Microsoft is right to warn about the danger of a serious monopoly in search because of Google’s dominance. Its own revamped search engine, Bing, is a welcome addition and has some interesting features that should earn it more followers.
Maybe it is time to apply Microsoft’s enlightened approach to monopolies to what is happening in its own backyard where, amazingly, it still has almost 95 percent of the global market for PC operating systems (Windows), word processing (Word) and spreadsheets (Excel). Last year, a new generation of “netbooks” running the open-source Linux operating system seemed set to capture the bottom end of the market.
I bought a US$199 Asus, which I thought would be my dream machine as it weighed barely 1kg and came with the free OpenOffice.org word-processor, Linux operating system, Skype, educational and arts programs and Google documents.
It didn’t turn out so well: the screen was too small, wireless links flaky and poor battery life. But hell, the potential was there, so when Asus recently released its beautiful Eee Seashell with a bigger screen and six hours of battery life, I bought one on impulse.
The problem was that Asus had not only adopted Windows and jettisoned Linux (which I knew), but the computer didn’t even come with the free services that came with the US$199 model. I know there are millions who love Windows. That is their human right. But it fails completely — for me — on usability. So, the Seashell ends up not as a next-generation netbook, but as a Microsoft-occupied computer and all the simplicity of the earlier Asus machines has gone out of the Windows. Every time I open it, I am assailed with stuff I don’t want — Windows Live this, Norton that, Phishing this, Works that — with no obvious way of switching some of them off. When I simply wanted to write a note there was no Open Office and when I tried Word in Microsoft Works it kept asking me to sign up for another 45 days (or whatever) after inputting a key number I was supposed to have but didn’t.
How did this happen? There are various versions. One is that Microsoft suddenly woke up to a serious threat to its market share and became Microhard. It gave Asus a package it couldn’t refuse — a cheap version of Windows as long as it tossed the upstart Linux overboard. True or not, Asus has changed from being a successful proponent of Linux to an evangelist for Windows.
The second version is that Asus, seeking a cheap Web book to sell globally, used free Linux as a lever to force Microsoft to give it a cheap deal it wouldn’t otherwise have got.
A third version is that Linux wasn’t yet up to the job as there were so many different versions and users had difficulty linking with devices such as printers. This theory was given support when Wal-Mart dropped the Taiwanese US$199 Green gPC because of poor sales. But it doesn’t explain why the Linux Asus Eee PC was such a roaring success.
What cannot be denied is that there is a huge potential demand for cheap devices of this kind — not just for those wanting to simplify their lives but for the billions who don’t have a computer at all. Fortunately, help may be at hand, as there are numerous affordable models in the pipeline. Whether the successful ones will be Linux, Windows, Google’s Android, Symbian or even ARM remains to be seen.
I am told there is an impressive Web book running the Linux-based Ubuntu in the pipeline. Microsoft has already disproved the axiom of the great management guru Peter Drucker, who claimed that no non-governmental monopoly had ever lasted more than 15 years. The prospect of serious competition in operating systems can only be good not just for consumers all over the world but for Microsoft as well. But whether it can be dislodged from its entrenched position remains an open question.
A recent report concerning a student who is suing his teacher posed the question in its headline: Does failing a student in two subjects constitute bullying? The college student in Chiayi County apparently sought NT$2 million (US$63,603) in state compensation, but a court dismissed the case. The first reaction of many might have been to ask: What has happened to students nowadays? Some say that teachers have lost their authority, while others say students are overindulged. Some even start reminiscing over the days when “whatever the teacher says goes.” However, the real issue might be overlooked if emotional reactions like that are the
When I visited Taiwan last summer, I called on the nation to use its status as a technology superpower to build superweapons. It is obvious to me as I return a year later that Taiwan is now answering that call. By 2030, Taiwan envisions a domestic drone hub, capable of producing large quantities of drones per year. The nation continues to tighten cooperation across the private sector, scientific researchers and the elected government, on creating new and innovative production avenues for defense, while efforts to become central to the “democratic supply chain” are only increasing. Anduril is seeing all of these positive
Singaporean former Prime Minister and current senior minister Lee Hsien- Loong(李顯龍) last month stood on Chinese soil and told Beijing that Singapore cooperates because of “shared interests”, not because of common “ethnic descent,” a significant statement that has upended China’s cognitive warfare tactics of “ethnic nationalism.” Along with using its military buildup and economic growth to expand its international dominance, China has long deployed ethnic politics to promote the idea that all ethnic Chinese around the world, regardless of citizenship, share a tight bond with the Chinese motherland, by which it means the regime of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
Taiwan’s economic momentum, driven by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products, remains strong, with booming demand for advanced semiconductors, servers and key components. In the first quarter, GDP expanded 14.55 percent year-on-year, the second consecutive quarter of double-digit percentage growth and accelerating from the 12.95 percent expansion in the previous quarter, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Friday. Net exports remained the dominant driver of growth, contributing 10.33 percentage points to Taiwan’s GDP growth in the first quarter. That came as exports rose 35.76 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, outpacing 26.34 percent growth in imports, the
RSS