Off Topic but is newsworthy

  • Thread starter Thread starter Techno-Crat
  • Start date Start date
Mark will be along to offer his PayPal link and several interesting (to him)
options.
 
I'll take the bait.

Alternatives... Hmmmm....

If a company offers something as a download, in this case the CPP Vista Beta
or the Office 2007 Plus Beta, and realizes after the fact that there was an
egregious error in the estimation of how much bandwidth would be necessary,
then you should:
a) Shut up about it, learn your lesson and move on, and
b) Terminate the inept person who just cost the company thousands of dollars
by completely blowing the projection.

That said, if a company puts forth a software product, whether alpha, beta,
RTM or retail, and charges a nominal fee to offset the cost of delivery from
the outset of the offering, why is this an issue?

If you think about it, MSFT in the example of the CPP Vista Beta is
completely inconsistent in that they charged a delivery fee for the DVD but
not for the download.
 
Techno-Crat said:
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+to+charge+for+Office+beta/2100-1012_3-6099987.html?tag=nefd.top

This is a first ... for a public beta.. Sure previous to this it was beta
testers and MSDN etc who got to see the builds


Microsoft to charge for Office beta
Microsoft plans next week to charge a nominal fee for Office 2007 Beta 2
downloads, in a move that runs counter to the practice held by most software
companies.

Consumers who download the 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 will be
charged $1.50 per download, beginning next Wednesday at 6 p.m. PDT, a
Microsoft spokeswoman said.

"Since the end of May, Beta 2 has been downloaded more than 3 million
times...That's 500 percent more than what was expected," the spokeswoman
said. "The fee helps offset the cost of downloading from the servers."

Although Microsoft's Information Worker Product Management Group decided to
initiate a fee for new users of Beta 2, the "technical refresh," or update,
for current users of the software will remain free, the spokeswoman said.

Those who want to test drive Beta 2 to review how it works can access the
software for free. But if they need to test it against their internal
systems, a download or the CD is required.

"This is the first time Microsoft has charged for an Office beta, and it's
not something that is planned for on a repeat basis," the spokeswoman said.
2
Click to expand...

After careful consideration and two margaritas:

This has nothing to do with recouping the cost of the bandwidth. This has
everything to do with requiring a credit card to enable the download, and in
doing so, eliminate the voyeurs, the children, and the casually curious, and
by doing that, shaving perhaps a third of the potential downloads away.

Very clever! Nice spin, MSFT! You had me going, there for a bit...
 
Lets look at the bandwidth "cost sharing"
Office 2007 440 megs x 3000000 dl = 1,332,000GB
Vista 2.7gb x 2000000 dl = 5,400,000GB
These are rough estimates by MS claims of downloads
Vista cost MS Hugely more in downloads yet they did not charge
Both are obviously beta and have issues
One being installing Office 2007 on Vista has cause some installs to break
Charging for beta builds that are not yet even RC seems just a bit cheap
As the gawkers, kids, and curious who will down load and not contribute....
If they like it they will not doubt contribute in the future to the tunes of
hundreds of dollars to purchase the package
What's next charging for betas for games, unfinished music, movies,
prototype cars, airplanes
The user should expect to pay for a final and tested end product not
something that is not complete
It just sets a precedent is all I'm pointing out.
Downloading the software in beta is a selling point for ms, not a right...
but in the end who will benefit from giving the beta for free?
The user or MS??
MS does not pay use to user the beta that makes them billions...
 
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