Laptop Hunters snare Microsoft on Linux
Giampolo, how low will you go?
Linux FCS Microsoft has made a tactical mistake in deciding to compete with Apple on price in its latest, much debated, Laptop Hunters TV ads.
Until recently, Microsoft was pushing hard on the "value" of Windows. Now, though, the Laptop Hunters ads have turned the spotlight on the consistently high and - and recession proof - price tag of Apple's Macs. Its latest ad, featuring a guy called Giampolo, even dismisses Macs as putting the sexy before the computing power.
That switch of focus in the fight with Apple will rebound in its battle against Linux, because Linux is cheaper than Windows for users and OEMs serving them, according to Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin.
"Value" has been a major plank in Microsoft's long campaign against Linux, which has tried to reposition the free nature of Linux code as a burden.
Zemlin, speaking at the Linux Collaboration Summit in San Francisco, California, juxtapositioned the $1,500 price of Giampolo's HP HDX laptop with what he could have walked away with instead, had he gone for Linux. Shopping around, Giampolo could have got: an HP Mini 1000 notebook with Atom processor, G1 Google phone, a 42-inch plasma-screen TV, Neuros DVR and still have given back to the planet by donating a One Lap Top Per Child PC. All, of course, running Linux.
"We are starting to see a major competitor compete on price," Zemlin said. "The thing is, if you are going to compete on price that's going to be a tough competition."
As Zemlin pointed out after his keynote, Microsoft's problem is in the licensing of Windows which automatically makes it more expensive than Linux for use on many consumer devices. That busts the margins of OEMS like Motorola - a Linux user - and impacts the price they pass on to people like Giampolo.
"What can Microsoft do apart from reduce its price to zero?" Zemlin asked.
"They are going to have to leverage what ever advantage they can to compete with Apple, and price is one thing in its competition against Linux where Microsoft is doomed to failure."
According to Zemlin, price is just one link in a chain that Linux can use to beat Windows adoption. The fact companies like Motorola can also modify code and use their own branding will also help.
"Price matters, access to the code matters, and custom branding matters and allows Linux to change entire assumptions about the market place," he said. "It's a fundamental advantage over the competition who wants to compete in the same old world of price and feature sets. We are changing the entire model of computing." ®
COMMENTS
odd
I'm not entirely sure what MS were hoping to achieve - was it some kind of co-marketing deal with HP?
Apple's success in the home market is based on the nifty software they have which caters for that market. Even if you can get a better hardware spec for a windows pc for the price of a Mac, Mac users don't care - the hardware is adequate and the software is superior for their purposes.
The "I don't want to spend that much" regarding a Mac is revealing. Yes he wants a Mac - he's just too poor (subtext: unsuccessful, a loser) to get one. The ad agencies really do seem to have it in (again) for MS!
The OS isn't too important and I don't know why MS is getting involved with hardware specs of systems which are almost certainly all going to run windows. Maybe if MS had something like time machine, iLife etc and bundled it with windows, with HP (or even Sony) producing hardware which looked anything remotely as lovely as a Macbook, then Apple might see some competition and we'd see a more accurate comparison of hardware+software pricing. As it is, I still need to carry around an external mouse for a PC laptop because the trackpads are so awful. Therefore, despite being a linux-only user, for laptop use, I'd rather have a Mac.
Icon: Giampaolo, getting his mac...
@Mike
Hah hah! You had me going for a minute, but then my irony detectors kicked in.
Unfortunately, it's all too real
You may consider me a troll, but fact is, rootkits are real. And anyone can compile a doctored binary on an open source OS. Privilege escalation is also a very real threat. While it is possible to give primary priority to the /bin binaries, by default the user's .bin folder gets priority. If Linux becomes mainstream on the desktop, these threats will all too become real. Its security architecture is simply not set up to handle modern threats.
OSX is a competitor to windows, linux is not
Saying linux competes with windows on price is pointless because linux sucks a big bag of dicks.
Its like saying harrr this fecal matter is a better source of sustenance than your steak because its cheaper!
