You are splitting hairs. Perception IS reality to the average consumer. * Nothing* in life is free but many things are perceived as free. The original topic was "why is Picasa less popular?" The simple answer is that the operating system that came with joe consumer's PC already has Microsoft photo management installed and most consumers will simply use that - OR the photo management that came "free" with their camera - again, not really free, but they can't get the camera without it so, to the consumer it is perceived as free. The fact that the cost of the software is bundled into mass market hardware is not important to the consumer - they just want it to work with minimal or no effort. Picasa requires (1) that the consumer be aware of it; (2) that they expend effort in what they consider arcane tasks, i.e., finding, downloading and installing web resident packages - too scary for joe consumer - thus Picasa lags in deployment versus the aforementioned alternatives.
On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 1:22 PM, Patrick Shanahan <[email protected]>wrote: > * Edward Comer <[email protected]> [02-25-11 13:09]: > > No, Windows is FREE as far as the consumer is concerned. Joe consumer > goes > > to the local big-box store and buys a computer. It comes with Windows, > costs > > the consumer no extra money, time or energy, so to him/her it is the same > as > > free. For joe consumer obtaining a computer without Windows already > > installed is very difficult and usually costs more (look at Dell's Linux > > pricing). All that joe consumer wants is a computer that will do what > they > > want, namely browse the web, send/receive email and write a very word > > processing documents. They don't care about the OS - they just want to > use > > the tool. To the consumer Windows IS free because to not have it is > > difficult and, in their mind, certainly not worth it. Remember, the vast > > majority of consumers do NOT subscribe to this email list because they > are > > not like you and me - what comes from the store is their only option or > at > > least the only option that they care about. > >... > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google-Labs-Picasa-for-Linux" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-labs-picasa-for-linux?hl=en.
