When you have many options, it will inevitably make your decision more complex. Less choice can be better because it simplifies the decision making process for someone who isn't necessarly qualified to make the call in the first place.
They say "the customer is always right" but I disagree. I think the customer is most likely clueless. In software, it's up to you to simplify the choices for them. Google is a prime example, they made searching simple and it worked.
Personally, I think it's highly probable, economically speaking at least. MS Office is a mature product, all the major production cost have been sunk long ago. That means MS could charge 50$ for its office suite and still make 50:1 profit on the cost of producing the physical media. Also, the major "lock in" to Office is not the.doc format, it's the 10 bazillion users who don't know anything but Office and won't be bothered to try something else. For these type of users, it's also more profitable to let them keep using MS Office than to have them switch over to save a few lousy bucks. Word also had support for WordPerfect documents for years and it didn't seem to keep Microsoft from eating their lunch.
They're not doing it to be fair, but to make money. If you sell 10 times more but make 50% less profit at a lower price point, it still nets to 5 times more cash at the end of the day. It's just basic economy. Sony should have expected it, but now they'll have to do the same to remain competitive.
"Before Repliee Q1, Professor Ishiguro developed Repliee R1 which had the appearance of a five-year-old Japanese girl.
Its head could move in nine directions and it could gesture with its arm."
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When you think about it, there are truly some times when there are too much choices. Barry Schwartz's talk on IT Conversation really nails it. http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail252.htm l
When you have many options, it will inevitably make your decision more complex. Less choice can be better because it simplifies the decision making process for someone who isn't necessarly qualified to make the call in the first place.
They say "the customer is always right" but I disagree. I think the customer is most likely clueless. In software, it's up to you to simplify the choices for them. Google is a prime example, they made searching simple and it worked.
Personally, I think it's highly probable, economically speaking at least. MS Office is a mature product, all the major production cost have been sunk long ago. That means MS could charge 50$ for its office suite and still make 50:1 profit on the cost of producing the physical media. Also, the major "lock in" to Office is not the .doc format, it's the 10 bazillion users who don't know anything but Office and won't be bothered to try something else. For these type of users, it's also more profitable to let them keep using MS Office than to have them switch over to save a few lousy bucks. Word also had support for WordPerfect documents for years and it didn't seem to keep Microsoft from eating their lunch.
They're not doing it to be fair, but to make money. If you sell 10 times more but make 50% less profit at a lower price point, it still nets to 5 times more cash at the end of the day. It's just basic economy. Sony should have expected it, but now they'll have to do the same to remain competitive.
Yeah, it's much better to concentrate on the important stuff, like not getting stabbed in the subway by a disgruntled minimum wage worker on crack! ;)