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Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun - Updated 2Xs
Friday, June 19 2009 @ 04:51 PM EDT

If you have been having trouble finding Linux on a netbook, you can stop wondering why. I suspected it was being monopoly-crushed. Here's the smoking gun, at last, thanks to Dana Blankenhorn of ZDNet, who attended a press conference at Computex and asked the right question:
Later, at a press conference sponsored by TAITRA, the Taiwan trade authority, I asked executive director Walter Yeh (third from left in this picture) about where the Linux went.

He passed the question to Li Chang (to the right in the picture), vice president of the Taipei Computer Association.

Chang mentioned a press conference yesterday where Google announced an Android phone to be made by Acer. But then he put it to me straight.

“In our association we operate as a consortium, like the open source consortium. They want to promote open source and Linux. But if you begin from the PC you are afraid of Microsoft. They try to go to the smart phone or PDA to start again.”

Taiwanese OEMs would love an alternative to Windows, but the sale comes first, before production. The chicken comes first. And since the chicken belongs to Microsoft, the penguin is helpless here.

Mystery solved. Totally blatant. Does this not give legs to Charlie Demerjian's report, MS steps on a Snapdragon? It appears Snapdragon on Asus is just the most recent horse to fall down shot in the starting gate and then get dragged off the track.

So next time you hear Microsoft bragging that people *prefer* their software to Linux on netbooks, you'll know better. If they really believed that, they'd let the market speak, on a level playing field.

If I say my horse is faster than yours, and you says yours is faster, and we let our horses race around the track, that establishes the point. But if you shoot my horse, that leaves questions in the air. Is your horse *really* faster? If so, why shoot my horse?

Here's the story on what happened to Android on Asus' EeePC at Computex Taipei, reported by Dan Nystedt and Sumner Lemon on ComputerWorld:

A day after an Asustek Eee PC running Google's Android operating system was shown at Computex Taipei, top executives from the company said the project will be put on the backburner for now.

The Eee PC with Android is not ready yet because the technology is "not mature," said Jonathan Tsang, vice chairman of Asustek, on the sidelines of a press conference at the show Tuesday.

"For the time being this project is not a priority because our engineering resources are limited," he added.

Right. That's the ticket. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols:
On Monday, Qualcomm showed an Asus Eee PC using its new ARM Snapdragon chips to run Google's Android Linux. From all reports, the skinny, little Android-powered netbook looked great.

So, this was a good day for Asus right? A new ARM-powered Asus netbook with Android, the Linux everyone has been talking about, and at a price-point that will given Intel's Moblin 2.0 some real competition. Wrong.

The very next day, Asus' chairman, Jonney Shih, after sharing a news conference stage with Microsoft corporate VP, OEM Division, Steven Guggenheimer, apologized for the Android Eee PC being shown.

Shih said, "Frankly speaking ... I would like to apologize that, if you look at Asus booth, we've decided not to display this product. I think you may have seen the devices on Qualcomm's booth but actually, I think this is a company decision so far we would not like to show this device. That's what I can tell you so far. I would like to apologize for that."

Is there no regulatory body that can get Microsoft's fat fanny off of Linux so it can get some air? Instead the DOJ are investigating *Google*? What Microsoft is reportedly doing is a pimple on the antitrust regulators' noses. We see it. Why can't you? Where are you? Please don't wait until Linux is totally crushed.

Let us customers choose what we prefer from a fair and even playing field, please. I'd like to buy the products that are being squashed. A lot of us would like to. And we are not being allowed to get the products that we desire. I don't want Microsoft software. I'd like a choice. And I shouldn't have to buy a netbook with Microsoft on it and install Linux myself. I will, but I should not have to.

Update:

A reader collected some nice YouTube videos for us on the withdrawn Snapdragon Eee PC. View them and weep:

Computex 2009 with ARM and Qualcomm

Snapdragon Eee PC First Hands on

Snapdragon Eee PC at Computex 2009

Qualcomm Press Conference - Computex 2009

AND THEN ADD TO IT A REALLY GOOD SCREEN (they just got to figure out the multi-touch for these below, and... check out the new videos from Computex on the new screens:

Videos of power saving direct sunlight readable screen from Pixel Qi

MORE Like this

And here's my personal favorite video.

Update 2: Speaking of installing an operating system yourself, how many people would choose Microsoft XP if they had to buy a netbook preinstalled with Linux and then install XP over it?

Here's what they'd have to do, two ways to get XP on an EeePC. It's unbelievably complicated, and I expect if the only way to get XP on a netbook was this, XP would have about 1% of the market.


  


Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun - Updated 2Xs | 463 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Corrections here
Authored by: red floyd on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 04:59 PM EDT
Please put the correction in the title, if possible, so PJ can find it.

---
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a *CITIZEN* of the United
States of America.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Newspicks Discussion Here
Authored by: red floyd on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 05:02 PM EDT
Please use the title of the newspick as your comment title.


---
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a *CITIZEN* of the United
States of America.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Whose horse is faster?
Authored by: DaveF on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 05:02 PM EDT
PJ asks: "Is your horse *really* faster? If so, why shoot my horse?"

Isn't it obvious? I shot your poor horse because mine was obviously so much
faster...

Hope that helps.

---
Imbibio, ergo sum

[ Reply to This | # ]

Off Topic Here
Authored by: red floyd on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 05:03 PM EDT
Please use clickies (see the red text below the submission box).

On-topic posters will have to sign a purchase agreement for SCOXQ.

---
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a *CITIZEN* of the United
States of America.

[ Reply to This | # ]

And The Darkness Consumes Us...Or Does It?
Authored by: TheBlueSkyRanger on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 05:27 PM EDT
Hey, everybody!

So...just how bad is this?

On the one hand, it looks like breaking M$' stranglehold looks nearly
impossible.

And yet....

At first, I was going to say responsibility falls to us to start patronizing
those that either embrace Linux (System 76) or go used hardware to keep our
money out of the hands of those who sell us out.

Then I think, but that's just those of us aware of this stuff, the general
public doesn't care.

Then I think, maybe they do care.

More and more people are hearing of Linux (I'm ignoring Mac, since M$ isn't
really directing any ire towards them, so I'm figuring they aren't in the race).
People are not buying Vista. They aren't buying the Zune. They aren't buying
the XBox.

And, despite M$ being able to say frog and manufacturers jump, Linux is still
spreading. Maybe not as fast as it could, but it definitely is spreading.

What I'm wondering is, was this smoking gun fired at something essentially
bulletproof?

Dobre utka,
The Blue Sky Ranger

[ Reply to This | # ]

Who actually contracts for cellphone manufacture?
Authored by: DebianUser on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 05:34 PM EDT
There seems to be no problem finding cellphones with a variety of operating
systems and software on them. I have not a lot of kind thoughts about the
restrictions, plans, lock-in, and other aspects of the cell phone business as
practiced by the wireless operators, but at least there is diversity in platform
availability despite Microsoft's efforts to push WinCE into that market.

I'd buy one of those Snapdragon netbooks in the time it took to fumble for my
wallet and get a credit card out. What has to actually happen to get them on the
market? Can we call it an oversize cellphone (add a sim card slot) to get them
in production?

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun makes the opportunity
Authored by: PolR on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 05:39 PM EDT
This leaves a huge opportunity for a maverick entrepreneur. If you are willing
to sell low cost linux devices you are guaranteed an exclusive access to the
Linux market for quite a while since Microsoft won't let anyone else get into
this market but other entrepreneurs using the same strategy as you.

If you build your hardware directly from chips, never sell a Windows version and
use a direct sales model so you don't need a retailer, there is no place where
Microsoft can pressure you because you don't need them at all. And if Microsoft
can't pressure you, you can grow your exclusive Linux market until you have
established your brand and build a profitable business.


[ Reply to This | # ]

Now available
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 05:42 PM EDT
Not quite true to say there are no Linux netbooks available. For example, Dell
is selling the Mini 10 with Ubuntu.

A recent Dell mailing I got surprised me by actually advertising this fact. Its
the first time I've seen Dell volunteer the information that they'll sell a
system with Linux on it. Used to be you had to know where to look.

[ Reply to This | # ]

DoJ in MS pocket too?
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 05:56 PM EDT
The 'new' DoJ has threatened Google, multiple times.

The 'old' Microsoft continues their predatory ways.

I often wonder if the rumored cooperation between MS and NSA is a factor.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Snapdragon
Authored by: jbb on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 06:09 PM EDT
I have absolutely no doubt that MS is trying to squash Linux by all means fair and foul. But that does not mean that all Linux setbacks are due to MS.

For example Computer World reports that NVidia is saying Windows CE is better than Android on netbooks:

Mike Rayfield, general manager for Nvidia's mobile business unit, said Nvidia preferred Microsoft's Windows CE over Android because of CE's maturity. He said Android currently has a rough user interface.
...
For instance, Android screen icons that fit on smartphone screens (usually 4-inches and under) are oversized on a smartbook's 8- or 9-inch screen, he said.
ISTM possible that the Snapdragon was pulled from Computex simply because the UI was poor. The comments from Nvidia's Mike Rayfield make sense to me.

But in other news, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Acer is planning to launch an Android based netbook in the third quarter of 2009. This seems to jive with the NVidia comments that Android is not quite ready for netbook primetime.

---
You just can't win with DRM.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: Stumbles on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 06:51 PM EDT
To quote PJ; ...regulatory body that can get Microsoft's fat fanny off of Linux..., forget that. Where is this judge that is supposed to be watching Microsoft. You know, the one that hasn't done squat since Microsoft was convicted by the DOJ for illegal monopolistic practices.

---
You can tuna piano but you can't tune a fish.

[ Reply to This | # ]

NOT a Smoking Gun
Authored by: wowbagger on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 07:07 PM EDT
Unfortunately, this is NOT a smoking gun. This is more like somebody saying
"Yes, I saw a smoking gun. No, I don't have the gun."

Yes, I think we all "know" that Microsoft was leaning on Asus in this
matter. I think we all "know" that Microsoft is doing everything they
can to stall, delay, and destroy Netbooks Which Are Not Running Windows.

I put "know" in scare-quotes because while we may "know" it
we cannot prove it, and the statements by the manufacturers are not proof.
Microsoft can (and likely will) say "Oh heaven forfend! We would NEVER say
or do anything like that - <voice person="Richard M. Nixon">It
would be wrong!</voice> We welcome any and all competition because we feel
we offer the best value for the users. That manufacturer's rep is mistaken, and
cannot prove a thing he is alleging."

In other words, a "smoking gun" would be an email, phone call, letter,
internal memorandum, or other communication traceable to a higher-up at
Microsoft.

The Halloween Documents were smoking guns. This, unfortunately, is not.

[ Reply to This | # ]

"... on a level playing field." ??
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 07:47 PM EDT
PJ, you know as well as the rest of us that M$ can't compete on a level playing
field. If they tried "let[ting] the market speak", they'd LOSE market
share so fast it'd make all our heads spin! (I wish I could think of more
eloquent words to express this.)

[ Reply to This | # ]

Alternative interpretation?
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 08:30 PM EDT

Sorry if I seem naïve, but I think PJ has misinterpreted Mr. Chang's quote (I'm not entirely sure that Mr. Blankenhorn did the same).

To me, Mr. Chang's quote could be paraphrased as "We are a hardware consortium, just like the Open Source Consortium. They [the OSC] want to promote Open Source and Linux. But when you [again, the OSC] attempt to start that promotion on the PC, you have to contend with Windows, which is scary. So they [once again, OSC] avoid the PC platform for now, and try start with PDAs and smartphones, where Windows isn't so much of a threat".

In other words, he is not saying the hardware manufacturers refrain from bringing GNU/Linux netbooks to market because they are scared of Microsoft, but rather putting the guilt on OSC's hands. Under this interpretation, the reason for the absence on GNU/Linux on netbooks would be that OSC chooses not to compete in that arena, but rather on the smartphone and PDA.

I don't buy it, of course: it would surprise me very much if OSC were chicken to confront Windows in the netbook market. I am afraid that Mr. Chang may have just been doing a pretty good job of weaseling out of an uncomfortable question, but I don't think this quoute is anywhere near a smoking gun...

[ Reply to This | # ]

If you want to see a video of the device in action
Authored by: The Mad Hatter r on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 09:16 PM EDT


Tweaktown has a video of it. Based on what I saw, there's nothing wrong with the UI. In fact the only problem I can see, is that it threatens Microsoft's monopoly.

---
Wayne

http://crankyoldnutcase.blogspot.com/

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: kawabago on Friday, June 19 2009 @ 11:40 PM EDT
My boyfriend has agreed that when his Vista computer becomes so virus encrusted
I have to reformat the drive, I can install Linux. That's a big step forward
from, "I don't want that!" He got frustrated with Apple limitations
and he's starting to see that Linux actually works better than Microsoft. He
already prefers aisleriot solitaire to MS's meager offerings.

Linux is going to win, no doubt about it.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 02:50 AM EDT
Danish version2.dk has reported that Microsoft has "kindly asked" MSI
to end sales of Wind U115 because it uses both an SSD and a harddrive.

This is a little OT since the machine is designed for Windows XP.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: Technology is not mature
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 04:03 AM EDT
Funny that has never stopped vendors in the past from filling
order books on the basis of the first few drops of condensation
from their latest vaporware.


[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: Ian Al on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 05:14 AM EDT
When I was young, I used to see a squat, chunky guy, slightly balding with wild hair and dressed in dirty, shabby clothes walking up and down the middle of the high street shouting obscenities at the passing traffic.

Eventually, a kindly copper on the beat would escort him safely from the middle of the road and send him on his way. I thought the guy was weird.

Now, I am decades older and wiser and I see that he was a savant. It may be too late for me to join him.

And another thing. My main desktop and my laptop are elderly, but perform pretty well. Would you all stop putting up links to System76. It beats me as to why you would ever think I would be weak and silly enough to buy a top of the range, 'Mad Dog' desktop.

---
Regards
Ian Al

Linux: Viri can't hear you in free space.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Heads Up
Authored by: DaveJakeman on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 06:33 AM EDT
Thanks for posting this, PJ, this is the heads-up that was needed.

Microsoft has squeezed Linux out of the netbook marketplace and is trying to
disguise the fact by claiming Windows is more popular on netbooks, because
that's what users are crying out for (see shill postings above). No, users are
crying out for something simple, cheap and reliable, that does what they want
and "just works".

[ Reply to This | # ]

  • Heads Up - Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 04:39 PM EDT
Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: globularity on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 07:06 AM EDT
While I would not agree that it is a blatant admission, Chinese English is
slightly different and this could be read two ways, insufficient market or they
got stepped on by Microsoft.

If there was insufficient market then it would not make sense to develop a
product then drop it before that market was tested, so the Microsoft
interference version wins.

Intel used the same tactics against AMD in the late 90's and the Taiwanese MB
makers were just as helpful to the monopolist, they are slow learners.

I really do not get some of these corporate types, I would love the opportunity
to stick it to a stand over man. for Microsoft to interfere they need to
communicate their message, avoid telephone and face to face communication as
much as possible, keep call logs tape the calls, use Email as much as possible
save everything. Revenge will be sweet when the next non US antitrust case comes
around.

It would seem easy for Taiwanese officials to trap Microsoft then hit them with
a massive RICO or antitrust case. And just to make sure watch any political
decision makers like a hawk and if any Microsoft money goes that way, wait till
the politician shows their hand before deciding to either bury them or warn them
off this is a perfect use for an intelligence agency, a foreign entity trying to
interfere in a political process is a national security issue.



---
Windows vista, a marriage between operating system and trojan horse.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 12:17 PM EDT
Can we find out the email address and start Linux campaign. Tell them we want
Snapdragon with Linux? I want one.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 01:04 PM EDT
This article is a bit skewed. While MS has stepped on Linux adoption on the
netbook, it isn't due to underhanded dirty tactics. No, that would be far to
easy. The reasons Linux adoption on the netbook is poor, are simple:
#1) People like what they know, and they know windows.
#2) Linux isn't Linux, it is Linux(s). Each distribution is the same, and yet
different enough to confuse people.
#3) Linux on the desktop still, is not easy enough for non-technical users.
#4) When comparing the ease of use of slightly less often used tasks, usability
on linux becomes extremely technical.

If the point of the article is to pretend Linux is a viable alternative to
Windows, and that if the consumers were given the choice they would choose
windows. They have
http://blog.laptopmag.com/msi-wind-coming-to-major-retailer-new-models-coming-so
on and linux is loosing.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 01:08 PM EDT
Archos is releasing a 500GB Ubuntu netbook with 2GB ram for about the same price
$350 (+$25) as the WinXP 160GB/1GB RAM version
http://archosfans.com/2009/06/15/archos-10-ubuntu-with-500gb-hard-disk-and-2gb-r
am-released/

I filmed the best ARM based laptop videos from Computex at
http://techvideoblog.com/?s=arm

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 01:42 PM EDT
There is no "death of the netbook", Asus is a Chinese company and they
play it strategic. They invest in Linux and Microsoft pays them to include
Windows. Every hardware manufacturer tries that now and therefore companies have
to credibly invest in Linux to get the Redmond rent. Look how much stuff is
coming from Taiwan, how openwrt or lxde take up, and the hardware manufacturers
use their committments as a strategic tool.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun
Authored by: sciamiko on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 03:42 PM EDT
Thank you, PJ, for bringing this all clearly to our attention, and I hope that
you are not kept too busy keeping at bay all the trash that it is bound to
attract.

Taking on SCO is one thing, but tackling MS directly is something else.

s.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Check it out on Amazon!!
Authored by: argee on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 04:28 PM EDT
Go to Amazon.com
Enter "Aspire one linux"
First one that pops up is the A110L model, you know, the
first one ... 3 cell, linpus lite, 8 GB SSD, 512 RAM, plain
white color.

And the price? A mere US $650.00 !!

Heck of a deal! Viva Linux! We are saved!


---
--
argee

[ Reply to This | # ]

MS versus the Free Market
Authored by: LuYu on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 09:14 PM EDT
Let us customers choose what we prefer from a fair and even playing field, please.

Well, I think we can all fairly assume that is impossible. If MS had played fairly, everybody would be using Macs or even BeOS today, and this whole SCO fiasco would never have occurred. The fact is that MS's entire history as a company has been based on deliberate misrepresentations about, well, everything. It is all smoke and mirrors.

I saw this personally at COMPUTEX, and it was not pretty. I also fear that I deserve part of the blame. About six months ago, I showed an MS employee my Eee901. The individual in question started pointing out all the supposed flaws of Xandros (not from first hand experience but from hearsay). I then pointed out that my book was running Ubuntu and shot down pretty much every argument the individual had about usability. The conversation turned to my phone which was also running Linux. The MS rep turned white and changed the subject. It was right about that time that MS started really laying down the law about Linux with the OEMs. I certainly hope that was a coincidence.

As a side note, I would like to hear the Groklaw view on how responsible MS is for the current economy. In Taiwan, computer manufacturing is obviously a very important sector. If people and businesses are not buying PCs because they do not want to buy Vista, does that mean the recent sluggish tech market is MS's fault? Secondly, if Linux gave rise to the only profitable class of products over the last year and a half, will MS's suppression of Linux lead to a slump in netbook sales? Has MS's unlawful and immoral monopoly gone so far as to affect everyone's wallet?

---

"Proprietary software is an antisocial practice."
-- Richard M. Stallman

[ Reply to This | # ]

Filing a complaint with the DOJ
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, June 20 2009 @ 11:27 PM EDT
The article complains, wondering where the DOJ is in all this. Well, rather than
sit on your thumbs, file a complaint with the DOJ:

http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm

They will hear from me tomorrow when I type out my thoughts. Maybe it would help
to hear from you folks, too, rather than sitting around waiting for them to find
this out.

To quote them: "Information from the public is vital to the work of the
Antitrust Division. Your e-mails, letters, and phone calls could be our first
alert to a possible violation of antitrust laws and may provide the initial
evidence needed to begin an investigation."

So get off your duffs and do something for once.

[ Reply to This | # ]

1% ?? Surely you jest. Make that 0.1%
Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, June 21 2009 @ 03:24 AM EDT

two ways to get XP on an EeePC. It's unbelievably complicated, and I expect if the only way to get XP on a netbook was this, XP would have about 1% of the market.

Maybe 10 years ago, you'd have been right. But most of today's PC owners can't do anything more "technically advanced" than putting an optical disk into the computer and waiting for it to tell them what to do.

A problem that gets worse every year is that the reading skills of the general population are declining. A significant number of PC owners would not be able to understand the instructions you linked to.

And that's people whose native language is English. The page has links to translations into 10 other languages, but the ones I can read all mean "this page does not exist yet", and the others have text of about the same length. (For comparison, the installation instructions for Debian on Intel appear to be available in 15 languages, and all the ones I checked seemed to be complete. They're also genuine translations, not Babelfish-generated rubbish.)

[ Reply to This | # ]

You didn't mention paying more
Authored by: s65_sean on Sunday, June 21 2009 @ 07:35 AM EDT
Here's what they'd have to do, two ways to get XP on an EeePC.
Neither you nor the linked article mentioned the payment for licensing needed to get Windows XP installed onto a Linux Netbook. I just did a quick search, and the cheapest that I can find a new "full install" license for Windows XP(not an upgrade, as you would not be upgrading an earlier installation of Windows), is just under $100.00.

[ Reply to This | # ]

After Mkt Instllall XP - Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun - Updated 2Xs
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, June 22 2009 @ 07:45 AM EDT
"Here's what they'd have to do, two ways to get XP on an EeePC. It's
unbelievably complicated, and I expect if the only way to get XP on a netbook
was this, XP would have about 1% of the market."

What, hasn't Microsoft heard of the Live CD?

Oh, right, then you could install Windows anywhere, and they would lose track of
where it was authorized to be installed.

(Knock up the side of my head)

It's all a matter of perspective. No wonder they have to twist the arms of the
vendors to keep MS as the only install.

It seems to me that a blatant squash of the Snapdragon should be grounds for a
new FTC investigation!!!!

[ Reply to This | # ]

Snap Dragon - next gen - Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun - Updated 2Xs
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, June 22 2009 @ 08:04 AM EDT
You watch those Snapdragon videos, and bingo, you have the data pads from the
Star Trek movies. Here's one point where the visionaries had it right, and it
only took a few years to come to life. I would be surprised if there weren't a
few Trekies at Qualcom. Then to have it quashed, well when you see the videos,
you understand why MS is scared stiff!!!! They just got a rude wake up call
from left field. They've been running scared from Linux and Google for the
"traditional" computer platform. Their Windows Mobil is a pathetic
attempt to crunch the desktop machine to a phone, shedding pieces all over in
the attempt, while the mobile crowd has been quietly enhancing the personal
communicator (PC) for years with real code and the Snapdragon is just the next
evolutionary step for them, simply expanding all the phone capabilities into a
slightly bigger package.

Just another example of how Microsoft can't innovate, and how Apple could see
the writing on the wall, and got serious about the mobile phone market.
They've had how many years experience behind them in this market, while
Microsoft has zero!!!!!

Notice, there is still competition in the mobile phone market, and how MS does
***NOT*** have a monopoly!

[ Reply to This | # ]
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