[KLUG Advocacy] Seagate and Lindows.com

Robert G. Brown advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
Wed, 05 Nov 2003 20:21:08 -0500


On 05 Nov 2003 17:45:50 -0500, magoo <mag00@voyager.net> wrote:

>> This announcement is probably aimed 
>> at resellers and users who aren't afraid to install thier own disk drive and
>> tnker a bit, still a minority of users in general (I think the general popu-
>> lation thinks of computers they way they do of toasters), but it is another
>> step in the right direction.

>With regard to the general population, the toaster analogy is
>quite good (IMO).  Lindows has been trying to get that market 
>to see the value of Linux for quite some time.  Those low cost
>pre-loaded systems sold through Wal-Mart were the first step
>toward getting Linux delivered to the masses.

That's right, Lindows is doing the same thing that Microsoft did in the
early 80's, pushing the install up the supply chain so it's invisible
to the user. Lindows is first in this market in the sense that you don't
have to look for the "Linux page" or the "Linux option" on some website, 
or interrogate a customer service rep while HUNTING for pre-installed Linux.

Please note carefully that terms like "software quality" "long-term stability"
and "reliability" have not been mentioned in this thread. The history of
this industry shows that, for marketing efforts, they are not as important
as getting to market first, and getting it installed before it is delivered
to the end user.

It would be interesting to see if the "typical purchaser" of these systems
feels that they have received good value.
							Regards,
							---> RGB <---