OSNews > Thread > "RE[2]: Pay per use" by tomcat

Linked by David Adams on Tue 30th Dec 2008 19:04 UTC, submitted by jeanmarc

A recently-filed patent from Microsoft gives us a glimpse into a possible future strategy from the software giant, wherein people buy a computer, but only pay for that portion of the computer's performance and capabilities they actually use. There's a pretty detailed summary of the plan in a Cnet article that's worth a read. It actually sounds a lot like a "cloud computing" strategy for the consumer, and it all seems to make sense, until you start to really think about it.

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RE[2]: Pay per use

by tomcat on Wed 31st Dec 2008 11:01 UTC in reply to "RE: Pay per use"

Member since:
2006-01-06

Are you for real? Seriously! Perhaps they'd start charing how many times you've played a song with WM even non-protected or how many times you've visitted a web site or how long you have spent on linux.com and may be they'd be an extra charge when you go to distrowatch.com. This is so dumb. I so hope the patent does not go through.

You're objecting to the idea, not the patent. And, really, the market will decide on the worthiness or worthlessness of the idea. So, why be outraged over things you have no control over? It's like being pissed off about gravity or the color of the sky.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 2

RE[3]: Pay per use

by RRepster on Wed 31st Dec 2008 13:02 in reply to "RE[2]: Pay per use"

Member since:
2008-06-18

Certain things the market has no power over because of the monopoly power of the company. Gasoline for example, you need it therefore the price is irrelevant. As long as MSFT continues to be the dominant default system companies and users use then anything they come up with the people have no power over and are at the mercy of. Just like the RIAA and MPAA know that people see a need for music and movies, which allows them to manipulate prices and overly influence congress into passing protection laws. For things like Refrigerators and perhaps cameras we have choices but time and again its been proven that the "market" has zero power over MSFT schemes.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 1

RE[4]: Pay per use

by tomcat on Sat 3rd Jan 2009 07:55 in reply to "RE[3]: Pay per use"

Member since:
2006-01-06

Certain things the market has no power over because of the monopoly power of the company.

You clearly have no idea how the OEM PC market works. Microsoft doesn't manufacture the hardware. The OEM (Dell, IBM, Gateway, HP, etc) does. Furthermore, the Department of Justice is monitoring the OEM PC market closely. They have representatives posted in Redmond who review all OEM deals and contracts. Microsoft can't ink a deal without getting approval. So, really, this idea that Microsoft can simply do whatever it wants is total BS.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 2