MetalheadGautham
AFK
I stopped using MS Office completely because MS keep dropping support for older formats, while ODF is standardised. I honestly don't understand what hype both get. I don't see much difference between writer and word.
Time to end piracy....at least to an extent.
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gxsaurav
You gave been GXified
^^^ you obviously don't know the benefits of a good UI.
Office 2007 Student & Teachers edition is available for Rs 3,500 in Nehru Place. It only has Word, Powerpoint & Excel 2007 & nothing else. This is all that regular users will need in a home anyway.
We are indeed greedy, this is why I advice everyone to buy Vista Home premium & not ultimate.
Office 2007 Student & Teachers edition is available for Rs 3,500 in Nehru Place. It only has Word, Powerpoint & Excel 2007 & nothing else. This is all that regular users will need in a home anyway.
We are indeed greedy, this is why I advice everyone to buy Vista Home premium & not ultimate.
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^^^ Not to mention the fact that Home and Student Edition is not licensed for commercial usage. For the home user, I would recommend OOo instead of MS Office because it satisfies the basic requirements... For a Student, maybe MS Office may be necessary based on course requirements, otherwise, OOo should suffice...
Arun
Arun
Liverpool_fan
Sami Hyypiä, LFC legend
Are the Word, Excel and PowerPoint same as in the Professional Edition or have they been striped down a bit?
gxsaurav
You gave been GXified
They are same. You can indeed buy it cos Office 2007 is so good in ease of use that general home users won't even need to upgrade to office 14 in most cases
IronManForever
IronMan; Ready to Roll...
I am thinking of buying original Windows and MS Office Student's edition. Was put off by the requirements of Vista. Will buy Windows 7 after it comes out. For now I have Mac OSX. 
Will buy original games when I get good internet to play multiplayer.
I pirate to try out softwares. Once I start using one dedicatedly, for my work, I'd be happy to pay for it.
I do not see how Microsoft lost when I pirated windows, I'd noway buy it if it was pirate-proof . I'd resort to FOSS. So me pirating Windows and MS Office has been only good to them.
But Piracy is not limited to softwares. Music, Movies, etc all come in it.
If I did not pirate the music I have, Metallica, AC-DC, Pink Floyd, IronMaiden imagine how life would have been. I am not pirating music of small timers who ear less. Im pirating music of bands which already have owned so much.. And if piracy wasnt there, I would not have bought all the music anyway. So I doubt I am causing any substantial loss.
I also have paid songs from metal bands here in Nepal. They depend on it. Not ones like Metallica.
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Specifically, when I start earning and get up on my own feet, I'd pay for essential softwares which I need for work and enjoy, and if they are within permissible levels of my income. I doubt I'd ever be rich enough to buy SPSS, I may require it in future very often.
For now I wont put any load on my dad's earning by funding Bill Gate's toilet paper!
Will buy original games when I get good internet to play multiplayer.
I pirate to try out softwares. Once I start using one dedicatedly, for my work, I'd be happy to pay for it.
I do not see how Microsoft lost when I pirated windows, I'd noway buy it if it was pirate-proof . I'd resort to FOSS. So me pirating Windows and MS Office has been only good to them.
But Piracy is not limited to softwares. Music, Movies, etc all come in it.
If I did not pirate the music I have, Metallica, AC-DC, Pink Floyd, IronMaiden imagine how life would have been. I am not pirating music of small timers who ear less. Im pirating music of bands which already have owned so much.. And if piracy wasnt there, I would not have bought all the music anyway. So I doubt I am causing any substantial loss.
I also have paid songs from metal bands here in Nepal. They depend on it. Not ones like Metallica.
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Specifically, when I start earning and get up on my own feet, I'd pay for essential softwares which I need for work and enjoy, and if they are within permissible levels of my income. I doubt I'd ever be rich enough to buy SPSS, I may require it in future very often.
For now I wont put any load on my dad's earning by funding Bill Gate's toilet paper!
comp@ddict
EXIT: DATA Junkyard
Ejaktly, and the only reason I'm using genuine Windows XP is bcuz HP came bundled with XP Genuine with the Lappy.
And since we didn't really have to pay a penny for the lappy, it's a fair deal what say?
OP
ionicsachin
Ambassador of Buzz
@comp@ddict
dint get you...
maybe u r not paying anything beyond the cost of ur hardware
dint get you...
maybe u r not paying anything beyond the cost of ur hardware
comp@ddict
EXIT: DATA Junkyard
No, the laptop was provided by the company, and WinXp came together as inculded, I didn't pay anything for the laptop as well as for WinXP Genuine.
Actually, it's Win Vista Premium, but Vista sucks, and that's another story anyways.
OP
ionicsachin
Ambassador of Buzz
Dude same goes with Vista, if u have the right hardware u shudnt have "MANY" problems. There are problems in Vista but not as much as the bad image it holds. I ve been using it for past 9 months flawlessly without any BSODs or hangs. But yes, many software and drivers show compatibility problems, but then lets see Windows 7.
Aberforth
The Internationalist
Fighting piracy without a change of pricing strategy is a very tough game in price sensitive markets like India and China. People will always pirate software and find new ways to break copy-protection measures because they simply can't afford the prices at which movies, music, games and software sells in India.
The pricing of softwares and games in India is on par with their prices in the EU and US. However, the income and purchasing power of the average Indian is less than 1/20th of the average European or US income which brings a disparity in prices and purchasing power.
It is ironic that technology giants outsource their processes to India because they know India is a low-income country where people will work for a job at 1/10th of the salary they'd have to pay an American employee. Yet, the same companies are not willing to reduce the prices of their products so that they are compatible to the lower incomes of Indians. They want to have it both ways - save money with cheap labour and earn high profits by pricing their products at part with American prices.
Because of this reality, my sympathies for piracy is limited only to those companies which price their products in the affordable range and yet get shortchanged by software pirates. I can't feel sorry for Bill Gates that 80% of Windows used in India is pirated.
The pricing of softwares and games in India is on par with their prices in the EU and US. However, the income and purchasing power of the average Indian is less than 1/20th of the average European or US income which brings a disparity in prices and purchasing power.
It is ironic that technology giants outsource their processes to India because they know India is a low-income country where people will work for a job at 1/10th of the salary they'd have to pay an American employee. Yet, the same companies are not willing to reduce the prices of their products so that they are compatible to the lower incomes of Indians. They want to have it both ways - save money with cheap labour and earn high profits by pricing their products at part with American prices.
Because of this reality, my sympathies for piracy is limited only to those companies which price their products in the affordable range and yet get shortchanged by software pirates. I can't feel sorry for Bill Gates that 80% of Windows used in India is pirated.
PaulBarber
Broken In
^^ totally agree with the above post. It is really good to see companies realizing how the high pricing of their products are affecting sales in growing markets like India and China.
Sell your products at prices at which people can afford; at a prices where people perceive "value for money" and you'll surely get sales in India. Of course there will still be loads of people who will pirate it and who wont pay even a rupee for it, but there will be enough people who are willing to pay a fair price for it if they are able to buy it in a hassle free manner.
Take the case of Moser-Baer movie CD/DVDs. They are selling at like 1/5th or 1/10th the normal price, but still making handsome profits. Goes to show that there are still good enough people around.
Especially for software that is to be used at home, it is illogical for companies to expect that people will pay major bucks for software. Business/corporate users are making money with software, they should pay for it, but to ask home users to pay 6,000 bucks for Windows Vista is bullshit.
If a "Windows home edition" for India is sold at say 500 bucks a pop, I'm sure it will sell like hot cakes and M$ will make 10 times as much profit as they currently make from software sales for home segment in India. Same holds true for games - it is not used by corporate/business purposes. Sell games at a price that is affordable for the majority; it will still sell, inspite of whatever piracy happens.
And yeah..regarding piracy of Windows XP/Vista/whatever for home use; even microsoft doesnt care much about it. They know that if piracy stops, windows will lose it's popularity in India. So M$ will make all the right noises (anti-piracy and all), but they'll still want to make sure that Windows is on most home PCs - pirated or not doesnt matter to them
Microsoft wins. It's not fair to open source software.
Sell your products at prices at which people can afford; at a prices where people perceive "value for money" and you'll surely get sales in India. Of course there will still be loads of people who will pirate it and who wont pay even a rupee for it, but there will be enough people who are willing to pay a fair price for it if they are able to buy it in a hassle free manner.
Take the case of Moser-Baer movie CD/DVDs. They are selling at like 1/5th or 1/10th the normal price, but still making handsome profits. Goes to show that there are still good enough people around.
Especially for software that is to be used at home, it is illogical for companies to expect that people will pay major bucks for software. Business/corporate users are making money with software, they should pay for it, but to ask home users to pay 6,000 bucks for Windows Vista is bullshit.
If a "Windows home edition" for India is sold at say 500 bucks a pop, I'm sure it will sell like hot cakes and M$ will make 10 times as much profit as they currently make from software sales for home segment in India. Same holds true for games - it is not used by corporate/business purposes. Sell games at a price that is affordable for the majority; it will still sell, inspite of whatever piracy happens.
And yeah..regarding piracy of Windows XP/Vista/whatever for home use; even microsoft doesnt care much about it. They know that if piracy stops, windows will lose it's popularity in India. So M$ will make all the right noises (anti-piracy and all), but they'll still want to make sure that Windows is on most home PCs - pirated or not doesnt matter to them
I feel angry at Bill Gates that inspite of pricing Windows so above the reach of the common man, 99% of home users still use Windows (pirated)
Microsoft wins. It's not fair to open source software.
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gxsaurav
You gave been GXified
Source please. Those who are able to buy an original XBOX 360 are the kind of crowd which spends Rs 5k a month on weekend parties in Mcdonald etc. They can easily pay 1k for games, just that they won't as it is not something "physical".
ganda hai par dhanda hai yeh....
Reducing price is indeed a way to curb piracy & many companies are doing it too. Just yesterday I was looking at Oxycube, a Nokia PC Suite like application for Windows. It costs $100 for one mobile phone (IMEI Locked) but costs only Rs 1700 ($ 36 approx) when bought from India. I myself went on to purchase this & was given a choice to pay Rs 1700 for it & then Rs 400 for additional phones I will connect to Oxycube. Now, Oxycube indeed is a good product & it deserves Rs 1.7k to be paid for it.
Just don't think of it as a software, think of it as a product which you will use for the next many years to come. If you can buy a PC hardware for 20K which you plan to use for the next 3 years, then what problem do you have in paying Rs 2k for an OS which you will also use for the next 3 years & beyond that.
that's news to me. Please explain how??
What price are you guys ready to pay for digital media? Since I am all in favor of Digital Distribution of all the content, here is what I would prefer to pay for content, although the lower the better.
Audio CD = Rs 100
Digital Audio like through something like iTunes in India but made in collaboration with Microsoft (it has highest panitration in Indian Media sector alongwith most of the users using Windows) = Rs 10/song (with a proper DRM policy to curb piracy)
DVD Movie = Rs 200
Digital Distribution of Movies which is usually 2.5 GB for a 720p Video & 1.4 GB for a good SD Rip = Rs 50 with a proper DRM system.
Rs 500 for all games, whether PC or Console. <period>
Rs 2000 for Windows 7 Home Editon.
Before you bash me, I admit I like DRM cos I have worked in the Media Sector, but I don't like the way it is implemented right now. I know how it feels like to lose sales due to Piracy & I also know the mentality of us Indians that if Content provider give DRM free Video/Audio in India right now then we have so much "humanity" in us that we will distribute it for free among our friends. It costs money & resources to create it, so pay for the entertainment you get to those who deserve it.
One thing for sure, we indians are damn greedy. We won't need high end software like Maya yet we will pirate it instead of using Maya PLE to learn it.
It doesn't matter much if prices are reduced, unless the mentality of Indian Public is changed from "everything digital is free anyway", we won't even pay Rs 2k for an OS & will still pirate it.
Liverpool_fan
Sami Hyypiä, LFC legend
Google about it. You'll find them admitting that people rather pirate their product rather than use their rivals. There was also an article in Digit in 2006 or 2007 I think.
MS Vista = Rs.1000-2000
MS Office = Already at right price
Downloadable Songs(any format) - Rs.5-15 per track
I rather pay twice or pirate than cope up with DRM. If indeed there is DRM, please do not restrict it to certain player and OS.
That I would definitely pay for. Only that should be playable in all major OS..Linux/FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD/DragonFlyBSD/OpenSolaris/Mac OS X/Windows.
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Rs 500 for all games, whether PC or Console. <period>Inclusive of all taxes.Rs 2000 for Windows 7 Home Editon.
I'll buy it the same day.
Nope. I won't bash you. But DRM currently is still evil and unethical IMO.
Unless they come up with a technique:
(1) Playable in all media players
(2) In all major OS and devices as I stated above
(3) Should not take too much of CPU resources
(4) And distribution in high quality and choice of media format
(5) Should not make using original media usage difficult
(6) No Stupid Clauses.
Regarding about the greedy mentality. We are not alone. Piracy is there widespread also in Romania, China, etc. Even Americans, have greedy mentalities too, but they have effective law and order you see.
And if the companies do slash the prices, indeed many people would buy them, atleast me. And obviously some people will still pirate Windows, even if MS slashes prices to even Rs. 200.
But the company in question would still profit more.
Liverpool_fan
Sami Hyypiä, LFC legend
I will never get something with DRM
DRM is evil !
Infact I will pay for a game with DRM and download the pirated version just cuz I can enjoy the freedom of installing it without any limitations.
+1
gxsaurav
You gave been GXified
I have seen people paying Rs 15 for a ring tone from Indiatimes.com which they don't use for more then 10 days & seen subscribing to caller tune for Rs 30 a month but they are not ready to Pary Rs 20 for a full song. Idiots indeed....
Have u ever paid attention to Microsoft PlayforSure DRM? This is one unifying DRM method from Microsoft due to which you can play a song purchased from any PlayforSure certified music store in any playforesure certified digital device you own. Personally, I have the following kind of DRM implementation in mind which I have even given to Microsoft as a feedback
1) Make use of Windows Live ID or OpenID.
2) Digital Distribution shops should use this to login to PlayforSure Shop
3) Content you buy is tied to your account & not computer. If you have a PC running PlayforSure compatible OS (it can be incorporated in Linux & Mac too using documented APIs) then the Content is downloaded in some good format. I prefer 256 kbps AAC for Audio & 720p H.264 MP4 HD for Video which can be converted by a software bundled with the OS like WMP or Amarock during transfer to a mobile or PMP . These are universal file formats & even play in Mobile Phones or PMP. Content can be downloaded as many times as you like on any PC as long as you have authorized it with your ID. Make a limit on devices you can authorize else in India one person will buy the content & give his authorization ID to friends & they will continue to use it on many of there devices. Sorry to say, but this has to be done. However do give the user a choice to de-authorize a device & re-authorize some other device. This call can be managed through a Website too. I say 10 devices are sufficient.
4) If you want to play the same content in your Portable Media Player like iPod or Zune or Creative Zen, then simply connect the player to PC using USB Cable & start the authorization software. Microsoft can do this more easily as Device Center is available in Windows 7. The software will simply scan your device & ask you to login with your ID to it. Once done, the device is authorized to play your digital content. Now simply sync the content using WMP or just copy paste using a File Browser. Now you can play the Same Video you bought for some money in your PC as well as PMP without any problem.
5) If you want to play the content in your Mobile Phone then simply download a small application for your Phone's OS. Login using that software with your ID to authorize your phone. Now copy paste whatever Digital Media you bought in the phone & play it.
6) Make the content available for streaming over WiFi. If I buy a 720p HD Movie for Rs 50 then I should be able to play it on my 40" HDTV in other room using some Media Center extender device like XBOX 360 (although we are already doing it today, we need this incorporated in Set top boxes provided by Tata or Airtel)
The Authorization software need not run in the background all the time. In case of PC & Mobile phone, since every file can be given a flag or tag, the authorization system will be started to check for proper authorization only when that particular file executed.
DRM is not evil, it is just implemented incorrectly due to no common unifying standard. If we provide everything DRM free then whats stopping you from buying a Song of Chandni Chowk to China for Rs 10 U distributing it over Bluetooth or via Internet to all the friends you have. This means a lost sale to the content creator, which is why DRM was made at the first place.
Understand the mentality of people dude, not many people in India follow the philosophy "We will buy it, if it is good". People will want to save there money even if it is good & if they are getting it free instead of paying for it.
If you want your game to work like that, then you will love to use Steam.
Have u ever paid attention to Microsoft PlayforSure DRM? This is one unifying DRM method from Microsoft due to which you can play a song purchased from any PlayforSure certified music store in any playforesure certified digital device you own. Personally, I have the following kind of DRM implementation in mind which I have even given to Microsoft as a feedback
1) Make use of Windows Live ID or OpenID.
2) Digital Distribution shops should use this to login to PlayforSure Shop
3) Content you buy is tied to your account & not computer. If you have a PC running PlayforSure compatible OS (it can be incorporated in Linux & Mac too using documented APIs) then the Content is downloaded in some good format. I prefer 256 kbps AAC for Audio & 720p H.264 MP4 HD for Video which can be converted by a software bundled with the OS like WMP or Amarock during transfer to a mobile or PMP . These are universal file formats & even play in Mobile Phones or PMP. Content can be downloaded as many times as you like on any PC as long as you have authorized it with your ID. Make a limit on devices you can authorize else in India one person will buy the content & give his authorization ID to friends & they will continue to use it on many of there devices. Sorry to say, but this has to be done. However do give the user a choice to de-authorize a device & re-authorize some other device. This call can be managed through a Website too. I say 10 devices are sufficient.
4) If you want to play the same content in your Portable Media Player like iPod or Zune or Creative Zen, then simply connect the player to PC using USB Cable & start the authorization software. Microsoft can do this more easily as Device Center is available in Windows 7. The software will simply scan your device & ask you to login with your ID to it. Once done, the device is authorized to play your digital content. Now simply sync the content using WMP or just copy paste using a File Browser. Now you can play the Same Video you bought for some money in your PC as well as PMP without any problem.
5) If you want to play the content in your Mobile Phone then simply download a small application for your Phone's OS. Login using that software with your ID to authorize your phone. Now copy paste whatever Digital Media you bought in the phone & play it.
6) Make the content available for streaming over WiFi. If I buy a 720p HD Movie for Rs 50 then I should be able to play it on my 40" HDTV in other room using some Media Center extender device like XBOX 360 (although we are already doing it today, we need this incorporated in Set top boxes provided by Tata or Airtel)
The Authorization software need not run in the background all the time. In case of PC & Mobile phone, since every file can be given a flag or tag, the authorization system will be started to check for proper authorization only when that particular file executed.
I will never get something with DRM
DRM is evil !
DRM is not evil, it is just implemented incorrectly due to no common unifying standard. If we provide everything DRM free then whats stopping you from buying a Song of Chandni Chowk to China for Rs 10 U distributing it over Bluetooth or via Internet to all the friends you have. This means a lost sale to the content creator, which is why DRM was made at the first place.
Understand the mentality of people dude, not many people in India follow the philosophy "We will buy it, if it is good". People will want to save there money even if it is good & if they are getting it free instead of paying for it.
If you want your game to work like that, then you will love to use Steam.
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Liverpool_fan
Sami Hyypiä, LFC legend
Never tried PlaysForSure. If it will run media with Amarok in Linux; I wont mind it at all.
You are right. I love Steam.
PaulBarber
Broken In
Yeah..thinking of it like hardware....say your friend has an amazing piece of hardware for which he paid 10k. And suppose you can just take a photocopy of that hardware and use it at your home without paying anything. And your friend's copy is not affected in any way. It's only the hardware company that has potentially lost one customer. But you would never have paid 10k to buy that hardware anyway (since you aren't so rich anyway). So effectively nobody loses anything. Now it doesnt sound so bad, does it
?Software is fundamentally different from material goods. Trying to fit them into old shoes wont help at all. The sooner all these corporations realize this, the better for them (and everyone).
DRM is yet another lame attempt to put software in hardware's shoes and it is doomed to fail. In software and audio/video media intended for the public, you need to depend on the trust and goodwill of your customers (unless you can afford to conduct raids on all home software users). When a customer pays hard earned money for your product, he would expect it to be in the best possible form, not in some crippled and restricted format.
Sadly DRM and copy protection is still working to some extent (in preventing casual piracy). If anyone is serious on pirating the product, there are still 100 ways to do it (and regardless of whatever DRM comes in, it will still be cracked). However the direction is wrong, and customers might take it, up to a limit. When they reach the point where it gets too much, they'll just go for the cheap and easy option - pirate it
and then who loses?Not just Indians yaar...it's human psychology. Why pay for something which u can get for free. In any community, there will be x% of people who think like this. It's the other (100-x)% who will pay for software. And when the price of the product decreases, this x% keeps decreasing.
Challenge for the companies is to find the right price for their product - depending on their strategy - whether they are looking to increase their topline or bottomline.
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