Posted on 07/30/2007 10:15:40 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
It's already doing this in India without fanfare. Nobody has considered the possibility that the Microsoft PC in India is a market test for a bigger rollout. As of this writing the company isn't saying. Reports out of India are sketchy.
Over the years, Microsoft has been accused of copying what Apple Inc. does, as far as user interface is concerned. Why not copy the idea of an entire branded computer, too? After all, with the Zune player, Microsoft has played follow-the-leader in hardware.
Microsoft has been very successful with this copycat strategy. That said, the company has been original and aggressive with its Xbox, pen-based computing initiatives and peripheral manufacturing.
The first Xbox was actually a personal computer with proprietary subsystems designed for gaming. The second Xbox is a variation on a PC with a different, non-Intel architecture, but it is still a computer.
I'm now guessing that the entire Xbox experiment was an exercise to clear the decks and shake out the cobwebs for a full-blown entry into the PC arena. After all, if Apple is currently gaining market share with its proprietary systems, perhaps making a Microsoft computer that adheres to the often-ignored Microsoft reference designs might reinvigorate the once-lively PC buzz.
The entire Xbox experiment was an exercise to clear the decks and shake out the cobwebs for a full-blown entry into the PC arena.
Since the antitrust case against Microsoft, the software giant can no longer strong-arm its customers into remaining exclusively Windows distributors. Already Dell Inc. and others are shipping their machines with Linux.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Now I think this may be a possibility....
I hope they have their repair lines up and running well in advance, if the XBox 360 was any indication.
Big PC makers such as HP?Compaq and Dell are having a hard time recently as margins get smaller and smaller. Apple, having moved to the Intel processors, are on the verge of losing their uniqueness as well, as their machines are made to run Windows or MacOS natively. It is only a matter of time before MacOS will run on any PC.
Unless Microsoft thinks it can compete in 'coolness' like Apple, they'd just be throwing billions down a rat hole. (See Zune for a perfect example of a failed attempt at Apple-like 'cool.')
If Microsoft comes out with a line of computers...
...wait for Service Pack 2
For Microsoft, the advantage would be to capture a lot more revenue. It would also allow Microsoft to operate more freely without the constraints of their antitrust conviction.
In theory, it could provide better integration of hardware and software, and perhaps a better quality system overall. But Microsoft has shown little concern for quality so far, so I doubt Microsoft-branded PC would improve the user experience.
If Microsoft is that stupid, I think they just kissed their leading market position byebye. Given how Microsoft has screwed over their partners in the past after introducing a competing product, I would expect the big vendors to bail out of Windows *fast*.
That's kind of a dumb statement. All modern consoles, and technically smart phones, routers, etc., are computers.
(SOMOPIFE)
I’ve got a Microsoft mouse, what a loose and sloppy POS it is. No box comps for me, all custom jobs.
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