XPost: comp.os.linux.advocacy   
   From: usenet@gallopinginsanity.com   
      
   Chris Ahlstrom stated in post igcqh3$b9c$2@news.eternal-september.org on   
   1/9/11 10:18 AM:   
      
   > ZnU wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:   
   >   
   >> In article ,   
   >>  Chris Ahlstrom  wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> Apple's iPad definitely has changed that, and Android is helping seed an   
   >>> even bigger tablet market.  If Microsoft had been ready, they'd be actively   
   >>> co-opting it right now.   
   >>   
   >> I still don't understand how you this "co-opting" works. You seem to   
   >> believe that Microsoft has some ability to introduce products that   
   >> nobody really wants to buy, and force people to buy them anyway. What   
   >> mechanism do they use? And if they have such an ability, why have their   
   >> efforts met with so little success in so many markets (music players,   
   >> online music sales, search engines, smartphones, etc.) over the years?   
   >   
   > ZnU, you should know I am talking about the consumer computer market.   
   >   
   > Nothing more.   
   >   
   > And the history of Microsoft's dominance in this market is quite clear, and   
   > has been litigated at length.   
      
   You did not answer the question.   
      
   Let me give a specific example.  If there are two netbooks on a shelf - one   
   with Linux and one with Windows, and the Linux one is much cheaper (no OS   
   license and lower hardware requirements) what can MS do to stop someone from   
   buying the Linux one?  And since the OEMs would make *more* money from the   
   Linux one, what stops them from selling and marketing them?   
      
   The answer: demand.  Or lack thereof.   
      
      
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