John Dvorak’s MarketWatch article Microsoft’s business model is done suggests that Microsoft is increasingly pricing itself out of the end-user computer market. The article has ignited passions amongst the technorati. Paul Thurrrott responded at his SuperSite for Windows with “John C. Dvorak shoots for controversial but pulls a Michael Moore and gets his facts wrong…”. Woody Leonhard at AskWoody.com responded with Windows vs Linux, take 346,782, wherein he disagrees with Thurrott and agrees with Dvorak. Herein I respond to all three.
I agree with Dvorak and Leonhard that Microsoft is charging too much for the retail versions of its software. But the DIY market is minuscule. Dvorak’s, Leonhard’s and Thurrott’s ”calculus” does not apply in the general market where people buy complete systems. They do not assemble their own desktop computers. Microsoft does not charge HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, or ASUS the same price for the OS as they charge you or me.
Yes, Microsoft Office is expensive, but it is becoming increasingly irrelevant. I find myself rarely using anything besides Outlook and I am pondering whether or not it is time to retire it. More and more, we spend our time on our computers in a browser, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, where Office is of no use. This non-Office computing experience is reinforced by smartphone use where spreadsheets, word processors and presentation tools are not used.
Microsoft’s business model is not done quite yet but Microsoft’s OS and Office products are increasingly less relevant to the computer user.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
