6 ms·

> ads in the OS, Yeah, I can't wrap my head around why they would do that. Is it really a big enough revenue stream to inconvenience the consumer to such a de

by screye 7y ago

> ads in the OS, Yeah, I can't wrap my head around why they would do that. Is it really a big enough revenue stream to inconvenience the consumer to such a degree ? ______ Maybe it is because the type of user that uses wordpad is also not concerned with advertisements or user experiences. I mean, for most people a computer is either a Netflix + Internet + Office machine (they live in these apps, so the rest of the OS doesn't really affect them) or a device which runs significantly worse OEM software,(in which case, good UX was a lost cause anyways.)

dobleboble 7y ago
With 400,000,000 active Windows 10 users I would imagine that yes, it is quite worthwhile.
numpad0 7y ago
Big consumer techs offer experience, not products. The joyous Windows Experience of office work a la Job Simulator.
gettingsnarky 7y ago
> Yeah, I can't wrap my head around why they would do that. Investors before customers.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
> I mean, for most people a computer is either a Netflix + Internet + Office machine (they live in these apps, so the rest of the OS doesn't really affect them) or a device which runs significantly worse OEM software,(in which case, good UX was a lost cause anyways.) I really wish tech people would stop with this fantasizing that users don't have good reasons for the choices they make. This is why Linux Desktop has consistently failed for decades: the conception that it is "good enough" for "most non-technical people" because they've imagined some ultra-simplified usecase and then convinced themselves that they've made an appropriate replacement. Absolutely nothing good comes of this mentality.
- sansnomme 7y ago
  It works if you have a massive enterprise sales team and a couple billions for hardware development. See Chromebook.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
    I don't see many people giving up their desktops for Chromebooks. Let's take a look at the stats [0]... Doesn't look like ChromeOS is significant. Hell, it doesn't even seem to beat Linux. Granted, there might be other sources (I found this with 1 minute of Google searching), but I doubt they'll paint a much different picture. Chromebooks are just big smartphones and are not a sufficient tool for the tasks which people actually use Desktop computers for. [0] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide
  - dirkg 7y ago
    ChromeOS is a joke if you are offline or need to do any local work. Their 'file browser' has got to be an inside joke its so bad. Its a great device for browsing + youtube/netflix + FB + gdocs. Which is why its so popular in edu because they basically give it away. And its enough for most people.
    - omaranto 7y ago
      > ChromeOS is a joke if you are offline or need to do any local work. I used to feel that way until I learned that recent Chromebooks can run Android apps and come with a Linux in a VM, and I am now a very happy Chromebook user. All the software I need is a browser, Emacs, git, SBCL, LaTeX and a few standard Unix tools: I use Chrome and run everything else in the Linux VM. (And you're right that the file browser is very limited, fortunately I only need it ocasionally to move files between the Linux VM and the ChromeOS file system).
      - dirkg 7y ago
        Google has been making half hearted attempts to merge ChromeOs and Android or at least provide a proper Linux distro without resorting to chroot hacks or replacing the fw. I'm sure they have internal builds which are pure Linux with a compatibility layer to run ChromeOS legacy. There is absolutely no reason a Chromebook can't run that - but then its just another laptop and loses the marketability.

by screye 7y ago

dobleboble 7y ago

With 400,000,000 active Windows 10 users I would imagine that yes, it is quite worthwhile.

numpad0 7y ago

Big consumer techs offer experience, not products. The joyous Windows Experience of office work a la Job Simulator.

gettingsnarky 7y ago

> Yeah, I can't wrap my head around why they would do that. Investors before customers.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago

> I mean, for most people a computer is either a Netflix + Internet + Office machine (they live in these apps, so the rest of the OS doesn't really affect them) or a device which runs significantly worse OEM software,(in which case, good UX was a lost cause anyways.) I really wish tech people would stop with this fantasizing that users don't have good reasons for the choices they make. This is why Linux Desktop has consistently failed for decades: the conception that it is "good enough" for "most non-technical people" because they've imagined some ultra-simplified usecase and then convinced themselves that they've made an appropriate replacement. Absolutely nothing good comes of this mentality.

sansnomme 7y ago
It works if you have a massive enterprise sales team and a couple billions for hardware development. See Chromebook.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
  I don't see many people giving up their desktops for Chromebooks. Let's take a look at the stats [0]... Doesn't look like ChromeOS is significant. Hell, it doesn't even seem to beat Linux. Granted, there might be other sources (I found this with 1 minute of Google searching), but I doubt they'll paint a much different picture. Chromebooks are just big smartphones and are not a sufficient tool for the tasks which people actually use Desktop computers for. [0] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide
- dirkg 7y ago
  ChromeOS is a joke if you are offline or need to do any local work. Their 'file browser' has got to be an inside joke its so bad. Its a great device for browsing + youtube/netflix + FB + gdocs. Which is why its so popular in edu because they basically give it away. And its enough for most people.
  - omaranto 7y ago
    > ChromeOS is a joke if you are offline or need to do any local work. I used to feel that way until I learned that recent Chromebooks can run Android apps and come with a Linux in a VM, and I am now a very happy Chromebook user. All the software I need is a browser, Emacs, git, SBCL, LaTeX and a few standard Unix tools: I use Chrome and run everything else in the Linux VM. (And you're right that the file browser is very limited, fortunately I only need it ocasionally to move files between the Linux VM and the ChromeOS file system).
    - dirkg 7y ago
      Google has been making half hearted attempts to merge ChromeOs and Android or at least provide a proper Linux distro without resorting to chroot hacks or replacing the fw. I'm sure they have internal builds which are pure Linux with a compatibility layer to run ChromeOS legacy. There is absolutely no reason a Chromebook can't run that - but then its just another laptop and loses the marketability.