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"control these OEM's?" it was Microsoft who created this mess. they were executing everybody's favorite business maxim, "commoditize your complements." Microsof

"control these OEM's?" it was Microsoft who created this mess. they were executing everybody's favorite business maxim, "commoditize your complements." Microsoft is the only company providing the operating system, which runs on an army of undifferentiated PCs, where the manufacturers can only compete on price. of COURSE they're reduced to shady behavior like this. they have no other way to make money, because Microsoft thinks all the profit in the entire ecosystem should be theirs. if they try to "reign in the OEMs," then there will be no profit left at all for them. at that point, they might as well get into some other line of products altogether: netbooks, android phones, etc

drzaiusapelord 11y ago
>where the manufacturers can only compete on price. I find this hard to believe and seems to be an excuse for modifications like these (this excuse is quite common in Android). Quality of components, design, battery life/capacity, screen size/dpi, brand, reputation, support quality, etc mean a lot more to Jane Computerbuyer than a slew of Lenovo shit apps she has no idea how to use and probably never will. >it was Microsoft who created this mess. Actually it was the Department of Justice that created this mess.
- allenbrunson 11y ago
  ... and yet, here we are! if there was this huge market that you are positing that exists, anxious to buy PCs and laptops based on battery life, screen quality, etc, then there would be companies building products to soak up their money. but there is not such a market, apart from a few people like you who hang out on technical message boards, not nearly numerous enough to support such a thing.
  - drzaiusapelord 11y ago
    Funny how the massive iOS device market and OSX market works just fine with a single OS experience that unmodified between models, doesnt have 3rd party crapware, etc. In fact, it works so well, its threatening the Windows monopoly. I don't know any young person without an OSX machine.
    - allenbrunson 11y ago
      that is because apple is the only company that makes iphones, ipads, and macs. apple sells hardware, not software, like microsoft does, so "commoditize your complements" means something entirely different to apple. (it means that they are trying to drive the price of software to zero, through their own gated app stores. but that's another topic entirely.)
  - pjc50 11y ago
    This is bizarre. PCs and laptops are very much differentiated on quality and specs - it's just that the margin is competed away. The only way to maintain margin is to de-commodify, either by market differentiation (brand building) or barriers to entry. Apple have done extremely well at both.
    - allenbrunson 11y ago
      ... so apparently we are in rabid agreement? i was speaking specifically about the microsoft ecosystem, not about anything capable of running a general-purpose operating system. i am myself typing this on an apple laptop. i haven't participated in the microsoft ecosystem for decades, and this is one of the reasons.
- oldmanjay 11y ago
  > Actually it was the Department of Justice that created this mess. That's an interesting way of looking at it. "Wet streets cause rain" as I just read in a different comment.
- yuhong 11y ago
  What created the mess ultimately was the IBM PC being cloned, I think.

drzaiusapelord 11y ago

>where the manufacturers can only compete on price. I find this hard to believe and seems to be an excuse for modifications like these (this excuse is quite common in Android). Quality of components, design, battery life/capacity, screen size/dpi, brand, reputation, support quality, etc mean a lot more to Jane Computerbuyer than a slew of Lenovo shit apps she has no idea how to use and probably never will. >it was Microsoft who created this mess. Actually it was the Department of Justice that created this mess.

allenbrunson 11y ago
... and yet, here we are! if there was this huge market that you are positing that exists, anxious to buy PCs and laptops based on battery life, screen quality, etc, then there would be companies building products to soak up their money. but there is not such a market, apart from a few people like you who hang out on technical message boards, not nearly numerous enough to support such a thing.
- drzaiusapelord 11y ago
  Funny how the massive iOS device market and OSX market works just fine with a single OS experience that unmodified between models, doesnt have 3rd party crapware, etc. In fact, it works so well, its threatening the Windows monopoly. I don't know any young person without an OSX machine.
  - allenbrunson 11y ago
    that is because apple is the only company that makes iphones, ipads, and macs. apple sells hardware, not software, like microsoft does, so "commoditize your complements" means something entirely different to apple. (it means that they are trying to drive the price of software to zero, through their own gated app stores. but that's another topic entirely.)
- pjc50 11y ago
  This is bizarre. PCs and laptops are very much differentiated on quality and specs - it's just that the margin is competed away. The only way to maintain margin is to de-commodify, either by market differentiation (brand building) or barriers to entry. Apple have done extremely well at both.
  - allenbrunson 11y ago
    ... so apparently we are in rabid agreement? i was speaking specifically about the microsoft ecosystem, not about anything capable of running a general-purpose operating system. i am myself typing this on an apple laptop. i haven't participated in the microsoft ecosystem for decades, and this is one of the reasons.
oldmanjay 11y ago
> Actually it was the Department of Justice that created this mess. That's an interesting way of looking at it. "Wet streets cause rain" as I just read in a different comment.
yuhong 11y ago
What created the mess ultimately was the IBM PC being cloned, I think.