Microsoft proposed charging you for usage

[Shankle]

Don't know where to put this so I hope here is OK.
Here is a link to the latest nonsense attempt by Microsoft.

http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9124459

I find this very disturbing and an example of why big business needs to
be controlled. Their like the cable companies that use the public airways
and charge a fee for using their service and on top of that you have to
listen to advertising.

For me it is a huge learning curve. As I will go to Linex. I will no longer be
able to write code in MASM32 and all my programs will have to be rewritten.
This is not the 1st time that Microsoft has screwed me. But it will be the last.
I hope it portends the end of their Monopolistic ways.

[Acadia]

From what I have been hearing, this would be "renting" your pc or service instead of purchasing, similar to renting or buying a car: totally optional.

Acadia

[dw426]

-{ Quote: "From what I have been hearing, this would be "renting" your pc or service instead of purchasing, similar to renting or buying a car: totally optional.

Acadia" }-

It had better be optional, because if it ever becomes mandatory (by the way, this will fail and fail hard anyway, so let's not get too scared), I'll never use another computer the rest of my life (home computer that is). Some of the changes smell of ISP bandwidth control (the gaming system/1.25 an hour bull). The deal of tying a system down to an ISP, well, if you use broadband, specifically cable, you're kind of already tied to an ISP anyway (unless you want to pay the ISP for use of their cable lines and another ISP for their specific online services).

All in all, it's a ridiculous concept and it's only for money. And if it does happen to go through, Linux may not be so dead after all (although an ISP can easily require you to use Windows if you use a system tied to that ISP, which is a whole other problem altogether.)

[Mrkvonic]

This sounds so stupid I hit myself with the keyboard and ruined the M and S keys ... Incredible.
Mrk

[Shankle]

Whatever happens I don't feel that I can trust Microsoft.
I am now in the process of finding out how to put LINUX on another HD and leave Vista where it is. It seems like whatever is worst for the consumer happens. It's the same with our government. This way I can become knowledgeable about LINUX until Microsoft does the inevitable.
Sorry for the rant as I am a tad peeved.

[Peter2150]

I think some of the reactions here are way over the top with the usual anti, whatever. It's a patent application for an idea.

Frankly I can see a lot of corporations being very interested in the concept. Might not work for you and I, but that doesn't mean it's bad, or that "Someone is out to get you"

I'd also like to see the original poster provide some proof of his allegations about the cable companies. I watched Comcast rewire our neighborhood, and my building with fiber optic cable. Had to be a hugh cost investment. Vast improvement in service. You expect not to be charged for this.

Pete

[Shankle]

unfortunately I remember when TV was free. All you had to tolerate was the
incessant commercials. Now they are using the PUBLICS airways and charging in a sense 3 ways. Ridiculous!

[rice4lunch]

lol this will never work. its like nyc's idea of trying to charge people money per garbage bag.

[Kerodo]

It may or may not be good or bad, but I think we can be sure of one thing: It's yet another way for MS to attempt to make money...

[ambient_88]

-{ Quote: "It may or may not be good or bad, but I think we can be sure of one thing: It's yet another way for MS to attempt to make money..." }-
It's all about the Benjamin's, Kerodo. With a vast number of employees and huge expenditure, Microsoft needs to keep generating lots of revenue to keep their business running smoothly.

Maybe they are starting to see a (significant) decline in Windows and Office sales, so they're already looking into other ways they can make money.

[pugmug]

To use John Prine's words,blowup your TV, throw away your paper.Add disconect your internet,shut down your puter,move to the country,read a damn book for a change.We all may learn something that way.Lol.

[dw426]

-{ Quote: "I think some of the reactions here are way over the top with the usual anti, whatever. It's a patent application for an idea.

Frankly I can see a lot of corporations being very interested in the concept. Might not work for you and I, but that doesn't mean it's bad, or that "Someone is out to get you"

I'd also like to see the original poster provide some proof of his allegations about the cable companies. I watched Comcast rewire our neighborhood, and my building with fiber optic cable. Had to be a hugh cost investment. Vast improvement in service. You expect not to be charged for this.

Pete" }-

Broadband technology updates are quite a bit different from what this is all about. Yes, we're a bit jumpy early in the game, but you always have to think about the worst case scenario and how to deal with it. If this thing got out of hand, you could see the end of a LOT of the improvements the internet and computing in general have made. It isn't a HUGE overstatement to think that if this comes about, and is strict enough, there could be a drastic reduction, if not an end to gaming, website creation, photo work, publishing, and more for the non-professional crowd.

Online gaming alone would die at, let's say, a buck an hour, for all but the most casual. Imagine World of Warcraft at a dollar an hour...Blizzard would shut its doors and go home. Imagine Photoshop or video editing, and the hardware to run it at its best charged per hour, only businesses are going to be able to do it, and they soon would tire of it trust me. That's why I don't think this will go anywhere, it's just unfeasible with current computing trends.

[Mrkvonic]

-{ Quote: "I think some of the reactions here are way over the top with the usual anti, whatever. It's a patent application for an idea.

Frankly I can see a lot of corporations being very interested in the concept. Might not work for you and I, but that doesn't mean it's bad, or that "Someone is out to get you"

I'd also like to see the original poster provide some proof of his allegations about the cable companies. I watched Comcast rewire our neighborhood, and my building with fiber optic cable. Had to be a hugh cost investment. Vast improvement in service. You expect not to be charged for this.

Pete" }-

Actually, I think the general idea is good, but it won't be easy to implement, plus the pricing seems horrible.

When I consider that fact that I played roughly 2-3 hours a day for the last 4-5 years, this becomes thousands of dollars ... On top of already paying for the game.

Besides, what about the electricity, offline usage etc ...

Mrk

[dw426]

-{ Quote: "Actually, I think the general idea is good, but it won't be easy to implement, plus the pricing seems horrible.

When I consider that fact that I played roughly 2-3 hours a day for the last 4-5 years, this becomes thousands of dollars ... On top of already paying for the game.

Besides, what about the electricity, offline usage etc ...

Mrk" }-

I'm very interested to know why you believe this to be a good thing. You have to know something I don't, because to a regular joe novice like me, it looks insane, if not laughably so. There may very well be a good reason, but they might want to try a little harder than the description they have given so far as to why it's a good thing. Implementation would just have to plain be a nightmare, also, you can forget dollars. The only way anyone in their right mind would be ok with this plan is if they charged it like electricity, in cents.

[Acadia]

There is a certain percentage of folks that renting an appliance appeals to them. You rent the thing and when it breaks, you give it back. Upgrading is done automatically, no need to think about it. It will NOT be forced on anyone, just like it is YOUR choice to lease or buy an automobile.

I would never want to compute this way but to many newbies who are bewildered by all the choices, I can now see the appeal. When I first heard about this I too rejected it but upon further thinking (with an open mind, I repeat, with an open mind) ...

Acadia

[dw426]

-{ Quote: "There is a certain percentage of folks that renting an appliance appeals to them. You rent the thing and when it breaks, you give it back. Upgrading is done automatically, no need to think about it. It will NOT be forced on anyone, just like it is YOUR choice to lease or buy an automobile.

I would never want to compute this way but to many newbies who are bewildered by all the choices, I can now see the appeal. When I first heard about this I too rejected it but upon further thinking (with an open mind, I repeat, with an open mind) ...

Acadia" }-

I guess if people want to be told what to do in yet another aspect of life, more power to them. For me, I buy what I want, I use it how I want, and for how long I want.

[Mrkvonic]

-{ Quote: "I'm very interested to know why you believe this to be a good thing. You have to know something I don't, because to a regular joe novice like me, it looks insane, if not laughably so. There may very well be a good reason, but they might want to try a little harder than the description they have given so far as to why it's a good thing. Implementation would just have to plain be a nightmare, also, you can forget dollars. The only way anyone in their right mind would be ok with this plan is if they charged it like electricity, in cents." }-

Here you go:

The concept is similar to Amazon E2C cloud computing services they offer. You buy machine time, build virtual machines as you see fit and then run them. This means you can easily change setups as you need. No rigid setups.

If you could lease MS machines and run them off the web for games and such, this could spare you having top-notch rigs at your home and upgrading every 3 months to run latest games.

But the problem remains with offline work. And indeed, the pricing stated in the article is some 100x more than it should be.

With the prices stated, no one sane would consider using the services, because in the long run, you would have bled your machines' worth 4-5 times over, unless you need 10-15 different setups.

Practically, this would work - and does work - for companies, in form of large virtualization grids. For individuals, unless they have soho++ needs, it would be a waste of good money.

Mrk

[dw426]

-{ Quote: "Here you go:

The concept is similar to Amazon E2C cloud computing services they offer. You buy machine time, build virtual machines as you see fit and then run them. This means you can easily change setups as you need. No rigid setups.

If you could lease MS machines and run them off the web for games and such, this could spare you having top-notch rigs at your home and upgrading every 3 months to run latest games.

But the problem remains with offline work. And indeed, the pricing stated in the article is some 100x more than it should be.

With the prices stated, no one sane would consider using the services, because in the long run, you would have bled your machines' worth 4-5 times over, unless you need 10-15 different setups.

Practically, this would work - and does work - for companies, in form of large virtualization grids. For individuals, unless they have soho++ needs, it would be a waste of good money.

Mrk" }-

Oh, well, ok, that does make some sense. Your gaming example makes a lot of sense, but yeah, it's just too expensive a price thus far. I just don't think regular users are going to go with it, I could be wrong though. As is always the case in the computing world, we'll wait and see.