[wsfii-discuss] [Fwd: [bytesforall_readers] PC with MS Windows/Office for $53? How Feasible? Can it help empower the poor?]

Fri Apr 20 21:07:10 UTC 2007

Nice way to send our electronic waste to poor countries, what does
"refurbished" means? and "as little as" means the same than in cars
publicity?

2007/4/20, kloschi at subsignal.org <kloschi at subsignal.org>:
>
> any comments?
>
>
> ---------- Missatge reenviat ----------
> From: "Satish Jha" <satish.jha at gmail.com>
> To: undisclosed-recipients:;
> Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:11:13 -0400
> Subject: [bytesforall_readers] PC with MS Windows/Office for $53? How
> Feasible? Can it help empower the poor?
>
> From Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
>
> When Microsoft decides to devalue Windows and Office down to $3 per seat
> in emerging markets which currently make limited use of technology (no, you
> and I won't be getting these great deals!), you know that the Redmond giant
> is  Maybe $3 for Windows an Office is an offer that people can pass up on,
> but $53 for a PC and software … that's a deal that's hard to resistworried
> about the effect that adoption of open source software would have in these
> markets.  But is the $3 Windows/Office bundle too good a deal to resist?
>
> When I read the statement by Microsoft<http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/apr07/04-19UPLaunchPR.mspx>,
> the only bit stood out was the $3 price tag.  $3 is a pretty low price for
> Windows and Office, not exactly the $0 that open source software would cost,
> but it's not far off it.  The statement highlights the benefits that this
> deal will have on the economies of countries such as Botswana, Chile, and
> China where technology is under-used and there's a massive potential market
> for software.
>
> However, that low value of $3 is only part of the deal.  When I read an
> account of the deal <http://news.com.com/2100-1003_3-6177431.html> on CNET
> (by Ina Fried), a whole different, and far more significant number stood
> out:
>
> The collection of software, which will start shipping in the second half
> of this year, includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Office Home and Student
> 2007, Windows Live Mail Desktop and several educational products. The $3
> price includes the software license, while backup discs and documentation
> will cost extra. In order to be eligible, governments must pick up at least
> half the tab for the PC, *though the software can also be used on
> refurbished computers, which can cost as little as $50*, Microsoft said. [
> *emphasis added*]
>
> Your eye is drawn to that $3 number, but far more significant is the price
> at which Microsoft can supply refurbished computers at.  While there's no
> doubt that $3 doesn't compete with the $0 that open source would cost, the
> $50 per refurbished PC price-tag is a very good deal indeed, and it
> far outweighs the benefits of taking the open source route where you can get
> the software for nothing but have to pay full whack for hardware.  That
> makes it half the price of the hardware on offer by the One Laptop Per Child
> initiative.  Microsoft might just have hit two birds with a single stone
> here.
>
> Microsoft is playing hard ball against open source software because the
> company is well aware of the size of the emerging markets:
>
> "We've set an internal goal that by 2015 we will help to reach the first
> billion of the next 5 billion that have been underserved," said Will Poole,
> the corporate vice president who heads Microsoft's market expansion group.
>
> Maybe $3 for Windows an Office is an offer that people can pass up on, but
> $53 for a PC *and* software … that's a deal that's hard for emerging
> markets to resist.
>
> *Thoughts?*
>
>
> --
> _______________________
> Satish Jha
> President, JM Consulting LLC
> www.ehealth-care.net
> www.witfor.org
> www.aiti-kace.com.gh
> www.digital-partners.org
> T: +1 301-841-7422
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