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Monday, July 08, 2002 |
Microsoft: The Pressure Continues! Or do you really need to upgrade Office again?.
Microsoft: The Pressure Continues! Or do you really need to upgrade Office again?
I was just on www.pcconnection.com and saw the content below on a link directly from the home page. What I hear is that people are NOT signing up for this program -- it's just a bad time to contemplate license changes since the economy is basically still, well, in the tank. Now don't get me wrong -- I think annual license models are the right thing for the software business and for customers since it makes a lot of issues cleaner. Where this fails is when the company that wants you to license the product fails to remember one thing: Successful companies do what's best for the customer. It's very unclear to me that Microsoft understand this. Here's an example:
From the FAQ at: http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/content/showcase/microsoftlic_vol.asp:
What do I miss if I don't sign up for Upgrade Protection?
Open License 6.0 allows IT managers full access to future upgrades on all Microsoft software products used by their organization, including all Office, Visio, Exchange, and SQL Server packages. Upgrades to these products will not be available to organizations that don't sign up for Upgrade Advantage or Software Assurance by July 31, 2002.
Let's be very, very honest here. Listed below are at least what I see as just some of the problems here:
- Economy is Bad. Yes Microsoft gave us all warning on this. So what? The macro economic situation has changed -- the economy is still bad and Microsoft needs to remove the gun to your head.
- This isn't a Priority NOW. When your concerns include "Who do I lay off this week?" then licensing Office is not a priority.
- Timing. By ending this program in July, Microsoft basically is ensuring that a pretty large percentage of companies will NOT take advantage of this. Here's why:
- Everyone procrastinates decisions they don't want to make (human nature)
- Everything is slower in the summer and decisions often don't get made because people are on vacation
- My guess, based on years of experience with the often unrecognized "summer shutdown" is that between 10 to 20% of people that would have purchased simply because of the date. Bear in mind that if your organization is of any size greater than just a few people, you are talking about a substantial amount of money. While I don't know the exact pricing on this, I can easily guess that it's at least $100 per seat. If you have 1,000 people in your company then just do the math. Anything greater than $5,000 generally requires at least one level of additional approval (why do you think software is often priced at $4,995 -- that's why). And greater than $10,000 is generally multiple levels. Trying to get those approvals when folks are taking vacation is really hard.
- So my very cynical question is does Microsoft NOT understand this or did they do this intentionally to optimize revenues later?
- It's Expensive. This has to be expensive. It just has to be. Want to know why? Microsoft is now offering FINANCING for your upgrades!!! http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/content/showcase/microsoftlic_finance.asp Who ever heard of buying software by financing it??? Am I the only person who things this is more than a bit silly.
- If You Don't Do It NOW then You CAN'T UPGRADE LATER. Read that again. Repeat it. Grok it. This really, really bothers me. I can understand telling customers "If you don't do it now then it costs X % more later" but not this. I'm sorry. Yes Microsoft can do whatever they want but as customers, you can choose to do the same.
So, while I fully admit that Microsoft can do whatever it wants, this feels to me like it really isn't in the customers best interest.
Postscript:
I ran this piece by a friend who's an ex-Microsoft person and how used to work on Microsoft Word himself. And his comment was that this is a huge opportunity for Open Office. Very interesting.
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Here's a direct copy and paste from the PC Connection page:
Full URL: http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/content/showcase/microsoftlic.asp |
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At Last, a Solution to Software Management!
Save time, money, and hassle! With Open License 6.0, Microsoft makes it easy for volume users to get the most long-term value from their software investment. It's a convenient tool to manage this important asset - and after July 31, 2002, it's the most cost-effective way you'll be able to get future upgrades to key Microsoft license products.
Learn more:
Volume License FAQ
Upgrade Protection
Microsoft Open Finance
Contact a Specialist
Now is the time to upgrade. After July 31, 2002, Microsoft's new Volume Licensing 6.0 Program will be fully implemented. The most cost-effective way to obtain upgrades is to purchase Upgrade Advantage or Software Assurance for eligible licenses now. After July 31, 2002, you can only purchase Licenses or Licenses and Software Assurance together to obtain rights to future versions of software.
Call for a quote! 1-800-986-2293 | | [The FuzzyBlog!]
8:00:10 AM 
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A .Net blog tool, 'cause when you've got a hammer....
Seriously considering writing my own blogging tool as none of the ones that exist meet my stringent requirements:
- Open Source
- Produces only valid XHTML
- .Net - well, not mandatory, but definitely a plus, as far as hammer fulfillment goes.
- Uses CSS for style
- Small and fast
- Can be used from multiple locations to edit the same site
- Only requires an FTP-only site, no server-side scripting required, no PHP, SSI, CGI, etc.
[BitWorking]
Cool idea! After looking through my referer logs the first few days of my blog, I came across someone that has started a .NET blogger, although it didn't appear to have been updated in a while.
I'm wondering though:
- Only XHTML? How will that affect older (IE 5.x/Netscape 4.x) browsers?
- Used from multiple locations: Love this idea! But could be security issues (opening a hold in a firewall port for remote administration).
- No server-side scripting required: Definitely. But make sure the blogger can produce .ASP, .ASPX, etc... files in case we bloggers want to use this capability
And what about templates? [Wrinkled Paper]
7:49:30 AM
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Building Super Archives. Several colleges are now looking to share more of that work by building "institutional repositories" online and inviting their professors to upload copies of their research papers, data sets, and other work. The idea is to gather as much of the intellectual output of an institution as possible in an easy-to-search online collection. One college has called its proposed repository a "super digital archive." [Chronicle of Higher Education] [ericfreeman.com]
7:45:23 AM
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Steve Outing: Board The Weblog Bandwagon Now, Please.
"The newspaper industry historically has not been able to notice a hot Internet trend and act to capitalize on it fast enough to beat pure-play Internet competitors to the punch. How about if next time, the newspaper industry notices a trend and takes it seriously? We can start with weblogs... "Imagine if most every reporter, for example, had an outlet for material that doesn't fit in the print product. A city hall reporter runs across a wealth of interesting tidbits every working day, and some of them can be added to a city hall news weblog. I'm not talking about stuff that's 'not good enough' for the print edition, but rather 'insider' information that might not be right for a general newspaper audience... "Most likely you'll want to have webloggers post their content without publishing, then have the city and/or copy desk edit it before hitting 'Publish.' That's going to take some editor time if you have a lot of staff journalist webloggers." Whoops! Got the first part right, but nix the editorial control. To make staff weblogs really fly, there has to be a quicker turnaround than would be possible if the editors have to approve every word. It just won't fly. The publication has to trust their writers to exercise their own better judgement. Outing goes on:
"The other major area for news organizations to consider in the weblog scene is to host them. Today there are many software and Web service solutions for hosting weblogs... "Given the number of people publishing weblogs now, and the significant growth, weblog hosting should grow into a sizable business. Local newspapers, especially, are well positioned to introduce the weblog concept to their readership -- many who will not yet have heard of weblogs -- and profit from hosting their new weblogs. Possibilities include charging for hosting..., selling weblogging software, or selling advertisements to run on free public weblogs." [via Rick Klau] [Jake's Radio 'Blog]
7:44:38 AM
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Douglas Adams. "Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word 'safe' that I wasn't previously aware of." Was he talking about Palladium? [Jake's Radio 'Blog]
7:43:12 AM
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Why not, indeed? You listening, cable guys? This is your market talking. We're making our own TV now. We're our own Kodaks. Deal with it. [Doc Searls Weblog]
Imagine a P2P network that was set up for your family. Home movies, scanned photos, Timmy's first school play, all that, shared and hosted for you, at high speed, on demand. This is the next big market folks, lets see if someone can figure a way to make it work. Schools could have and share archives of their events (games, graduations, awards) no more fighting over who gets what photo form the family album either. iPhoto is a part of this, and Apple is already starting it. Sharing home movies is the next phase, and I think that Apple is all over that one as well. Let's see if they can make it work. [Ryan Greene's Radio Weblog]
7:39:18 AM
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You know, I'm intellectually tired. I'm in a rut and can't get out. It's summertime after all, and I'd rather explore my navel than try to pontificate about the world and how it's pissing me off. So, to try to get out of this rut I'm in, I started visiting my favorite .NET sites again. You know who they are. Drayton. Sells. Ruby. Fell. Lam. Rammer. Gentile. McCusker. Allen. Caetano. Steele. Marsh. Rudd. Berglund. Bock. Restrepo. Rawlings. Wilson. Cook. Kilic. Graf. Some interesting tidbits. 1) Drew Marsh's company got $6.5 million in financing. Awesome. Will this be the beginning of a trend? We desperately need to see new software development companies start up. The farm system has been decimated and that means that Microsoft and Apple haven't had good small companies to gobble up (Microsoft, in particular, has relied on acquiring small companies to grow in the past -- FrontPage, PowerPoint, WebTV, Hotmail are all examples of Microsoft products gained through acquisitions). 2) Chris Sells new Web Service conference looks awesome. I'm very jealous that Chris is doing this through a bootstrap. Start really small, get awesome speakers. I'll bet that Chris does very well in two years when .NET 2.0 comes out (oh, by the way, the code name for .NET 2.0 is Whidbey, which is an island up in Washington). 3) Justin Rudd is complaining about being forced to take paid time off this week. Oh, Justin, I know some people who were given the week off without pay. I'm glad to hear your wife is doing OK, though. 4) Jason Bock is sending me a copy of his CIL book. Awesome on getting it finished Jason! 5) If I could figure out how to get attendees to conferences, I'd be a well-paid consultant. Heh. Why not an affiliate program where you get $50 for each attendee that gives your name when that attendee registers and puts your name on the registration page? Shirley Brothers did that and bootstrapped her ASP.NET conference into a pretty big deal. 6) Microsoft's new Web Matrix application is pretty darn interesting. I'm playing with it now. It's a little more than one meg download (well, you need the 20+MB .NET runtimes, but I already had those). It includes a Web server and a Visual-Studio-like development environment for building ASP.NET sites. Oh, and it's free. Cool! 7) Brad Wilson's ".NET Guy" Weblog isn't working for me right now. I get a blank page. Weird. 8) Thanks to Serdar Kilic's weblog I learned that the "win_tech_off_topic" mailing list's message traffic has seen exponential growth lately. (I've been a member for a while, maybe that's the cause. ). Anyway, it's nice to see that developers are having fun with .NET. You guys got me away from the boob tube and I'm grateful for that. Keep coding! Oh, Greg Reinacker wants to be the top "Greg" so he wants everyone to link to him. Heh. I'm sure he'll be the top Greg now. [Scobleizer Radio Weblog]
7:38:15 AM
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Pointing. You've probably heard of Epimenides' Paradox. Epimenides was a Cretan, and the paradox that bears his name goes like so... [EmptyBottle.org]
7:25:37 AM
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Thinking About Community. Arthur Noll writes: If we want a solid community, we need agreement on basic beliefs. Communities that are riddled with divisions of different belief systems will fail under stress. The ultimate division happens when the belief is that people are independent of each other. To go back to the analogy of fault lines, an interesting phenomena with earthquakes is that sometimes apparently solid land becomes like quicksand, or soft mud. Buildings lose their foundation. It has happened that buildings completely disappear, swallowed up by the quivering land. The stress of the earthquake separates all the particles of soil, like billions of tiny faults. That would be the condition of a society with powerful beliefs of individual independence, under enough stress. Things built in times of no stress would crumble, foundation gone. We have actually seen this happen in small degree. Riots have sometimes happened with societies that believe in individual independence, with people looting, setting fires, doing destructive acts, but not as a coordinated thing, just everyone doing what they want. Always there is some stress that happens to set loose these actions, but they only happen because there is no real bond between people, they are like the individual grains of clay or sand, with no structural integrity. Under enough stress, they separate out and do whatever seems good to each individual, and what was built together is torn apart in a flash. (07/07/02) [Synergic Earth News]
7:15:56 AM
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Making People Help You. Timothy Wilken writes: INTERdependence is the human condition. Once we acknowledge our INTERdependence and accept our dependence on others, then there are only three ways that we can get the help we need to meet our needs. 1) We can force others to give us help This is adversary help. 2) We can pay others to give us help This is neutral help. 3) Or, we can trust others to give us help This is synergic help. We will examine each of these three ways in detail. Adversary help is help obtained with coercion force or fraud. The givers of help are losing. When you force others to give you help you, they do the least they possibly can. Because the helper is hurt, adversary help is always of a low quality. Adversary relationships are hurting and negative experiences. ... Slavery, indentured service, tenant farming, and child labor are examples of adversary help. The criminal makes you help him, when he steals your property. The government makes you help it, when it forces you to pay taxes. You are being forced to help others anytime you are given an ultimatum. ... Adversary help is always accompanied by conflict. CONFLICT def> The struggle to avoid loss the struggle to avoid being hurt. (07/07/02) [Synergic Earth News]
7:14:56 AM
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Another NY Times piece worth pointing to. If you're shocked by scandals, consider this question from Daniel Akst. "Did investors just a short time ago not fight for the opportunity to throw their money at companies with no plausible business plans except to do something anything on the Internet? Exactly what part of this is shocking? And to whom?" What's coming to light now is that not only did the stupid little startups lie wildly about their businesses, but bigger ones like WorldCom and Enron did it too. Why is everyone so shocked? It was documented. And hardly without precedent. It's been going on for centuries. Businesses lie to inflate their stock prices. So what else is new?? [Scripting News]
7:13:26 AM
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The Scientist The Rise of Biological Databases. "The genomics revolution and the Internet have changed science in ways impossible to imagine 20 years ago. Among other advances, these forces have allowed the latest research to be routinely gathered, organized, and disseminated, typically at little or cost, through online biological information databases. Arduous to use and filled with mostly unanalyzed data early on, these computer databases are now packed with valuable, up-to-date information made easily accessible with improved search engin [snowdeal.org > {bio,medical}informatics]
6:51:19 AM
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Salon Genome liberation. "For the scientists working on the Human Genome Project, the data defining who we are is too important to be left to Celera -- or any other company. David Haussler, a team leader at the University of California at Santa Cruz who helped Kent and others put the genome online, expresses the credo of a data liberator succinctly: "Information about the human genome is better in public hands than secretly locked up somewhere." "But it's not just the research data itself that is at the center of the t [snowdeal.org > {bio,medical}informatics]
6:49:58 AM
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The Scientist EU Database Directive Draws Fire. "The blessings of an increasingly advanced digital world are many: faster data processing, massive data storage. But with these newfound capabilities come new questions about ownership. Who owns the mountains of data contained in databases--whether stock prices, real estate values, or countless genome sequences? What intellectual property rights do database creators have? And how much protection is too much? In recent years, a European Union (EU) database directive has brought a sense of urgency [snowdeal.org > {bio,medical}informatics]
6:49:21 AM
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Lots of pointers to the Big Fat Lie story in the times. I hold fast to the motto "You are what you eat". Think about it. Try some whole foods once in a while. Eat a grape, but spin it round your mouth for a minute or two first, explore its texture and how diferent stages of chewing produce slightly different taste. If you actually did this experiment, you will like reading the Diamond Diet. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
6:43:29 AM
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 Lutheran tolerance: "A high-ranking Lutheran pastor has been suspended from his duties and ordered to apologize to all Christians for participating with Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and Hindus in an interfaith prayer service in New York's Yankee Stadium after Sept. 11.
'By President Benke's joining with other pagan clerics in an interfaith service [no matter what the intent might have been], a crystal clear signal was given to others at the event and to thousands more watching by C-Span. The signal was: While there may be differences as to how people worship or pray, in the end, all religions pray to the same God,' the Rev. Wallace Schulz, the Missouri Synod's national second vice president, wrote in the suspension letter." [Washington Post] [GranneWeb]
6:42:40 AM
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 How Ashcroft views Islam: "Describing Ashcroft's remarks as 'profound,' [conservative columnist Cal] Thomas said the attorney general had told him: 'Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you.'" [Washington Post]
[GranneWeb]
6:41:46 AM
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W's knowledge of foreign affairs not that impressive: "In the most regal possible manner, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia skewered President George Bush yesterday as a man so ignorant about the Middle East, and specifically about the suffering of the Palestinians, that he needed several hours of personal tuition to bring him up to speed.
When the prince visited the presidential ranch in Texas last month, the two men spent five hours together, far longer than expected. This was an indication - according to the White House spin machine - of how well they got on. Prince Abdullah presents a different interpretation: the time was spent coaching the president in political realities.
'He is the type of person who sleeps at 9.30pm after watching the domestic news,' the prince told Okaz, a Saudi newspaper. 'In the morning, he only reads a few lines about what is written on the Middle East and the world due to his huge responsibilities.'
The prince proves himself to be a master of the art of damning with faint praise, saying of Mr Bush that 'he listens and debates politely, but was not fully informed about the real conditions in the region, especially the conditions suffered by the Palestinian people'. And so, he continues, 'I felt it was my duty to spend as long a time as possible to brief him on the facts directly and without an intermediary'." [The Guardian] [GranneWeb]
6:40:37 AM
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What Arab civilization has given us: "From algebra and coffee to guitars, optics and universities -- an alphabetical reminder of what the West owes to the People of the Crescent Moon" [Salon] [GranneWeb]
6:39:33 AM
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From Dot-Hubris to Humility. The psychologist who coined the term 'sudden wealth syndrome' says a silver lining of the dot-com bust is that it's teaching Silicon Valley a lesson in life. By Joanna Glasner. [Wired News]
6:37:28 AM
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The King of Mac 'T' Collectors. For nearly 20 years, Raines Cohen attended just about every Macintosh product launch, conference and user-group meeting, picking up a T-shirt at almost every one. Slowly, his wardrobe became a historical collection. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
6:36:35 AM
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Stillborns Re-Touched by an Angel. A mother who digitally enhances photos of her son finds herself in demand from other parents of stillborns. 'It's much easier to share pictures if it looks like a normal baby,' she says. By Julia Scheeres. [Wired News]
6:35:31 AM
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© Copyright 2002 Mark Oeltjenbruns.
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