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Microsoft aims to reach next billion PC users
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credhage
about 1 year ago about Microsoft
Bill Gates of Microsoft will unveil a new low-cost bundle of Office and Windows program suite during his trip to Beijing. The program is just one of Microsoft’s new initiatives aimed at getting PCs into the hands of more people in emerging markets.
Program Goal:Microsoft is hoping this program and others will help the company reach more of the 5 billion people who have yet to benefit from the PC revolution by 2015.
Program Specifics: 1) Collection includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Office Home and Student 2007, Windows Live Mail Desktop and several educational products. 2) Price is $3. This includes the software license. (Backup discs and documentation will cost extra. 3) To be eligible, governments must pick up at least half the tab for the PC, though the software can also be used on refurbished computers, which can cost as little as $50
I think this is a very good idea and it will be interesting to see how these new programs positively effect Microsoft’s top and bottom line over the years to come. Is Microsoft attempting to get a leg up on the developing market, like they did in the early 90’s here in the States and abroad or is Microsoft just doing good? My vote is both. I believe Microsoft sees a strategic advantage, that by getting into the developing market early, they will be able to get a competitive edge as the developing markets mature, while at the same time doing good.
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Comments
1 Billion Users??
submitted by skyking about 1 year ago
MS should : 1. Upgrade Internet Explorer 2. scrap Internet Explorer 3. Upgrade to Vista plan
Get too many Error messages on Internet Explorer & Hotmail Never works when installed. I use Yahoo mail & pay since FREE Hotmail wont work.
Enough said
submitted by Thehustler25 about 1 year ago
Michael Dell mentioned the same thing in Sept 2005 Business 2.0 ( going for the 5 Billion people not connected yet or without ways of accessing a PC )
Destroying the Free Alrternative!!!
submitted by igoeja about 1 year ago
What seems like charity is an attempt to dominate the market by dumping Windows on the developing world, a ploy to prevent the use of Linux.
Do some research
submitted by Eloquence about 1 year ago
The main driving force of this project is the One Laptop Per Child project, a ~$100 PC intended to be distributed to children in the developing world, which several countries have already signed up to. I’ve seen & used this device; it is very much ready—and it runs Linux. Microsoft is trying to prevent more countries from signing up to the OLPC program, but at the same time is not even willing to give these countries a regular edition of Windows. The “Starter Edition” is limited to running 3 programs at a time and is crippled in other ways.
In other words, this is Microsoft’s strategy to 1) kill off an open source, non-profit competitor, 2) get children in the developing world hooked on proprietary Microsoft crippleware, 3) make ignorant consumers in the developed world believe that they are “doing good”. I bet they have lovely internal memos on the subject, like they did when they set out to destroy Netscape by contractually mandating that PC manufacturers could not install competing browsers.
Really?
submitted by smp about 1 year ago
$3 ??? Where is my $3 laptop? I want a $3 laptop that I can tunr into a Unix machine. :)
I think it is a great thing, but it is also not ethically right in some respect. Now if MAC, Dell, HP, Microsoft, etc. all went in and worked on a prgram…then hey that’s cool, but just pushing their product is a bit too aggresive for me.
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