How/Why Microsoft lost ground for Tablet PC?

A real email from my professor to address a midterm paper thing but has some interesting points of Microsoft:

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We have here an extended enterprise lesson in real time.

The reason for all this is the Microsoft monopoly. By trying to force the world to upgrade to RAM hog Vista, the following 'ant farm' things have happened:

1. Big users are rebelling against the massive hidden investment in RAM and CPU's required for buggy Vista. How - by buying up all the 'old' XP PC's on the market.

2. Some large PC companies have told MS they will continue shipping old XP.

3. Some manufacterers have even started putting Linux on their PC's for free - to provide an alternative to the monopoly.

4. The market that needs Tablet PCs has discovered that Vista stinks for that application, not just because of the RAM hog issue, but because it breaks apart the linkages among Tablet I/O screen, XP for Tablet, MS Office in Tablet, and One Note. It tears apart the de facto standards that users needed - even though all of them were inside the Win-Tel monopoly fence.

5. This is why the XP Tablets are selling out on eBay - as I mentioned in class - and why they are also sold out (but on order) and at most of the resellers, and even at the manufacturers international sites. (Vista Tablets will not run things well, and also require buying about $300 of software, under most circumstances.)

6. Further, if anyone is using Office 2007, I have discovered through experiments this weekend, that they will not easily port over into the 'electronic ink' applications that power Tablet PCs and graphics pen-tablets (like Wacom)

7. And even when I managed to create work-arounds for some of these Vista-disabled applications, they will not PRINT with current print drivers.


Several EEM take aways:

- Notice how complex networked solutions really are.

- Notice how toxic to innovation are monopolies like those held by MS, traditional telephone companies, CATV, etc.

- Even if MS wanted to solve these problems (which it clearly does not - because it has made most of its money by forcing a huge change in social infrastructure with each 'upgrade') - it can't possibly forecast and anticipate all the possible bugs buried in the millions of lines of Windows code, as that code tries to work with literally trillions of user 'transactions' or 'service events'.

- That's what gives Google the entry point.

- That's why Linux and other OS's are still gaining ground in 'less developed' markets.

- That's why MS is not in the world's wirless phone systems.

And that's why you, a new earth-conscious generation of humans, must kill trees if you want me to comment inside your documents.

I tried.

I really was going to invest $1400 on your behalf.

But - my conscience will not let me invest that $1400 in a Windows machine, plus $300 for more MS software, and then all the hassle of integration - just to feed the monopoly.

Best,

XXX
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