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the old old story | 326 comments | Create New Account
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For Rent: The New Microsoft Office
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, January 30 2013 @ 01:47 PM EST
“I would say in 10 years, the majority of customers, perhaps all customers, will
be in a subscription relationship as opposed to a perpetual,” Kurt DelBene,
president of Microsoft’s Office division, said in an interview.

They are still banging this same drum which I'm sure I must've heard at least
twenty years ago...

Bob

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Apples and Oranges
Authored by: albert on Wednesday, January 30 2013 @ 02:25 PM EST
Comparing MS Office and Google Apps? Try comparing MS Office and LibreOffice.
Both are native applications. MS Office 365 is a native app with a 'cloud'
connection. Old wine, new bottles is the MS business model.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

For Rent: The New Microsoft Office
Authored by: MDT on Wednesday, January 30 2013 @ 02:56 PM EST
Am I the only one who read the headline and just assumed it was an
article about how MicroSoft was going to have to rent out their new
office building just to bring in cash flow in the next few years?

:)

---
MDT

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

This is part of my prediction of Microsoft Bankruptcy
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, January 30 2013 @ 03:29 PM EST
We've got a series of Disruptive technologies.

1) Web based office suites
2) Inexpensive native office suites
3) Free office suites

No single one will do significant damage to Microsoft's bottom line. All three
combined have a significantly larger impact.

Let's say Web Based could take 1% of Microsoft's market, and the other
options did not exist. The impact on Microsoft would be minuscule. With the
additon of Free Suites and Inexpensive Suites, and the cross feed between
users of the three options, there is a multiplier effect. Exactly what impact
the multiplier has is difficult to gauge, but my personal feeling is that it is

between 2 to 5 times the market share a single option would get.

So rather than Web Based taking 1%, the multiplier means it will take 2 to
5%.

The change in usage of Microsoft alternatives should end up showing a
pretty curve up, and a pretty curve leveling off as each reaches 100% of its
target market.

Consider Apple iWork Suite. It only runs on Mac OSX and IOS, so the
mostly users it could gain would be 100% of Mac and iDevice users. A
certain percentage of Mac and iDevice users have no need for an Office
Suite. Another percentage prefer Web Based or Free, so iWork will remain
a niche product, but a profitable niche product, as it helps sell Macs and
iDevices. But every sale of iWork is a lost sale to Microsoft.

Microsoft's big problem is that once a user switches, there is only a 10%
chance that they'll come back to Office (note that 10% is a guesstimate
based on limited research by myself). That means that the loss of 9 out of
10 customers is permanent (assuming my numbers are correct). There are
several reasons for this:

1) User only requires one element of the Suite, I.e. Word Processor, and
can buy the single part for less.

2) User needs a product that is more capable than Office, say a specialized
writer's pack like Scrivener.

3) User can't afford Office anymore - too many people are out of work, or
working at jobs which pay less.

4) User had a bad experience with Office - like the Ribbon.

There are options missing from above, but the basics are solid. Microsoft
could compete by pricing Office at $10.00 per year, but they won't. They
can't afford to since Office is their most profitable product.

Wayne
http://madhatter.ca

PS: apologies for the formatting, Geeklog keeps putting extra carriage
returns in. Yes, I could HTML this, but my body is freaking on me, and I'm
going to lie down.

I get an Epidural on Friday. Hopefully it will help.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

For Rent: The New Microsoft Office
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, January 30 2013 @ 03:36 PM EST
It's more a case of they're actually saying what has been happening for years,
especially with Closed-source commercial software:

You buy a LICENCE to use the software, not the software which you thought you
were buying: you only really ever rented it anyway.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Given the choice
Authored by: Wol on Wednesday, January 30 2013 @ 06:05 PM EST
I would like to PAY for a new version of WordPerfect.

Unfortunately, (a) it's probably even more corrupted with Word-itis than
previous versions, and (b) I can't find it on sale anywhere :-(

Also unfortunately :-( I can't get it to run under WINE, though that may just be
me. It (the version I have) doesn't seem to want to run properly under
virtual-XP and won't run on Windows 7.

Maybe once M$ is going bust I'll actually be able to get a decent copy for
linux?

Cheers,
Wol

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

the old old story
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, January 30 2013 @ 08:00 PM EST
Renters get shafted.

That's why ownership is far more popular.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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