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Windows XP Starter Edition off to Slow Start
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft may have started shipping its cheaper version of Windows in Asia, but getting support for its low-cost computing vision is still very much a work in progress. It seems Starter Edition has not gained much interest from vendors, nor has it generated much interest from end users." I haven't seen any sort of consumer research, but I imagine people don't like to have their number of possible network connections restrained by the host operating system.
does that take into account the connections started by spambots?
vodka, straight up, thank you!
How surprised can anyone be if full version bootleg copies of XP are sold in the malls for $5 versus $32 for a legal, though crippled version.
http://www.busyweather.com/
Wouldn't this be like XP Home vs XP Pro?
Then again I suppose anything can be spun through marketing. You figure something that's been lamed-down wouldn't get much play to begin with...but I guess if you spin it as the standard version, then maybe people may bite.
Also, the whole thing was created to curb off some piracy from the Asian market. That way, people who couldn't afford software may "buy" the starter edition instead of pirating an XP home or whatnot. From this standpoint, any sale they make is a bonus against rampant piracy.
Now for those folks who would rather pirate XP than use something like Linux (which I'm sure there are a lot of), I'm not really sure how best to market to them if you're a Linux Evangelist.
Here's a friend's accounting of how organized piracy is in HK:
<genjzzz> there are several plazas in hk that sell only computer and video game stuff
<genjzzz> a lot of grey market stuff there
<genjzzz> and counterfeit stuff like ps accessories
<genjzzz> ps2 that is
<genjzzz> and oversea versions of consoles that have no reason to be in hk
<genjzzz> i bought my cdrs from an organized group of individuals
<genjzzz> maybe about 14 in all
<genjzzz> anyway, inside one of the plazas, they have a corner shop set up with only color photocopies of the software they have available
<genjzzz> about 300 or so
<genjzzz> they have look outs at every entrance
<genjzzz> so i walk in and find the software i want
<genjzzz> and someone take the order and give me a slip with the software's stock numbers on it
<genjzzz> then i walk to the other side of the plaza where there's a "cashier" standing around
<genjzzz> i give him the slip and the money, he tells me who to see about pick up
<genjzzz> usually a few stores away
<genjzzz> the cashier gives me a slip with a number on it, that's my receipt to get the items
<genjzzz> so the dude tells me where to pick up the software: down the street and up the stairs at some store
<genjzzz> in about 15 minutes
<genjzzz> so i wait and go up and see some guy with a bunch of cdrs in plastic bags with receipt numbers on them
<genjzzz> i give him my receipt and get my software ~
<genjzzz> so they have seperate places for choosing, paying, information, and pick up
<genjzzz> and the warehouse of the cdrs is never revealed
This isn't a case of a few guys selling cdrs to friends, it's a huge, well-established business.
Not to give Ballmer any undeserved credit, but Microsoft is in a different phase of corporate life now than in the Bill Gates era. As a business grows in terms of customers, products or employees, change becomes increasingly difficult and inefficient.
Stock analysts have compared MS to a guy in his 40s going through mid-life crisis, wanting to act young but not having the body or mental outlook for it. I read a good article on Motley Fool a couple years ago that said MS is in stage 3 of the corporate life cycle.
Stage 1 is the Startup stage, where obviously you take a lot of risks and do a lot of innovation.
Stage 2 is the Growth stage, where you focus on expanding market share by learning how to replicate your success as cheaply and efficiently as possible, which usually means developing a culture of standardization and uniformity.
I forget the name of Stage 3, but it's where the company can't make changes fast enough to compete in the real world. At this stage it should be reinvesting its money in younger companies and branding their innovations.
Employees who produce the most new ideas -- the young, creative people with the least structured minds and the greatest ability to go without sleep -- are the ones most alienated by Stage 3 corporate culture. Microsoft's problem, according to the Motley Fool article, is that it's a Stage 3 company trying to perform like a Startup. If Ballmer's to blame for anything, it's his failure to accept that fact.