commoditization

rookie1010

Senior member
Mar 7, 2004
984
0
0
Hello

i am trying to understand what commoditization is?
in the context of operating systems, is it correct to say that with the advent of linux, operating systems have been commoditized.
in that case what woudl the value be of the operating system, price of windows or price of linux?
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,380
8,509
126
no, with the advent of portable run anywhere applications through the web browser, the operating system might become commoditized (which is exactly what M$ was fearing when it started to bury netscape).
 

rookie1010

Senior member
Mar 7, 2004
984
0
0
thanks for the reply

so when would an "operating system" be described as a commodity?
how was the netscape browser pushing the operating system nto a commodity?

i guess msn mail(hotmail) is an example of a service model, correct?
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,380
8,509
126
Originally posted by: rookie1010
thanks for the reply

so when would an "operating system" be described as a commodity?
how was the netscape browser pushing the operating system nto a commodity?

i guess msn mail(hotmail) is an example of a service model, correct?

the operating system would be a commodity when it doesn't matter what operating system any particular member of the public was running. this would be because software applications would be independent of the operating system (excepting the virtual machine layer that provides compatibility between the operating system and the applications). when applications run on a virtual machine, it doesn't matter what the OS is, the application is portable to any operating system that can run the virtual machine.

MS feared that applications running on a java virtual machine inside a web browser would make the web browser the most important part of the computer platform and relegate the operating system to a commodity. if the applications important to the public at large all ran on the browser, it wouldn't matter if the public were running windows or linux or unix or mac. services like hotmail, and google's applications are the types of thing MS feared. google is making a pretty good run at it.
 

rookie1010

Senior member
Mar 7, 2004
984
0
0
hats off to you ElFenix, that gives a bird's eye view of where the computer world is headed.

i guess google is trying to do it by making the applications net based, this removing the dependency on the operating system, correct?

if firefox manages to get applications running inside the jvm on its browser than would that mean the operating system(windows, linux) is reduced to a commodity, and the browser is the focal point(what is the focal point called?)