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#19
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cloud OS?
"mechanic" wrote
| Microsoft would like Windows to be a cloud OS, just so MSFT can charge | you rent on your software. | | What's wrong with that? We are already used to a rental system on | our cars (in the UK called Personal Contract Purchase or PCP). It's | the way things are going. ?? Speak for yourself. I have only software that I bought, wrote, or got for free. No monthly payments. No ads. My pickup truck is scheduled to be paid off in 2 years. In the US one can lease a vehicle. It's similar to buying in terms of payments, but you don't own it at the end of the term and there are limits in terms of what you can do with it. (For instance, I've installed a custom cap on my pickup. Couldn't drill the holes for it with a leased vehicle.) Leasing sometimes makes sense for businesses that are writing off the costs, but it's hardly "the way things are going" for people to no longer have their own personal possessions. At least not in the US. The UK seems to be both more socialistic and more fascistic, so maybe that accounts for your experience. Software rental is a fad mostly for one reason: The market is mature and software companies can no longer depend on selling grossly overpriced, periodic updates. That's tough for monopoly products especially. Thus, MS Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud are both rental and both seem to be doing well. They're doing well specifically because rental costs a lot more than buying the software, at least for the average person who doesn't need to buy every update. But the people renting often want every update of that monopoly product and use it for work. So they'll pay. In order to move along the rental trend, companies like Microsoft are making it harder to control your computer, in the name of security and convenience. There's also been a trend toward constant updating. In a few short years people have gone from a view that they buy software and use it for several years to a view that it's normal for all software to need constant updates, and that all those updates are good by definition. That kind of thinking makes rental software and services seem sensible. So again, that approach has been pushed, mostly in the name of security. A lot of dubious profits are being made in the name of security. People are literally being scared into opening their wallets. Online services also come into the picture. Many people do want to use something like an iPad or cellphone to shop online, play games, etc. They want convenience. They often don't care much about ads or privacy. And they don't really distinguish between owning, services and rental. They just want the thing to work. Most of that usage is consumeritic rather than productive. In other words, those people are not using those devices to do anything like work. So they don't much care about the idea of owning the device and the files on it. |
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