Text 4954, 139 rader
Skriven 2005-06-13 21:53:26 av Mike '/m' (1:379/45)
   Kommentar till text 4953 av Rich (1:379/45)
Ärende: Re: Everyone should take a pay cut
==========================================
From: Mike '/m' <mike@barkto.com>


So you are admitting that Microsoft is as clueless about developing software
now as they were 10 years ago.

Well, that doesn't surprise me because the empirical evidence supports your
admittance.

 /m


On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 18:28:23 -0700, "Rich" <@> wrote:

>   Of course you do.  You wouldn't admit it anyway?
>
>   So Mike, in the years during which manufacturing costs have decreased so
that a 40 GB disk drive or 4GB or RAM today is less expensive (and smaller and
faster) than a 40 MB disk drive or 4MB of RAM was in the past have you taken a
1000x pay cut to match?  If not then maybe you should limit your spinning.
>
>Rich
>
>  "Mike '/m'" <mike@barkto.com> wrote in message
news:25csa15ia541n4ri2kk2a0ti6124f4rd1n@4ax.com...
>
>  I remain unconvinced that I am the one who is spinning in this
>  discussion.
>
>  How's your rotator cuffs doing there, Rich?
>
>    /m
>
>
>  On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 18:01:29 -0700, "Rich" <@> wrote:
>
>  >   Typical selective editing.  Are you behind on your spin quote.  The
portion of the article you elided to jump ahead is
>  >
>  >  There are noteworthy exceptions to this trend of falling prices. One of
them is ink, at least the heavily branded sort. A year ago, it cost $65 to buy
the two cartridges needed for my H-P 960c ink-jet printer, and that's precisely
what they cost today. Ink prices are such that Hewlett-Packard now sells an
entry-level printer -- the 3740 -- that, at $34.99, costs the same amount as
some ink cartridges. Can a disposable printer be far behind?
>  >
>  >   The comparison you are insinuating is apples to oranges.  Hardware
decreases in cost because technology allows producing the same or similar
products at lower manufacturing cost.  Software doesn't have the same cost
structure and gets little to none of this benefit.  The costs for software
increase.  This is why DVD players are far cheaper than a few years ago but
DVDs are not.  Televisions are cheaper but cable, satelite, and other premium
TV is not.  If anything software development costs have increased with
inflation plus you get more in today's products then old ones (both computer
software and movies).  The movie folks just raised prices as anyone that goes
to the theater has seen.
>  >
>  >   Do you pay the software developers, testers, UE folks, and others
involved in software development less than you did a year ago?  How much of a
pay cut have you offered to take to reduce non-manufacturing costs for your
employer?  There may be lots of factors in pricing but unless your
manufacturing costs are decreasing like they are for Dell I don't expect your
employer is lowering its prices to half of what they were last year because
Dell can do so with its products.
>  >
>  >Rich
>  >
>  >
>  >  "Mike '/m'" <mike@barkto.com> wrote in message
news:739sa1d75ffa17ngusrhvpp9637q3cigtc@4ax.com...
>  >
>  >  http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB111861285110257383-7l7a53nARtxd
FA5SfRng_iu4dTc_20060612,00.html?mod=blogs
>  >
>  >  ===
>  >  How low can they go? Over the past few weeks, personal computers reached
>  >  a significant milestone: The price for an entry-level but fully loaded
>  >  system fell below $300.
>  >
>  >  Dell -- which wasn't even the first PC maker to take the step -- last
>  >  week was offering for $299 a Windows computer that had most of what a
>  >  beginning user would want. That list includes a 17-inch monitor, a 2.4
>  >  gigahertz Celeron processor, 256 megabytes of RAM and a 40-gigabyte hard
>  >  drive.
>  >
>  >  A nearly identical system a year ago cost $499, and while it had only
>  >  half as much RAM, it did provide speakers. The newer, cheaper model
>  >  doesn't have any, but you can add a pair for $20.
>  >
>  >  Besides reflecting a remarkable price decline of 40% in 12 months, the
>  >  fact that computers can now be had for less than $300 means they have
>  >  officially entered into the territory of "consumer electronics," at
>  >  least under one set of industry rules.
>  >
>  >  Ten or so years ago, when PCs cost five or even 10 times what they do
>  >  now, it was common for analysts to say that they would never become a
>  >  staple in homes until they were priced the way consumer electronics
>  >  were, usually defined as costing less than $300. In the days when PCs
>  >  were $2,000 and even more, that target seemed to be something of a
>  >  fantasy.
>  >
>  >  Now, PCs cost less than some telephones -- and less than a lot of TV
>  >  sets -- and can be found in roughly three-quarters of U.S. homes. But
>  >  while they are priced like consumer electronics, the machines still
>  >  aren't even remotely as easy to use, and the trend lines there aren't
>  >  particularly encouraging. In fact, with price no longer as significant
>  >  an issue, the continuing complexity of computers may become the biggest
>  >  contributor to any "digital divide" between digital haves and have-nots,
>  >  especially involving access to the Internet.
>  >
>  >  Declining PC prices have become the poster child for the free-lunch
>  >  economics of the modern technology industry, where manufacturing
>  >  efficiencies, especially in semiconductors, allow companies to
>  >  continually sell more for less. This is most noticeable in hardware, but
>  >  it is occurring as well in technology-related services -- at least when
>  >  there is something resembling effective competition....
>  >
>  >  There are noteworthy exceptions to this trend of falling prices....
>  >
>  >  Microsoft, for one, seems to be in no particular hurry to cut the price
>  >  of Windows. Ten years ago, an upgrade version of Windows 95, then fresh
>  >  from the labs in Redmond, Wash., was being sold in most stores for
>  >  $89.95. If you shop online for Windows XP Home, the third-generation
>  >  successor to Windows 95, you'll find it in the same ballpark.
>  >
>  >  Ditto with Microsoft Office, which includes Word, Excel and the like.
>  >  The high-end version of Office 97, which was introduced eight years ago,
>  >  went for $499; the most recent Office had the same price when it came
>  >  out in 2003....
>  >  ===
>  >
>  >
>  >  While having a monopoly is legal, its effect upon prices is usually
>  >  beneficial only for the holder of the monopoly.
>  >
>  >   /m

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