XPost: comp.sys.mac.advocacy   
   From: solitude439@rcn.com   
      
   "Lucar"  wrote in message   
   news:cl2nhf$r15$1@news.dialog.net.pl...   
   > "Montgomery BOO...URNS"  wrote in message   
   > news:JJSdnXkLeq1e-OncRVn-sg@rcn.net...   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> And I'm still wondering now why people like you are posting to a Mac   
   >> Advocacy newsgroup?   
   >   
   > Well, take a moment to think about it... if not for people like me, this   
   > newsgroup would be dead! If everyone agreed with everyone else, there   
   > would   
   > be no discussion.   
      
   Agreed!   
      
   >   
   >> Sure, they have a good market share - point taken!   
   >> K-Mart had a good market share in the 80's!!  Look where they are now??   
   >> Chapter 11 status and one of their spokepersons is in prison right now   
   >> (Martha Stewart)!  The reason why K-Mart lost their market share was   
   > because   
   >> of bad management and poor service and as well, they have a tendency to   
   >> relocate their merchandise every time you turn around.  This same thing   
   >> is   
   >> going to happen with Microsoft.  It's so overblown now!! Anything gets as   
   >> big as Microsoft, eventually it will explode.  In this case, it's   
   > imploding!   
   >   
   > With K-Mart, you're comparing oranges with apples, that's for starters. To   
   > cut this short, IBM is equally big (if not bigger) and it's doing alright,   
   > turning out great products and certainly not exploding (whatever it   
   > means)!   
      
   No, I'm actually stating how business works.  K-Mart got too big for it's   
   britches (so to speak)!  Microsoft is starting to see the same trend!  It   
   happens again and again!  When companies get too big, things start to go   
   wrong (i.e. terrible attitudes in customer service, security issues with   
   software, rearranging merchandise every month, not having merchandise in   
   stock, viruses in your email, system crashes, etc.).  Eventually when bad   
   trends take place, the consumer takes notice, then it becomes a ripple   
   effect all the way up to Wall Street.   
      
   >   
   >> Okay, maybe they'll have a better OS with Windows Longhorn but that's   
   >> only   
   >> going to mean more security issues, software updates, spam, pop-ups and   
   >> adware crap that people are already getting sick of dealing with.   
   >>   
   > Maybe, maybe not. We have no way of knowing this yet. They may shift more   
   > of   
   > their attention to security issues after all. Right now it's just pure   
   > guessing and wishful thinking on your part!   
      
   Far from it!  Most people I know who own a computer and get on the internet   
   on a daily basis talk to me about how sick they are of getting viruses, how   
   windows pop up all the time and they can't get rid of it and it's got them   
   frustrated - these are the same issues I keep talking about but it seems   
   that you're in this cloud of Windows Euphoria!!  This is only something that   
   will last so long and people will eventually get sick of it.  They're   
   already sick of it - thus the reasons for the common household computer user   
   jumping to Linux or even Macintosh!   
      
   >   
   >> Which eventually is what Microsoft is going to see!  I'll admit, yes, I'm   
   > a   
   >> Mac Zealot and I'm proud of that!  I learned the best things about   
   > computing   
   >> on a Macintosh (i.e. Desktop Publishing, Graphics, MIDI and recording   
   >> applications).  When the Mac was at it's prime, the only thing I was   
   >> using   
   >> the crappy DOS machines for was learning how to type!!   
   >>   
   > In that case why didn't you learn typing on a Mac??! :-)   
      
   I learned to type on a typewriter actually!  The DOS box that I used had a   
   typing tutor program that I thought was the only real useful program   
   installed on it!  So I learned how to beef up my typing speed!   
      
   >   
   >> Windows was a crappy   
   >> DOS Shell at that point and it was very user-unfriendly!! Like I said, to   
   >> this day Microsoft still doesn't have it right!  Windows is better than   
   >> it   
   >> was, but it's taking a turn and boy what fun it is to install Adaware,   
   >> Norton Utilities, Norton Firewall, Spybot Search & Destroy, Pop-up   
   > Blocker,   
   >> McAfee Anti-spam, McAfee Anti-Virus in a one horse open sleigh!! I keep   
   >> updating Windows from the Windows Update site, but that's not enough!!  I   
   >> have to install third party security software in a matter of a week after   
   >> the updates are installed because the issues I was trying to remedy are   
   > only   
   >> rearing their ugly heads again.   
   >>   
   > Point taken!   
   >   
   >> Anyway, to put my 2 cents against your market share argument... yes,   
   >> Microsoft has a substantial market share.  That's not necessarily based   
   >> on   
   >> end-user involvement.  Most of Microsoft's software is bought up by   
   >> authorized dealers (AUTHORIZED, that's right, AUTHORIZED... this is a   
   >> license we're talking about, the dealers aren't buying the software   
   >> itself   
   >> nor is the end-user)!  As for end-user involvement or the end-consumer   
   >> buying up Microsoft product, most of that could come across as cut and   
   >> dry   
   >> as well... Microsoft comes out ahead!  But that's not necessarily how   
   > market   
   >> share numbers are tallied.  Microsoft sells their license to the   
   >> companies   
   >> (the Staples, the Office Max, the Office Depot, the Wal-Marts, the   
   > Targets)   
   >> and this has more impact on the market share numbers than the   
   >> end-consumer   
   >> involvement.   
   >>   
   > I agree their market share is largely due to marketing strategies but that   
   > still doesn't change the fact.   
      
   Why not?  Their marketing strategy is one step behind a fine line of being   
   criminal.  It's a license short of having their box of software on a string.   
   Pay for the friggin pretty green box of software and you still didn't buy   
   the software.  You bought a disc which installs an operating system on your   
   computer, but you didn't actually buy the software.  To make this legal,   
   Microsoft installs a license agreement with their software that they ever so   
   cleverly let you read when you install it.   
      
   >   
   >> You can't buy a computer with Windows installed directly from Microsoft.   
   >> Why?  Because Microsoft doesn't sell computers or hardware.  They deal   
   >> solely with software.  You can buy a computer directly from Apple   
   > Computers   
   >> and they sell you the computer with their OWN BRAND of software   
   >> installed.   
   >> This is also what makes them different from Microsoft because they're   
   >> selling you the whole package.  I've always had a bad taste in the back   
   >> of   
   >> my mouth when it's told to me that Microsoft and Apple are the two big   
   >> competitors.  One deals solely with software and the other is a computer   
   >> company that happens to have their own operating system installed on   
   >> their   
   >> brand of computers.   
   >>   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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