Mixed Signals
Any sufficiently advanced information is indistinguishable from noise
Thursday 27 December 2007, 11:21 PM
Microsoft makes hard decisions easier
Let's pretend that we're OEMs. Original Equipment Manufacturers, the people who design and build the actual hardware which finds its way onto desks, into backpacks and under thumbs.
One of the really interesting questions for us OEMs as we make our smart gadgets, PCs and the like is what software to put on them. Anyone can build a computer these days: it's what you make it do, and how you sell it, that matters.
Since, oh, about 1983, those questions have been easy to answer. We make it run a Microsoft operating system, because that's how we get to all the applications software, and we sell it as a better, cheaper (sometimes more stylish -- but mostly cheaper) way to run Microsoft.
But next season is 2008. Suddenly, three things have happened. The cost of the bits to make our gizmos has fallen through the floor - we can get a complete PC through the channel with a ticket price of £200. And, while Microsoft is still looking for a good chunk of that retail price for a copy of Windows, that there free software seems to be going down a storm with the punters. And, thirdly, this. Microsoft has been forced to admit that one of its major pushes into the home sector, the Windows Home Server, sold (inter alia) as the perfect way to store all that ever-increasing mass of home digital data and keep it safe, can corrupt home finance, media and other files.
And if we're an OEM, looking for ways to cut costs and cut support hassles, we may ask ourselves why we want to pay extra for something that doesn't work. Linux doesn't work all the time either - but at least it doesn't charge for the privilege, and the option is there for OEMs like us to hire some bright people, fix problems, even (and this is a shocking idea) write some software ourselves to do things our customers want.
How many bright people would we have to hire to to fix Windows Home Server and turn it into something that our customers wanted, as opposed to something that ate their files - which, we may assume, they do Not Want? That's not an option. Even if we did go out and find smart people, we'd be legally forbidden to use them to sort the customers' problems out. Fixing Microsoft's code without its permission? It's got lawyers for occasions like this.
These are not pressures which Microsoft can shrug off, not as long as it keeps its prices high and its products faulty. My guess is that it'll drop its prices before it fixes its software, because dropping prices is something that can be done by executive fiat, while fixing corporate culture takes enlightenment. Meanwhile, the free software movement - and those who rely on it, like Apple - may find previously locked doors swinging open at the touch of a finger. 2008 may be more interesting than we thought.
PreviousComments on this post
Many small companies are moving away from Microsoft's lock-in and going the Linux route. It is cheaper, runs more stable, runs faster, doesn't slow down after 3 months usage, and it is getting more user friendly all the time. It can be customized to the customer's needs and personalized. All the tools are free and you don't have to be a nerd to write apps, or make changes. You have the source code so you know what will work and what won't. It is a n o brainer. Free support is as close as the nearest forum and many friendly users will happily help you on your way. Microsoft is going to have to change or be left on the roadside.
Am not sure whether the idea of a home-server will catch on; sharing internet access, printers and other peripherals in one thing but sharing all files?
A perfect example of 'how unwilling we are to share' is the fact that Laptops are outselling PCs despite PCs being much cheaper.
If you take away the 'sharing' part, the only problem the Home-server could be solving is back-up storage, i don't think that would justify spending money on such a system.
Perhaps Microsoft should have done research on this one!
I am honestly laughing with the way you are treating companied differently.
So there is a bug in one of the software released. The general public will say oh well a patch will come out probably soon...
And then when I watched your video about ACER's little laptop I remember you saying ohhh there is a problem there but you know they will fix it really soon.
I wonder why you treat ACER so differently than MS. Maybe it has to do with the payment of your beers down the pub...
Whilst there is an element of truth to your article, it rapidly deteriorates into a snipe fest ... give me the facts and let me make my own conclusion
Arthur
I remember, some years ago, that Bill Gates, in his arrogance, stated that hardware would be free and all the cost would be in the software.
We're nearly there then!
A note to Rupert please correct lines 5 & 6 in paragraph 4 so we can be quite sure of what you actually mean.
Always a pleasure to see new faces, especially when they come along, like London busses, all at once, and with such unity of view. Last time it happened was when I was critical of the Zune. None of those correspondents stayed for any length of time, though. I hope that's not true this time.
Just about every software and hardware company on the planet has bought me a beer at some point in my career - and Microsoft more than most. I try to maintain an even-handed approach.
I think it's significant that a company of the size and resources of Microsoft can ship software with such serious flaws, especially when it's aimed at opening up a sector that the company has identified as vital for continued growth.
I'd be extra-careful to test software like that. Wouldn't you?
As for the Asus Eee, I've been gratified by the number of my friends who've bought or been given Eees for Christmas and who are thoroughly enjoying their new toy. Judging by reported sales figures and online discussions, they're not alone. I think it's earned its good rep, for all its flaws!
And Moley - not quite sure what you want me to correct? That MIcrosoft doesn't think it deserves a significant cut of PC retail cost for its software? That's its business model!
R
Rupert. I meant the following comment about free software. I did not understand your drift there.
I think in the sentence:
And, while Microsoft is still looking for a good chunk of that retail price for a copy of Windows, that there free software seems to be going down a storm with the punters.
Rupert was popping in a little Americanism, "that-there free software", which may have confused you. Read it as: "... free software seems to be going down a storm with the punters"
And a comment to Arthur: This is not an article, it is an opinion piece, a blog, which is meant to be about opinion. Doesn't read like sniping to me, looks like a considered, informed opinion. Can you actually illustrate a "snipe" in there? I can see a few sharp observations, clear opinions, and insightful comment. Snipes? nah!
Well Said wydeboi, when i read what Arthur had said i wanted to say something but you've phrased it really well.
Cheers
Chris
Hey Rupert,
I hope you do not expect to get rid of me that easily.
Just to put things into perspective... I am using WHS for the last 7-8 months (since beta time) and I was the one of the first (if not the first) to provide and Add-in for the server. Now since you do not seem to know what an add-in is (since you say that you cannot expand WHS) let me tell you that it’s a plug-in that anyone can provide (and in my case for free with more than 75000 hits and more than 20000 downloads).
What I was trying to say was that you should judge companies equally. I added the comment about beers since you seem to like them so much... I really enjoy your videos.
Keep up the good work but try to be fair with your comments or expect "corrective" comments.
What you are claiming in this article reminds me the Y2K fuss that the world is going down etc... Lets keep it real please.
Regards,
Evangelos
Here to stay!!!
Hi, Evangelos!
I'm sure you can expand WHS with add-ins, and I'm sure that's one of the good things about it. Indeed, I've got a Linux-based home server appliance that can't easily be updated, and that's very frustrating: there are lots of things I want it to do that it doesn't, and no easy way of getting there.
But when basic functionality is faulty, then it's significant. Microsoft, because of its position in the market and public stance, is always going to suffer more when it gets things wrong than other companies - and rightly so, I think, because what it does affects many more people and it has the resources to get things right.
Glad to have you on board!
Rupert
Fair enough...
So when r u reviewing WHS on the Dialogue Box videos?
I would realy love to see how it stands against other platforms (especially in such a "young" age) as well as compare it price wise.
Later,
Evangelos
We haven't done very much software on DB, because it's not that interesting to film! Also, we have a bias towards stuff that's got some sort of enterprise application - but I'll see what my comrades on cnet.co.uk say about WHS as a video subject. With only about ten minutes a week, we have to be a lot more selective on screen than we are in (I suppose you can still call this) print.
Myself, I'd love to do a comparison between the best that a talented WHS integrator can provide, the best Mac alternative and the best open source system - ideally, finding some typical home users who haven't had any experience of this class of product at all, and throwing the finest versions of all three at them. It's not quite ZDNet, though.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is behaving rather oddly in promoting WHS with widdling puppies, sexual innuendo and uncles who smell of bark.
Maybe there's hope for the company yet!
And something else I heard tonight - the WHS design team is separate from any of the other server teams at MS. In other words, the company went to their digital home people and said "Design a server", instead of going to their server people and asking for something for the weekend.
I don't know whether this is true. I will ask. But if you were Microsoft and you decided that a home server was a good idea, how would you set about building a team from your existing expertise to make it happen?
