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On 2007-01-31, Mathew Good <> wrote:
> On 31 Jan 2007 22:33:57 +1300, El Chippy <> wrote:
>
>>Open source != Linux
>>Open source > Linux
>
> Open source = a Big Hole...?

A gold mine is a big hole too.

Bye.
Jasen

Mathew Good wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:47:45 +1300, Peter <> wrote:
>
>> -=rjh=- wrote:
>>> The following is from
>>> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8...osh/index.html
>>> and is a little old now, and relates to XP+Office, but still makes
>>> interesting reading.
>>>
>>> US figure is 0.19 (ie, less than a week) and NZ is 0.51 (two weeks).
>>> Pity the poor people of Burundi, who will have to work *5 years* to pay
>>> for the same. How the hell are these countries ever going to become part
>>> of the modern world if it costs that much to get an IT infrastructure
>>> up and running?
>> Better value software is available, it's called open source.
>
>
>
> Yes may be but no use to the average PC user..
>

Granted that there are accounting and database packages lockd down to
one OS by their writers, I wonder what does an 'average' PC user want
from his PC that can only be had using software from one company?

Philip

In article <>, Mark Robinson <> wrote:
(snip)
>Wouldn't you have to be stupid to buy anything from Harvey Norman ?
>
>Seriously, their prices outstrip even Dick Smith and are galaxies away from
>real world retail a lá pricespy.co.nz - if they charged any more they would
>need to call themselves RS Components.

... but to be fair, RS components do (or did) offer service

In article <45c12550$>, Philip <> wrote:
(snip)
>Granted that there are accounting and database packages lockd down to
>one OS by their writers, I wonder what does an 'average' PC user want
>from his PC that can only be had using software from one company?

A desire/requirement for no thinking at all perhaps ?

Remember, the average idiot says yes when asked if they want fries with that

On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:25:02 +1300, Philip <> wrote:

>Mathew Good wrote:
>> On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:47:45 +1300, Peter <> wrote:
>>
>>> -=rjh=- wrote:
>>>> The following is from
>>>> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8...osh/index.html
>>>> and is a little old now, and relates to XP+Office, but still makes
>>>> interesting reading.
>>>>
>>>> US figure is 0.19 (ie, less than a week) and NZ is 0.51 (two weeks).
>>>> Pity the poor people of Burundi, who will have to work *5 years* to pay
>>>> for the same. How the hell are these countries ever going to become part
>>>> of the modern world if it costs that much to get an IT infrastructure
>>>> up and running?
>>> Better value software is available, it's called open source.
>>
>>
>>
>> Yes may be but no use to the average PC user..
>>
>
>Granted that there are accounting and database packages lockd down to
>one OS by their writers, I wonder what does an 'average' PC user want
>from his PC that can only be had using software from one company?
>
>Philip



Because windows is a Standard, Lunix is not..

Hi there,

Hi there,

Mark Robinson wrote:
> Chris Wilkinson wrote:
>
>>Hi there,
>>
>>Fred Dagg wrote:
>>
>>>On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:41:50 +1300, "whome" <>
>>>exclaimed:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>NZ vista ultimate : $648 NZD
>>>>(http://www.pricespy.co.nz/pno_10007.html)
>>>
>>>Actually, $576+GST. Still a little high, though.
>>
>>Half my ****ing hardware costs little more than that. I see
>>in Sydney (and no doubt other places) that people were lining
>>up outside Harvey Normans and other retailers to get a copy
>>at midnite. Dumbarses, they could have waited until sunrise,
>>then shot down the local computer market and purchased a $10
>>mouse so they could get an OEM copy.
>>
>>My mind boggles at the stupidity of some people...
>
> Wouldn't you have to be stupid to buy anything from Harvey Norman ?

They do give financially clueless people the chance to walk away
with all manner of new toys, with no deposit and zero interest
over 36 months! Mind you their overinflated cash price means they
don't need to charge interest.

Mind you, HN's near my flat here in Brisbane had a run-out special
on a handful of remaining JVC 5-Mpixel 3CCD hard drive camcorders
for under Au$1000 a few weeks back...

--
Kind regards,

Chris Wilkinson, Brisbane, Australia.
"Maybe politicians should ask the people whether
or not they wanted all these wars"...

Hi there,

Fred Dagg wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:11:23 +1000, Chris Wilkinson
> <> exclaimed:
>
>>Fred Dagg wrote:
>>
>>>On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:41:50 +1300, "whome" <>
>>>exclaimed:
>>>
>>>>NZ vista ultimate : $648 NZD
>>>>(http://www.pricespy.co.nz/pno_10007.html)
>>>
>>>Actually, $576+GST. Still a little high, though.
>>
>>Half my ****ing hardware costs little more than that. I see
>>in Sydney (and no doubt other places) that people were lining
>>up outside Harvey Normans and other retailers to get a copy
>>at midnite. Dumbarses, they could have waited until sunrise,
>>then shot down the local computer market and purchased a $10
>>mouse so they could get an OEM copy.
>>
>>My mind boggles at the stupidity of some people...
>
>
> Heh, yup.
>
> It is always funny.
>
> "Hi there. Would you like:
>
> a) Retail / Upgrade of Vista?
> b) OEM of Vista, with a free stick of RAM, and some change...



I got an $8 optical mouse, and OEM Win XP, for Au$133 last year.
I also got Win2K ages back. Vista's price funnily enough is not
as much of a deterrent to buying it as the OS itself for me. I
just don't believe from what I've seen that it offers me a better
(Windows) experience.

If I need Windows I will use Win2K, but thats only when I play
Far Cry and other games now, as I can do Win2K and AutoCAD in a
VM on my SUSE Linux desktop - XP gets very little use now, as
my computer time is 80% openSUSE 10.2, 10% Win2K, 10% VM Win2K.

--
Kind regards,

Chris Wilkinson, Brisbane, Australia.
"Maybe politicians should ask the people whether
or not they wanted all these wars"...

Philip <> wrote:

>Bobs wrote:
>> On Jan 30, 1:41 pm, "whome" <w...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> NZ vista ultimate : $648 NZD
>>> (http://www.pricespy.co.nz/pno_10007.html)
>>>
>>> US Vista ultimate: $359 NZD (converted from $249USD).http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6309651.stm
>>>
>>> I don't understand why it costs nearly double to buy vista here in NZ? Does
>>> the NZ version come with additional functionality?
>>>
>>> Could Brett from MS NZ can answer this one?
>>
>>
>> Buy Office 2007 instead. XP is robust and I don't see the need to
>> update to Vista. Office 2003 is old and creaky and stale, and Office
>> 2007 is far superior and the leader in its field by a large margin.
>>
>A resounding endorsement. What dos Office 2007 do that its predecessors,
>or its competitors, don't do?
>
>Philip
Well the Student and teacher version is $100 dear that it's
predecessor and doesn't contain outlook.. Guess they want to front up
with more $$$ to get outlook..

"whome" <> wrote in message
news:1-...
> NZ vista ultimate : $648 NZD
> (http://www.pricespy.co.nz/pno_10007.html)
>
> US Vista ultimate: $359 NZD (converted from $249USD).
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6309651.stm
>
> I don't understand why it costs nearly double to buy vista here in NZ?
> Does the NZ version come with additional functionality?
>
> Could Brett from MS NZ can answer this one?
>

Fortunately (for my long-term sanity) I am very well-insulated from how we
go about setting our local pricing. The minute somebody mentions logistics,
price waterfalls and exchange rates I immediately glaze over so I will
attempt to break through that barrier and find out the story behind this
story

Brett Roberts
Microsoft NZ

Mathew Good < wrote:

> Because windows is a Standard, Lunix is not..

No.
Windows comes standard.
Windows is not _a_ standard.

Unless it's had ISO certification lately.

Fran