"I can see it now: I'm in the middle of a PowerPoint presentation to a
potential client. Just as I get to the part where I am explaining the
true value of my proposal, up pops an advertisement for a feminine
hygiene product. You laugh now, but this could become a reality if
Microsoft moves into an advertising-supported software delivery model."
"Microsoft also feels the pinch of shrinking revenue on some of its
software titles. In an internal paper written by MSN employees, the
workers cite a 7% drop in sales of packaged software including Works,
Money, Encarta and digital imaging software in 2004, with the trend
continuing in 2005. It's possible that Microsoft could someday offer
such consumer applications for free - as long as we don't mind car ads
zooming across the screen from time to time. And if this turns out to be
a profitable move for Microsoft, could Word, Excel and PowerPoint be far
behind? What about Exchange and other enterprise applications?"
"Microsoft says it will explore all the possibilities for selling
software, and as Microsoft goes, so goes the rest of the software
development industry. As for me, no ads, please. I will pay whatever it
takes to use my preferred software without annoying and intrusive
messages trying to sell me something."
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2005/121905musthaler.html>
©2005 Bill Anderson |
