Re:History Uncut: Bill Gates unveils Microsoft Excel (1987)
by eckyptang on Monday September 17, 2012 @11:14AM
(#4532920)
OEM. Only fools buy retail. Buy it with a £1 USB stick and it's fine: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/microsoft-office-home-and-bus...
Everything is licensed. Even bread. You have to give it back one day via the toilet or the grave.
Re:History Uncut: Bill Gates unveils Microsoft Excel (1987)
by pbhjpbhj on Monday September 17, 2012 @03:17PM
(#4534321)
>Everything is licensed. Even bread. //
I'm largely with you WRT philosophy of 'ownership'.
However in the current legal framework this is wrong and I strongly disprove of the thrust by companies to force more sold products to be treated as licensed - thus for example preventing resale, [non-copyright infringing] sharing and the like.
I consume bread I don't give it back in a materially unaltered way.
Re:History Uncut: Bill Gates unveils Microsoft Excel (1987)
by jasomill on Monday September 17, 2012 @02:37PM
(#4534103)
You don't need to buy hardware with this; the quoted "OEM" price and part number are retail (compare with Amazon, for instance). It is locked to a single PC like traditional OEM products, however, and doesn't include media. The ordinary retail package is transferable, can be installed on two PCs at the same time, and includes a DVD.
Reading the info about installs strongly suggests that unless you bought a PC with a preload then you have to buy the "2 install" version at £240 (but it's pretty opaque).
Bread is a very poor comparison as the margin per unit decreases at a far lower rate than that for non-material goods. I'm sure MS would argue they're only licensing use to you too - perhaps "it's not much more than a TV license" would be better?