RE: (clug-talk) Emailing: article=8472

[Marcel Lecker]

Hmmmm. Interesting indeed.   It sounds a lot like the Apple approach except MS doesn't make its own PCs ...yet.   On that note though, I can see the Xbox being a tentative step in that direction, particularly with all the effort they are putting into keeping Linux off of it. Which leads one to thinking, that may indeed be the shape of things to come. MS was not used to competition on the PC, now that there is, they need to reinvent the PC in their own image (with things like Palladium or proprietary bioses like on the XBox) or be doomed to fight a war that will significantly erode their market share on a platform they don't and can't "own".   I digress. In the end, I see this as a marketing experiment to see what kind of consumers they can attract and who will bite. Perhaps the MS marketing machine is testing the waters for something like the above. Office Depot was probably willing to play along in order to get one over on the competition and exploit a niche that the MS marketing machine told them could be lucrative.   I suspect in the end the effort will be doomed to failure. If everything is geared toward the XP channel it certainly can't have a lot of stuff. Anyone go into an Apple store lately? Also if they are looking at using it as a tool to trim their support services, they'll likely do poorly answering questions like will this also work on our WinME machine that little Billy uses. Which will rule out "full service" computer shopping.   Since an increasing majority of consumers are in fact "educated consumers" I'm sure they've learned to smell "vendor lock-in" a mile away especially given the anti-trust trail, licensing 6, etc.   I think people would definitely want to go somewhere that there is a "selection" of stuff to peruse, if anything just to unleash you curiosity and ponder the possibilities (isn't that why we "shop" in the first place?).   Marcel   -----Original Message----- From: Mel Broadhurst [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 8:14 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: (clug-talk) Emailing: article=8472 Say fellas, have you seen this story? My company will certainly not be doing any more business with Office Depot. Say Cameron, does this apply to Staples too? I believe they are the same group. Your files are attached and ready to send with this message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This communication is intended for the use of the recipient to which it is addressed, and may contain confidential, personal, and or privileged information. Please contact us immediately if you are not the intended recipient of this communication, and do not copy, distribute, or take action relying on it. Any communication received in error, or subsequent reply, should be deleted or destroyed.