Software by Microsoft Is Nearly Free for the Needy

dougadam Active Member

Messages:: 495

Likes Received:: 10

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 58

#1

April 19, 2007
Software by Microsoft Is Nearly Free for the Needy

By STEVE LOHR
In an effort to expand its global reach in computing, Microsoft plans to offer a stripped-down version of Windows, Office and other software for $3 to people in developing nations.
The program, which is being announced in Beijing today by the Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, represents an ambitious expansion of efforts to introduce products to those who have lacked access to personal computers, especially in developing nations.
While these countries have a growing appetite for technology as a means to spur growth and raise living standards, they also have very limited budgets. Some governments have encouraged alternatives to Microsoftâ€™s Windows, notably Linux, a free operating system.
The Microsoft push comes as a nonprofit project, One Laptop per Child, plans this year to start producing machines priced at about $150 â€” with a goal of reaching $100 â€” that will run a version of Linux. Several countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Nigeria, have made tentative commitments to distribute the laptops to millions of schoolchildren.
Microsoft has offered discounted versions of Windows selectively in the past, to a few developing nations like Malaysia and Thailand, priced at $30 or less. But the new program, called Microsoft Unlimited Potential, goes further with more software and deeper price cuts and extends to all developing nations, said Microsoftâ€™s senior vice president for emerging markets, Orlando Ayala.
Mr. Ayala said that the program also would be offered to low-income communities in the developed nations, including the United States â€” those families with incomes in the bottom 15 percent of the population, about $15,000 a year for an average household .
Under the program, Microsoft would make its discounted software available for installation on computers that would typically be sold to national, state or local governments, which would then distribute the PCs to individuals.
The price of the machines, Microsoft said, would depend on PC makers and what hardware features were included. Industry analysts said basic machines with the $3 Microsoft bundle of programs could be priced at $300 or less. The standard retail price of the software in the $3 bundle, including Windows XP Starter Edition and Office Home and Office 2007, would be about $150.
There are about a billion PC users worldwide, mainly in developed nations. The initial goal of the Microsoft program, working with many industry partners, would be to add another billion PC users by 2015, Mr. Ayala said.
The new Microsoft program is aimed directly at students, through national and local governments that buy Windows PCs for schoolchildren, both for schoolwork and for their personal use at home. For the last five years, Microsoftâ€™s outreach to developing countries has focused on schools and training teachers as well as students through a program called Partners in Learning.
Software piracy is another pressing concern for Microsoft and other software companies in developing nations. Mr. Ayala acknowledged that piracy and the competition from Linux were business issues for Microsoft.
â€œBut this isnâ€™t really about responding to those things, but about finding an economically practical way to put good software and a good computer into these peopleâ€™s hands and get them going in life,â€ Mr. Ayala said.
â€œCertainly,â€ he added, â€œfor Microsoft this is an investment in the long term. These are the consumers of the future.â€
No matter what happens with Microsoftâ€™s effort in developing countries, it is not going to have much impact on the companyâ€™s financial performance anytime soon. Its annual sales are running at more than $45 billion a year.
â€œMicrosoft is betting that at least some of the kids from developing nations will turn into buyers of more mainstream products later in life,â€ said Roger L. Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a research firm. â€œThe theory is that if you get them young, you can keep them for life.â€
Microsoft has additional steps planned beyond the discounted software. For example, the company said that it would add 200 Microsoft Innovation Centers in 25 countries in the next two years. These centers â€” Microsoft already has 110 in 60 nations â€” train local people in software development and provide assistance in starting businesses.
Economic development experts have long debated whether scarce resources in poorer nations should be spent on computers, when there may be more pressing needs like training teachers, building schools and buying books. Programs like Microsoftâ€™s and One Laptop per Child are not giveaways.
â€œI havenâ€™t seen any evidence that the digital divide is more acute or more consequential than say the nutritional divide, the elementary education divide or the basic health care divide,â€ said Aaditya Mattoo, an economist at the World Bank.
Still, as the price of technology continues to fall and its impact spreads, there is a recognition that access to computers and technology skills can be an important ingredient in development.
Today Microsoft is announcing an alliance with the Asian Development Bank to support local technology entrepreneurs, use technology in teaching and learning and promote local research programs.
â€œInformation communications technology holds significant promise for poverty reduction,â€ said Larry Greenwood, a vice president at the bank.
Click to expand...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/19/technology/19soft.html?ref=technology

dougadam, Apr 19, 2007 IP

D'Godown Well-Known Member

Messages:: 1,093

Likes Received:: 25

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 140

#2

Thats a great news Where can i find this $3 Deal?

D'Godown, Apr 19, 2007 IP

dougadam Active Member

Messages:: 495

Likes Received:: 10

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 58

#3

Do you live in a 3rd world county?

dougadam, Apr 19, 2007 IP

Log in or Sign up

Software by Microsoft Is Nearly Free for the Needy

dougadam Active Member

D'Godown Well-Known Member

dougadam Active Member

Useful Searches