[ Thanks to An Anonymous Reader for
this link. ]
“The dilemma that Microsoft is now facing is a matter
of basic economics. They want to sell more copies of their product,
but they are unwilling to sell at a price that is appropriate to a
mass-produced product. But then, this is the aspiration of all
monopolies and monopoly wanna-bes–to have sufficient control to
sell to everybody with an unreasonably huge profit margin.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, absolute control of prices only comes
with absolute control of the market, and Microsoft is only a minor
monopoly. So, they have to settle for a market where mass sales
occur only at relatively small profit margins.“However, Microsoft’s latest offerings have fairly stiff price
tags–comparable to the price of an entire netbook. While the
prices for bundling Windows with a computer are cheaper, they still
represent a significant percentage of a netbook’s price. And, those
offerings are not targeted at the power users who might be willing
to pay those prices. In fact, the few features that interest power
users are only available in the highest priced Microsoft products.
This is the sort of thing that makes the less expensive
alternatives to Microsoft look so attractive to power users. So,
while the power users may feel over taxed or left behind,
Microsoft’s products are targeted at the widest audience
possible–the audience that is least interested in paying anything
higher than commodity prices.”