Although he wrote lots of different subject matter, I think his sci-fi themed works were his best. Fahrenheit 451 & The Illustrated Man were both written in 1951, and they are some of the best and most forward-thinking sci-fi I have read.
He was *way* ahead of his time and I think Fahrenheit 451 will be read some time in to the future and hopefully some of his other works as well.
Microsoft has a near-monopoly on operating systems at this point in time, which means the demand for Windows is *extremely* inelastic. It makes perfect economic sense for microsoft to increase prices and bleed everyone to death, because they are still going to sell roughly the same number of copies and will end up having a huge increase in total revenue in the short run.
If you are worried about this, take heart... free markets have a way of dealing with this sort of thing. In time the demand for windows will become more and more elastic as computer users find suplimentary products , and get sick of paying exhorbitant fees.
This is almost identical to what happened with OPEC during the gas shortages. They managed to keep prices high in the short-run because they had a near monopoly on petrolium. Of course this did not last, people started finding alternatives (fuel-efficient cars, car-pooling, public transportation, decreasing commuting time, etc..) the same thing will happen to Microsoft in time.
In a few years (im guessing about 2), Microsoft will be humbled in to playing fair when they see their market share decreasing at disturbingly fast levels; at that point they will be forced to play fair.
The market will naturally develop alternatives to Windows once people get pissed off enough, Microsoft is not immune.
-MattyD..no witty sayings at the moment
Slashdot Mirror
Although he wrote lots of different subject matter, I think his sci-fi themed works were his best. Fahrenheit 451 & The Illustrated Man were both written in 1951, and they are some of the best and most forward-thinking sci-fi I have read.
He was *way* ahead of his time and I think Fahrenheit 451 will be read some time in to the future and hopefully some of his other works as well.
Microsoft has a near-monopoly on operating systems at this point in time, which means the demand for Windows is *extremely* inelastic. It makes perfect economic sense for microsoft to increase prices and bleed everyone to death, because they are still going to sell roughly the same number of copies and will end up having a huge increase in total revenue in the short run. If you are worried about this, take heart... free markets have a way of dealing with this sort of thing. In time the demand for windows will become more and more elastic as computer users find suplimentary products , and get sick of paying exhorbitant fees. This is almost identical to what happened with OPEC during the gas shortages. They managed to keep prices high in the short-run because they had a near monopoly on petrolium. Of course this did not last, people started finding alternatives (fuel-efficient cars, car-pooling, public transportation, decreasing commuting time, etc..) the same thing will happen to Microsoft in time. In a few years (im guessing about 2), Microsoft will be humbled in to playing fair when they see their market share decreasing at disturbingly fast levels; at that point they will be forced to play fair. The market will naturally develop alternatives to Windows once people get pissed off enough, Microsoft is not immune. -MattyD ..no witty sayings at the moment