By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
Well, it’s really to download it, not to use it. But the Office 2007 Beta has proved so popular that it has been downloaded 3 million times, and Microsoft says it needs to recoup its costs.
Consumers who download the 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 will be charged $1.50 per download, beginning next Wednesday at 6 p.m. PDT, a Microsoft spokeswoman said.
“Since the end of May, Beta 2 has been downloaded more than 3 million times…That’s 500 percent more than what was expected,” the spokeswoman said. “The fee helps offset the cost of downloading from the servers.” Source: News.com
We Say: Offset the cost of downloading? Hmmm … since Microsoft is really hot to spend whatever it takes to make Zune succeed, I’m just not sure about them really needing money to defray the cost of downloading. Sounds more like a way to add to the bottom line instead.
So you download the beta to HELP M$ test their new software and when the test is done you get to go and BUY the finished program…. Am I missing something here? And doesnt M$ own the internet by now, you know thats what they think. Maybe they need to switch ISP’s so they dont get charged as much for the bandwidth their beta testers are using up….
This is good news. It will drive more people to the vastly superior Corel WordPerfect Office and the free OpenOffice.org.
Quoth John: “Maybe they need to switch ISP’s so they dont get charged as much for the bandwidth their beta testers are using up….”
– The cost of logistics and manpower to make such a switch would far exceed the cost of any bandwidth.
Quoth John Corliss: “It will drive more people to the vastly superior Corel WordPerfect Office and the free OpenOffice.org.”
– No it won’t. It’ll drive people to the torrent sites to get the betas, which is exactly what MS wants but won’t condone.
$1.50 for software that will retail for several jundred dollars. Thats still a bargain, even with the expiry of the software.
-Perros-
Short Term Thinking
Every week now it seems, we here another story regarding some sort of public relations miscue by Microsoft. The latest involves Microsoft charging to download their beta version of Office 2007. Not only can you help troubleshoot their buggy software, you can also forfeit some of your hard earned money (not to mention dignity), to do it.
When I first heard of this I had to quick click Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary – Beta to review the definition, because obviously it changed without me knowing it. Surprise, surprise to find out it reads like this: a nearly complete prototype of a product (as software)
I’m all for programmers & software companies making a good, even obscene financial living, if it delivers a quality product which infinitely makes my life better & easier. A product by the way, that is complete, stable and with as few bugs as possible (as there is no such thing as bug-free software). What part of this description fits MS Office 2007 beta?
Every week, the world is moving closer & closer to an Internet-centric planet, and every week, Microsoft tries to convince us to keep using & propagating 20th century technology. Every $1.50 fee they collect for their beta download, will keep at least one other consumer or business customer from trying it.
Every customer that refuses to pay for beta software, not because $1.50 is a lot of money, but because Microsoft is trying to change the rules so they can win (taking their ball & going home), is another customer who might just decide, “screw it†when thinking about upgrading.
More short term thinking, but then, that’s all Microsoft has, isn’t it?
I’m Guessing
http://imguessingblog.blogspot.com
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Next Week: Microsoft Will Start Charging You To Test Office 2007
Michael Santo of RealTechNews writes: Well, it’s really to download it, not to use it. But the Office 2007 Beta has proved so popular that it has been downloaded three million times, and Microsoft says it needs to recoup its costs. Consumers who downl…
The amount is irrelevant. Once people are accustomed to paying for beta software, any monopolist knows you just keep raising the price until the marginal lost sales result in a reduction of profit. I can see it now — retail Office $1000, beta Office $100, alpha Office only $10. BTW, none of these are guaranteed to be useful, or even work.