swhx7
Premium
join:2006-07-23
Elbonia | reply to ilago
Re: Windows to become Adware and User Data Collection Service
They would lose a lot of the market by trying to force it on users.
One possible use would be an adware PC deal: poor people get the hardware and OS for cheap or free, in exchange for being subjected to unavoidable ads. |
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ilago
Premium
join:2005-06-28
Australia
 ·Internode
| said by swhx7  :They would lose a lot of the market by trying to force it on users. One possible use would be an adware PC deal: poor people get the hardware and OS for cheap or free, in exchange for being subjected to unavoidable ads. While I think this is a possibility, there's nothing limiting its use to that level. I'm still thinking boiling frogs. Consumer objections and reservations have never made much of an impression on Microsoft in the past 
An additional application providing advertising I could accept. The operating system itself collecting data serving directed advertising is such a terrible concept.
What in the world are they thinking?? |
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caffeinator
Coming soon to a cup near you..
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join:2005-01-16
Spokane, WA
·WebBand
| said by ilago :What in the world are they thinking?? That they haven't made enough money off us yet, and are scared of Google beating them to that ad market?
When you you have billions of people at your mercy, why not?
If the DOJ and the EU can't fight Microsoft worth a damn, what chance do we have?
It'll likely be written into the EULA for a future Windows version...that most people won't read anyway, and so they won't have an avenue to complain.
-CaFF
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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - A. Einstein
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ilago
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join:2005-06-28
Australia
·Internode
| said by caffeinator :said by ilago :What in the world are they thinking?? That they haven't made enough money off us yet, and are scared of Google beating them to that ad market? When you you have billions of people at your mercy, why not? If the DOJ and the EU can't fight Microsoft worth a damn, what chance do we have? It'll likely be written into the EULA for a future Windows version...that most people won't read anyway, and so they won't have an avenue to complain. -CaFF Somehow, the fact that they don't need to do this bothers me the most  |
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dave
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join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
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 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to caffeinator
said by caffeinator :If the DOJ and the EU can't fight Microsoft worth a damn, what chance do we have? Stop buying their products? |
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caffeinator
Coming soon to a cup near you..
Premium
join:2005-01-16
Spokane, WA
·WebBand
| said by dave :said by caffeinator :If the DOJ and the EU can't fight Microsoft worth a damn, what chance do we have? Stop buying their products? Well, sure.
I just hate the stranglehold they have on the consumer market that gives them carte blanche to do practically whatever they want.
Myself, I got all my M$ products for free from M$ when I did tech support work for an outsourcer of theirs.
I'd never spend more money than my computer cost to build just for an OS to run it with...that's just silly. 
-CaFF
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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - A. Einstein
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ilago
Premium
join:2005-06-28
Australia
·Internode
| reply to dave
said by dave :said by caffeinator :If the DOJ and the EU can't fight Microsoft worth a damn, what chance do we have? Stop buying their products? Certainly a market response to any such activity might give Microsoft pause to think a little before acting rashly. They don't really have a record that would indicate they do that very often.
Which of the markets would they respond to? The user market? If the whole of the 15%-20% of machines that don't run Windows was reduced by 10%. They still have a monopoly by the "75% of the market" definition. How badly would that matter? They lose 15% of their corporate users. Might matter a little more, but the specialised systems developed specifically for the Windows environment aren't going to disappear, so that market is pretty solid as well. There's not going to be a mass market shift any time soon. It would take a massive shift in the market to make a dent. That's millions of computers in homes and businesses making a decision to migrate to using another OS in a relatively short period of time. They've got reserves to handle that and may have the marketing power to regain part of it anyway.
They also have shareholders and affiliates, the **AAs, and no doubt others. Their obligations to shareholders, partners and affiliate organisations has to be seriously influentual. A stock market slide of any sort would be influentual. That market would not have a problem with the ethics of something like this and it would increase their revenue stream from the saleable nature of the data that would be available. Microsoft are obliged to continue to improve their income stream to maintain those legal obligations of any corporation in terms of company performance and share price (company value).
I think they could take the chance and see what happens. They can certainly stand a little flack from disgruntled users in financial terms and not risk losing their major and important customers and keep the shareholders happy. |
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fatness
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| reply to swhx7
said by swhx7 :One possible use would be an adware PC deal: poor people get the hardware and OS for cheap or free, in exchange for being subjected to unavoidable ads. While the "for free or cheap" part made me chuckle, you may be onto something here about differentiated pricing. Avoiding ads for a higher purchase price and/or regular monthly payments might be more like it --- a paid un-subscription.
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Sure, that'll work.. |
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Curiosity
join:2001-10-01
Dawson Creek, BC | reply to ilago
That sounds like one more reason to migrate to Mac OS or Linux. |
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swhx7
Premium
join:2006-07-23
Elbonia
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to fatness
said by fatness :While the "for free or cheap" part made me chuckle, you may be onto something here about differentiated pricing. Avoiding ads for a higher purchase price and/or regular monthly payments might be more like it --- a paid un-subscription.
I knew I'd seen something about this before.
said by article :
"As Web advertising grows and consumer revenues shrink, we need to consider creating ad-supported versions of our software," two Microsoft researchers and an MSN employee wrote in a paper presented to company executives earlier this year. The document was prepared for one of Microsoft's twice-yearly Thinkweek exercises, in which Chairman Bill Gates and other top executives gather to consider potential new avenues for the company to follow.
Microsoft officials confirmed the authenticity of the paper, dated Winter 2005, but declined to comment on its contents.
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ilago
Premium
join:2005-06-28
Australia
·Internode
| I remember seeing that. But when I was looking for supporting references for this thread, I forgot about going back to the Claria proposal.
From the same article
quote:
One suggestion is a low-end version of the operating system that comes bundled with other ad-supported programs, such as Works, Outlook Express and Windows Media Player. However, the writers point out that "it's not clear how to prevent these elements from being replaced."
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Khaine
join:2003-03-03
Australia | Wouldn't this just encourage more people to move to macs or try linux? |
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