[lbo-talk] Microsoft: 0, Google: 1

[Wojtek S]

I never paid for a Microsoft product in my lifetime.  Whatever I use either
came with the computer I purchased or from my work. A singular exception to
that was Microsoft Streets and Trips which I once bought used on Amazon for
some ridiculously low amount to provide maps for a GPS PCMCIA card that I
used to have, and which I am not using anymore because I sold the card and
Google and dedicated stand-alone GPS products offer superior functionality.
I guess in either case someone else paid for these products (i.e. computer
manufacturer, JHU, or the original buyer) but at least none of *my* money
went to Redmond.

But what really puzzles me is why people and businesses put up with the crap
dished out by Redmond when other alternatives are either already available
or within reach of being quickly developed.  Just imagine the loss of
productivity brought by the need to retrain millions of workers to use the
new shit crapped out by Redmond aka Office 2007.  Form a purely business
perspective it makes no sense, since the functionality offered by 2007 is
nearly the same as that of 2003 for most business uses, but the menus have
been so completely rearranged, that previously learned skills are almost
entirely obsolete.

Jordan mentioned support - but in my experience it is a total canard.  In my
entire life time I have not received a single bit of useful support
information from Redmond, all they could say was that my file was probably
"corrupted" and I had to start my work anew.  Their "support" would be
totally laughable if it were not so frustrating.  For every single problem I
had with their buggy software I either found the solution myself (e.g. by
Googling it) or from more knowledgeable friends and co-workers.

So, really, what makes otherwise cost-conscious people and businesses,
especially outside the US, fork over good money to Redmond for their
overpriced and poorly debugged crap?

Wojtek

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:11 AM, Bhaskar Sunkara
<bhaskar.sunkara at gmail.com>wrote:


> Or you can just be good anti-capitalist and pirate Windows like everyone
> else.
>
> On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:04 AM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >  I will stay with Google, and next time I buy a computer I
> > will go for a Linux or a Mac.
> >
> > Wojtek
> > ___________________________________
> > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> >
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