This is Ndung'u of Microsoft EA, he fascinated me the other day when he suggested that Kenyans should quietly pay for proprietorial licenses for Microsoft products the same way they pay for the other services and products by Multinational Corporations.
He argued that Microsoft is no different from Toyota because they are all large corporations that have invested the money.
I wanted to tell him that when I buy my Toyota, its a one time affair and the Toyota Corporation does not send inspectors to ensure that my car runs on genuine parts or that my downtown garage is selling genuine parts. They only advice me on what parts to put and just like any other advice I can decide to heed it or not.
I found that to be a funny analogy....but maybe M$ should become like Toyota, sell the computers to cyber cafes, get a one time fee and then leave them alone for the rest of the computer's life.
It will be very innovative of the software giant.....
8 comments:
To my knowledge Microsoft does not charge user fees though we are headed in that direction with Software As A Service (SAAS) applications.
If cyber cafes are being harassed for annual payments then that is corruption at work in Kenya.
have those cybercafes not heard of open source?open source is the way forward especially for the developing world.
If I were a cybercafe I would go to opensource like right now. Look at www.openoffice.org. Download the software, we use it at our office, and it provides all the word processing, spreadsheet, and powerpoint tools we need!!
Take an average SMB. 40 computers, 20Million per month revenue.
Now, how much should go to the makers of the software they use to generate this revenue?
I think its fair they pay for the licenses.
I believe there's really no difference between the two companies. You pay for your Toyota once and you pay for your Microsoft licences once! I know there's also an option for "rental" or "subscription" the same way you'd rent a car.
Or did I not understand you Wanjiku?
A close relative of mine who runs a cyber cafe in town went the open source route after Microsoft began their crackdown. After 2 weeks, she had to revert to Microsoft since many of her customers found the new interface rather dificult to use. Try telling your local barman to forget EABL products and instaed stock only the new Keroche beer; its all about what the customers want.
I am an OSS die hard. I am however strongly opposed to theft. I think Microsoft is justified to ask people to pay for the software they are using (from MS). Otherwise if they do not want to pay, they shouldnt use it. That's why there's choice. Its part of the reason I mostly use Opensource products or the MS products that are free.
people are afraid of change,i don't think those who go to cybercafes use highly specialized programs that can only be run under MS-Windows.if it is just browsing,use of Office packages,games,then i know of a five year old(a normal kid,not one you could call gifted) who can use those under linux(specifically Ubuntu).maybe the owner of the cyber was not him/herself very not much conversant with it.
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