybody using Outlook and Internet Explorer, and of course, they want (and ultimately need) everybody using Windows.
Step 1: Company implements some sort of copy protection.
Step 2: Legitimate users are hampered by the copy protection while illegitimate users breeze by it through various means.
Step 3: Company either ultimately removes copy protection with a black mark on its reputation or people just stop buying its products.
I know of no historical case that deviates from this for a major software release. Of course, you have various vertical applications that use dongles and other such things, but anything that is mass-distributed (like Lotus Notes or Turbo Tax) that has used copy protection either removed said copy protection or stopped selling their product.
I'm a big tall mofo.
It seems more and more people are being driven to use cracked versions of software simply because of the DRM inconvenience.
Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Gates M'dna wgah'nagl fhtagn.
This doesn't stop piracy in anyway. Product activation only disadvantages the honest customers and thats it. The ones who use pirated windows will still use pirated windows regardless.
I've serviced many PCs, and let me tell you, servicing the boxes that come with a bona fide windows installation are a much larger pain in the ass then the ones with pirated copies.
With the pirated ones i just reinstall windows and thats it. Reinstalling on an original box requires me to spend 15 minutes after the fact talking to a a machine in Singapore because the local Toll Free number for Microsoft was disconnected ages ago.
sheesh...
Sometimes I wish I was a plumber, then I'd know how to deal with other people's shit.
Personally, I think it's counterproductive - it's likely to piss off paying customers, although it might help them nab some shady dealers as well.
Very few customers will care.
1. It's XP OEM only.
2. Seriously, how often do you have to re-install? Most OEM customers probably never do. And a quick phone call is no big deal.
I had NO IDEA, but I guess Microsoft is giving a head's up to all of our students to hurry up and lift our keys and do their installs before the end of the month.
Nice way to alert people how to pirate your stuff, Microsoft, while further irritating legitimate purchasers.
Speaking for myself, not my employer
A small step for Windows anti-piracy,
One giant leap for the advocation of OSS.
I guess there's no question now as to what I'm going
to install on that new HD of mine. (As if there was doubt before this, I guess.)
And they said zombies weren't real!
I'm really surprised that they are wasting the resources to do this. Most pirated windows xp copies have no activiation anyway. they have no key, and don't ask for one. I would say if they want to get to the source of the problem, they should re-evalutate their MSDN subscription copies and have them need to phone in a re-install. In the end though, I think everyone knows what this really is, a big waste of time. *handclap for microsoft*
Ubuntu, the way linux should be.
Try Ubuntu FREE! --
I replaced my OEM preinstalled Windows XP with a pirated no-activation copy precisely because I didn't want to go through 'activation' if I change anything or need to reinstall it.
Why bother? It probably cost you more time replacing the version than you'd ever spend activating.
The lock-in argument: one day they might stop running the activation service? Sure, but one day they might release a service pack that detects your pirated version and stops it working. So the future isn't certain either way.
So why bother?
I cannot help but wonder whether top level management at MS got a bad batch of LSD and its done something to their brains.
They're going to force you to call them, they'll probably have all their call centers outsourced to countries where english isn't the main language. Half the time you won't understand the question and if you do manage to decifer the accent, they won't understand yours.
The only reason left to use windows is gaming. And even that is becoming less and less of a reason...
East Coast Brewers
Thank-you RMS!
Thank-you Linus!
Thank-you devs!
I really think people are underestimang the comfy rut of MS. They will just let their PC's get slower rather than rining up MS every time they need to reload
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
Buy linux, and don't have to call anyone who will make you answer stupid pointless questions.
Instead, it'll be the users asking the stupid questions.
"I bought your Linux at Barnes & Noble. Why doesn't it work?"
"Last week I called and you told me how to install your Linux. Why doesn't my Word Perfect CD work any more?"
"The other day you made me install something called StarOffice. I think that messed up my son's Doom 3 CD. It used to work before we installed your Linux."
That'll be fantastic.
Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005
It's not so much the phone queue thats a problem. I've had to phone-activate Windows a number of times on customers machines where for one reason or another, Windows demanded activation before logging on. Trouble was, it wouldn't install the network card driver before it logged in, so there was no way for it to get online. But I digress...
The big pain in the ass in activating over the phone is reading the installation ID. It's not an actual person you talk to- you read the number aloud (as opposed to touch tone) to a computer. You have to speak slow and deliberately for it to understand the numbers correctly, and ultimately it will read a confirmation code back to you. The whole process takes about 5-7 minutes, depending on whether the computer understood you correctly the first time. That's the part that pisses me off about this. Whenever we have to reinstall Windows at my shop, it was easy enough to plug in to our router and activate in 2 seconds (all with legitimate keys mind you). If this holds true, it will piss off many many computer shops around the world. Two seconds vs. five minutes is a pretty big deal.
Come on - wake up to the reality.
Some readers here live in a dream world; it goes a bit like this. Microsoft make crappy products; Microsoft (unsurprisingly) protect their crappy products; people ultimately realise this; switch to Linux.
Here's the reality. Microsoft make pretty average products that a heck of a lot of people use. Microsoft get most of their revenues from office and windows and want to protect this cash cow. Microsoft have product activation on, something that bothers a relatively minute fraction of it's user base, and tackle piracy head on. People still view Linux as a server OS, hard to use, and not friendly to people who have less than 5 minutes to read a help file. People stay on Windows. Slash dot community still angry.
This change just doesn't affect them - and importantly - until it does, please don't expect any mass migration to other operating systems. Microsoft rightly identified an exploit that pirates are using to rip them off- why shouldn't they patch it up? It really bothers me that so many people play this out as a big bad beast cracking knuckles again - it just isn't. Since when did support piracy become so acceptable to so many people?
If I'm going to be punished, I may as well commit the crime.
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
The term "hung for a sheep as a lamb" comes to mind.
How many times do you reinstall Windows?!
I can see maybe if you're in a strange company setting where they use a version that requires it, it may be a hassle, but I don't see most people reinstalling Windows more than once or twice a year. I guess more if you completely hose a system. That's what? 3-5 minutes? When I had to call them the one time my system had determined I changed hardware too much, it took about 1 minute for them to give me the hash I needed. I don't consider that bad at all.
Five minutes on google to start a download for a no-activation ISO, vs. at least that much time per activation? So you're saying, 5 > (5 + n) * x where x is a positive integer, right? Not in any maths I've ever heard of.
So who's more of an idiot, RupW or the person that modded him insightful?
As to your "lock-in arugment" the reasoning is equally faulty. In all the years MS has been in business they have consistently tried to increase their anti-piracy attempts, therefore it is inconsistant to assume they will suddenly reverse that policy. Furthermore any attempts thus far that MS has made to negate pirated versions have been quickly and easily circumvented, in all releases and service packs of every Windows OS ever released.
Moves like this only accelerate the vicious circle. Marvelous! Thank you, Redmond! Wow, when was the last time I said that?
And we have years and years of entertainment watching MSFT's fall from the peak market dominance. Like watching that one video of an extreme skier who lost it and rolled down the mountain...seemingly forever...unable to stop the fall and it was just one agonizing tumble after another. The only difference is you felt sorry for the skier, sort of. No pity for MSFT. Wo-ho!
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
People aren't stupid. Let me say that again: people are not stupid, they are not dumb, they are not morons (with a few exceptions - and they are _few_). What they are, by and large, is interested in other things than computing - like, for instance, the work or play they want to accomplish with their computers, rather than the machines themselves.
People are perfectly able to understand the difference between Windows, OSX and Linux - they just don't particularily care. And in that situation, yes, put up enough roadblocks to Windows use and people will gradually switch, just like US people abandoned domestic cars for Japanese ones when they became compelling enough. Not everybody switched, and not all at once (since everybody has a different tipping point), but certainly enough to change the commercial landscape.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
This has to be the most unbelievably dumb thing I have seen Microsoft do in light of the mac mini selling for $499. One too many crash is going to send people flocking into the arms of Apple. And since mac covers the basics that most home users do (browse, email, word-processing, digital pics, etc.), this is going to be a no-brainer. I'll be buying one later this year in order to avoid this hassle. Also my PC will be a Linux box by the end of the year as well. The only reason I'm using XP now is out of sheer laziness. My Linux box had broken down and I didn't have the time to set up a new one. I bought a laptop and ran what came with it. I've already reinstalled 3 times and if I have to go through this, I will not even bother! This is great news! I'm already an Apple shareholder and I will DEFINITELY be buying more shares with this news. EVEN AT ABOVE $80!!!!
I was always uncomfortable with the direction WinXP was going in with regard to Microsoft-tied code, but this takes the biscuit.
Win2k for me then has to be the Microsoft OS of choice. It's stable, and it's (relatively) fluff free. I used to forgive Microsoft a lot when Win2k first came out.
That said, I'll be phasing out MS stuff when I can now - I just can't be bothered with it all. My computers are mine. The companies that made them can eff off.
More OEMs need to offer linux. However, just as importantly there needs to be an return to discussion of software based on technical merits rather then just tossing up a five-star review based purely on the MS "look and feel". Currently the rating is more often than not an evaluation of the advertising revenue, not the tool. Also, federally funded public service programs like the ones in the UK and Finland need to stop shilling for Chairman Bill and point out other software and systems.
Disabling online MS-Windows Product Activation could be a real windfall for Linux service providers and distributors if they play their cards right.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
Anyone else feel like this when the "door nazi" at BestBuy/other chain steps in front of you and demands to see your receipt? Treating your customers like they're potential criminals is no way to gain loyalty.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
People aren't stupid. Let me say that again: people are not stupid, they are not dumb, they are not morons
Yes, they are. People are stupid. Individuals are intelligent. People are not. Here is a little advice for you. If you go through life thinking people are stupid you will be a lot less dissappointed. Keep your expectations set low and you will seldom be let down.
--
All spelling, gammer, and logical mistakes are intentinal because I'm to fucking lazy to look it up. If you don't like it, Fuck Off!
Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
You must have never worked in tech support. People are stupid. To reiterate, people are stupid.
That's a rather biased statistical sampling though. Yes, you will get an unending stream of remarkably stupid people calling tech support. As a total percentage of computer users, however, they make up rather less than you think. The GP post is correct - the majority of people don't really care (because it is not important to their lives) about Linux, but that doesn't mean they will be stupid enough to try and run Windows software on Linux.
Yes, you will have an unending stream of stupid people who tried to run Microsoft Word on Linux and don't understand why it works. Remember that you also had an unending stream of people that couldn't even use Windows either. If everyone was as stupid as the average tech support caller the internet would be practically content free.
Jedidiah.
Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
Yes, I should really be able to install twice a day if that's what I feel like I want to do. Just imagine when the next big virus comes out, and everybody has to reinstall. And then you are waiting in the phone queue, just to install the product you should be able to install in the first place.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
The whole idea of having a monoply is that being nice to the customer is not needed. You need them, and the other way around.
The idea of a company selling you on something with quality and good service is so, well 70's
Get with it.
Freedom is no longer a right, it is now a pivilege.
* Carthago Delenda Est *
Wonderful... You don't even get to talk to real people, why am I surprised? I really shouldn't be. Imagine the frustration of spyware and virsuses forcing you to reformat only to get denied on the phone by some computer most likely as buggy as yours... Sigh... Hugs PowerBook... I'm glad I'm safe.
Of course, you'll also have to add being able to buy software off the shelf, and Plug and Play hardware, and not having to learn how to compile or write drivers, or search forums filled with people calling you a "st00pid n00b" to find said drivers.
"Do I dare disturb the universe?"
Top management of ANY big company is like that. Comes with the size, clout and maturity. Google or whatever will be the same as well. ;-)
It is like a law of nature, probably closely related to the Second Law of Termodynamics.
Simply, when company reaches certain size, no matter how bright the individual leaders or technologists are, they loose the ability to critically think and reason as a whole. Call it "BigGerman's Law Of Corporate Evolution"
You make a good point here. The removal of online activation doesn't have a large impact on the "average" user. People buying their machines off the shelves don't have to worry about product activation and chances are that upon their machine being infected with everything under the sun they will take it somewhere to be fixed. The people affected here are the support people and although this sucks it's not going to cause any major migration from windows to something else. You could spend a while on the phone or you could spend all day answering questions from users who shouldn't be within 15 feet of a computer.
I used to be a MS Windows Activation Specialist (a.k.a. the person you hate to call all the time if you format often) for a year in a call center in my hometown of Saint John, Canada. People who wanted to re-activate their Windows would have to answer my questions first. So I have first-hand experience of how much people hate having to call. To be fair, we did get calls from people who, after we checked their Product ID, knew they were using a burnt copy. From this, you would surmise that this system is helping to fight against piracy, right? WRONG! As long as you answered the questions correctly (which mostly consists of why they need to reactivate), their's no problem. Thus you could call in, give a cheap excuse (The most used one being the "had to format", and even if this key's been used a hundred times, we had to activate again.) The one thing I hated to have to tell people, and it happened often, was that they could only install a retail copy of windows onto one computer and one laptop (This policy might have changed, not too sure). I found this to be a silly rule, which often infuriated the user on the other end of the line. And if you have an OEM version on one computer but own two, sorry, your out of luck, you need to buy a retail ver. of windows for that second computer. From my experience, it is my belief that the combination of both the Windows OS EULA and the activation process most likely caused more people to get pirated versions (I've had many people tell me they were going to this over the phone.)
- "I reject your reality and substitute it with my own", Adam Savage
They can hold you if they have "reasonable suspicion" that you have committed theft (at least in Washington state) and that is what the cops are used to being called out for to retail stores. However, simply walking out the door doesn't sound like "reasonable suspicion" to me, and you'd probably have a good case against THEM for unlawful imprisonment. Ask the cops about it when they show up--it's a fun way of turning the tables. :)
No relation to Happy Monkey
At this moment, there are two main reasons why people don't migrate to Linux: (1) XP has more games, (2) XP comes preinstalled. None of these reasons are affected by this XP activation issue. However, this new restriction in activation is certainly not something that will increase Microsoft's revenue.
If you consider that most people buy computers with the OS preinstalled and call an expert whenever a re-install is needed, you are right that this new inconvenience won't bother many people. But it's certainly an additional unneeded inconvenience, and it won't bother pirates at all. It bothers the legitimate user and doesn't affect the illegitimate ones.
If you have done any comparison on recent versions of Linux and XP, you'll have noticed that Linux is already easier and faster to install from scratch than XP. Why create more obstacles to the legitimate clients?
Amazing how that works, isn't it. I could see it being worth it if everyone loved Windows. But the only reason people even use it in the first place is because it's easy. Something idiotic like this makes it a LOT less so.
Hmm.. how does this make XP a 'LOT less' easy to use?
Like most people that tinker about with their home machines, I regularly re-install XP, not as a consequence of anything wrong with MS's package, just as a result of what I've screwed up on it. As a consequence my XP almost never activates on-line, the site seems to allow a certain number of activations with a period of time.
So.. go to activate, Windows pops up a nice, clear, concise window that tells me there is a problem activating my product over the internet, and asks me to dial a number. The number is in a nice clear font, so little chance of me failing to read it correctly.
I call, get connected to an MS rep within a minute, read out the text string on the screen, following the clear guidance from the MS rep. They tell me a code to type in, I press a button, and voila, Windows is activated.
Sure.. its a pain in the arse having to do that, but it is easy. Its going to take a heck of a lot more to make people stop using Windows than this.
This is getting to be a regular thing that annoys me on /., the absolute insistance that the tiniest thing MS do 'wrong', is the one thing we've been waiting for that'll push people to Linux in droves. Get over it, and get some kind of sense of perspective. Its going to need a seriously big screw-up by MS to force people over to Linux. Its also going to need a killer app for home users to be only available on Linux, which we're yet to see.
"Joy is not in things; it is in us." Richard Wagner
If I, as a service tech, have to sit on the phone waiting for product activation after someone messes up there system, I'm going to charge them for that time and If I'm onsite, while I'm waiting I'll be explaining to them why this is going to cost more and I'll be explaining what the alternatives are.
Does anyone know which 20 manufacturers are affected? I'd like to be able to warn customers of the extra charges ahead of time, should this come to pass.
The parent tells the guy to learn about MS activation/support policies before spouting off and you reply with this? Is it it a toll free call? What do you think? Here let me help. I searched for 'product activation' at the MS web site and this is from the first hit.
To activate Windows XP over the telephone, you can simply call a toll-free* number displayed on your screen.
I'm not fan of this change in policy, but damn, at least lets have some intellegent discussion about it. How this got Modded up I don't know (I notice it has dropped by one as I reply to this though).
I always build my own home systems, and I refuse to let another company make hardware choices for me.
I've been building PC's for about 15 years. Now though, it is more economical to buy systems which are already built. Unless you are trying to get the absolute fastest PC you can get your hands on, in which case, I find building from parts to often be cheaper.
You do have choice though and as you've stated, you are exercising it. You don't have to buy Apple hardware or their software. Apple gets a lot of stability and excellent interoperability through the fact that they largely control both the software and hardware that makes up their systems.
Apple systems are for people who just want to buy a computer which works very well out of the box. That is why Apple does the "choosing". They deliver on that expectation and that is why Mac users tend to remain Mac users. Who wants to lay down cash on systems which you have to fight with to use (MS)?
You must remember that Apple delivers the whole system. They are not delivering a generic OS to go with someone elses highly variable hardware and drivers. To achieve that, they need to limit what hardware they ship. I don't see that as them controlling you, but rather them controlling the quality of the systems they deliver you.
PS, I am predominently an OpenBSD and NetBSD user who has OSX on an old clamshell iBook. I recently ordered a Mac mini because I love using OSX too. I don't fight with OpenBSD or NetBSD, since once I set them up, they just keep going. They're not as pretty as OSX though. ; ) Microsoft products though, give me no end of grief.
War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
No, people are intelligent. But they are intelligent according to their own definition of intelligent, not yours or mine.
But in your example, you're not actually trying to fly the plane.
The people under discussion here are trying to use a complex piece of computing machinery and expecting to be able to use it out of the box, without putting any effort into learning how to operate it effectively.
Maybe I'm just another jaded support tech.
It's a Unix system - I know this.
Smart people are completely capable of doing stupid things.
Then they call tech support.
When I leave Fry's I sometimes have the receipt out for them to glance at, and I rarely break stride on my way out the door. Wal-mart has been checking receipts for unbagged or large items, too; so far I've been with my girlfriend every time and don't want to embarrass her, but the fact is that once you buy it, the product and the receipt are both yours and you are well within your rights to just walk on by.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I hate those "door nazis" too but you do realize that they're there because the company is suspicious of its employees right?
The scam they're looking for is you walking out with (say) an iPod and some headphones but the cashier only charging you for the headphones. Then you take the iPod to a fence and you and the cashier split the proceeds. That's why harass you for the most stupid and cursory check.
So yea, they suspect you of being a criminal, but their employees hate them so much (and vice versa I suppose) that what you're actually seeing is a manifestation of a festering pool of mutual hatred.
Really makes you want to go and shop there, right? For stuff they sell, stick to mail order.
Most people just now entering the market for computers aren't "trying to fly the plane", either. To continue the analogy, these people want to be passengers but are instead told they need to learn to be pilots.
This trend is not new to computers-- earlier this century the first radios required considerable setup and weeks to learn to use. The first phonographs were notoriously hard to use, again taking several weeks for smart folks to learn to use.
The only reason radios and record players (now CD players) are so widespread is their usage was simplified. The earliest ones even had two competing incompatible standards (Edison vs. Victor.) Sound familiar?
The book "The Invisible Computer" by Donald Norman goes into gory detail on why the continuing efforts to blame the users for failing to learn their equipment aren't going to work:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Booksources/
This doesn't mean that in the current state of things people should be lazy about their responsibilities with a networked computer-- e.g. not patching because "it's too hard" is a lame excuse.
If this is too hard, then disconnect from the network or find a computer/OS combination where it isn't too hard. If there is no such computer/OS combination, then start asking the manufacturers for one.
Mod the parent up to the sky. I can't believe the number of posts from people who think that someone who wants to simply get work done on their computer and doesn't care about the O/S is stupid.
I think M$ knows full well that a large majority of installed XP's out there have been circumvented by corp keys and the like. In fact, I think they are directly responsible for it. I remember someone on a newsgroup once saying that M$ itself is the one to release corp keys on file trading networks, IRC, etc. They want to lure in the young ultra geeks and nerds and what better way than by making them run through a maze of key generators and registry hacks. No, even though the activation policy has changed to only permit phoning in, it will only effect the legitamate users - not the tinkerers. I don't think this will change the attraction to linux in any way. Some Windoze users might even prefer the phoning in method as it is the least painful to understand.
"If I'm going to be punished, I may as well commit the crime."
Ya know, if MS were to say "Since this will cut down on piracy, we're going to pre-emptively lower prices..." I might be a little less offended. But this never happens, does it? I mean, billions and billions of dollars are claimed to be lost due to piracy, but has Valve made HL2 cheaper? Ugh.
"Derp de derp."
I think the average /. reader would be pretty surprised at the kind of costs people are willing to bear. A few months ago I was planning to swing by a friend's house to install a new stick of memory. This guy can completely disassemble and reassemble any automobile on the road, but he wasn't willing to crack the case and snap in some extra memory. Anyway, the day before I was supposed to drop by, he e-mailed me to proudly announce that he took care of it himself -- by paying CompUSA something like $150 to install it for him.
The cost of Windows would have to skyrocket dramatically before any significant number of "average users" would care enough to look for an alternative like Linux.
Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005
I can. You look at services like Microsoft Live and Outlook web for hotmail, and put enough of those services together delivered via akamai over broadband, and all of a sudden the only thing you need to do if your computer gets corrupted is push a combination of two buttons to reload from a ROM image. Your data gets stored on number USB keychains or external drives, and the apps are served and cached ala Java Web Start.
Sun and Microsoft and others jumped the appliance idea about 5 years too early. Broadband is almost ubiquitous now in large metro and suburban areas, and WiMax threatens to bring it to rural areas. It's now just a matter of time before the average computer is a window onto someone elses computers where the management and operation is done for you.
When we have HDTV on demand over broadband, that's when we'll start to see a massive shift in consumer computing. More people are already using Yahoo or Hotmail for email and contact management and scheduling than Outlook or Outlook express or Netscape. This trend will continue to accelerate when Word and various other desktop offerings can be delivered via broadband.
Look at how Valve has simplified software delivery with Steam?
I think I called the police once, on a guy who stole a $0.95 auto-trader magazine. It was pretty funny :)
For 0.95$? And you are proud of yourself? Did you ever wonder how much of your own tax money you wasted by calling the cops? Any idea of HOW MUCH this cost to ALL the others around you?
This may appear funny to you, but it appears rather pathetic to me. First because you actually did call the cops for such an insignificant event, AND wasted OUR money by doing so.
Too bad they are no doorman checking against stupidity