3 ms·
>But that is also the marginal cost of Windows and OS X. When you pay what you must pay for the hardware you want, you can almost always have Windows or OS X at
by gillianseed 12y ago
>But that is also the marginal cost of Windows and OS X. When you pay what you must pay for the hardware you want, you can almost always have Windows or OS X at no additional cost.
Eh? You do realize that when you buy a new computer with Windows, the price of the OEM Windows license lands on YOU as it is baked in to the asking price, it's not as if the OEM is carrying that cost for you.
Likewise the cost of Apple developing OSX is baked in to the price of a Mac.
- SiVal 12y agoThat's why the marginal cost of Windows or OS X is zero. If the cost of the OS is "baked in", rather than offered as an optional add-on, that policy makes the price with or without the OS the same to you, which by definition makes the MARGINAL cost of the OS zero.
- gillianseed 12y agoNot if you can buy the computer without the 'bundled' OS, or better yet, build your own from components.
- SiVal 12y agoAnd that's why, in my original post, I wrote, "The benefit to the end user only shows up when building custom hardware, repurposing old hardware, or using a VM--things I care about but the average consumer doesn't."