Microsoft to cash in digital camera biz: collecting royalies on flash memory!

[FelixDeCat]

Dont they have enough money already?

edit: Although MS has upwards of $20 - $25 billion in cash, with no debt, thats not my beef. Its the fact that this move will make things more expensive for consumers. :frown:

 

[dolph]

phil has a point: they could just sell them unformatted

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: dolph
phil has a point: they could just sell them unformatted

but wouldn't the camera have to format the memory?? So then MS just charges the makers of the cameras right??

either way MS will get their money it sounds like.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Originally posted by: dolph
phil has a point: they could just sell them unformatted

You and Phil go way back eh? 😉 I was checking out this site deciding whether or not to buy the Cannon A70 (I did) and read this.

Unfortunately requiring users to format their CF cards might be too much for some. I was at best buy today and this kid (18 or 19) was returning a video card he couldnt intsall (mx400 i think). He couldnt do it and was shocked at the $50 fee BB wanted to it for him. He said "$50 my ass!". I was going to try to explain to him how to do it, but he didnt seem like the type that would understand.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: FelixDeKat
Dont they have enough money already?

pinko

 

[Amused]

They have a patent on FAT. If YOU had the patent, you better believe you'd be cashing in on it. So why blame them?

 

[Keego]

Originally posted by: Amused
They have a patent on FAT. If YOU had the patent, you better believe you'd be cashing in on it. So why blame them?

exactly. I don't see anyone keeping them from using a different proprietary filesystem.

 

[TheToOTaLL]

Originally posted by: Keego

Originally posted by: Amused
They have a patent on FAT. If YOU had the patent, you better believe you'd be cashing in on it. So why blame them?

exactly. I don't see anyone keeping them from using a different proprietary filesystem.

A different proprietary file system which Microsoft would have to support, because the flash memory manufacturers weren't sticklers about paying their fees.

I'm down with the idea of getting unformatted cards - don't most cameras have the ability to format them when used for the first time anyways?

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: Keego

Originally posted by: Amused
They have a patent on FAT. If YOU had the patent, you better believe you'd be cashing in on it. So why blame them?

exactly. I don't see anyone keeping them from using a different proprietary filesystem.

but different filesystems might not work with windows OS, right??

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: dolph
phil has a point: they could just sell them unformatted

Even if it were that simple (which it may be), they would probably just pay the licensing fee just to avoid pissing off all the dumbass customers out there.

Customer: You sold me a dead card!
Sandisk tech: You need to format it.
Customer: Format? What's that?

The licensing fees proposed by Microsoft do not seem unreasonable at all, a camera + 3 flash cards would be a whole $1 in licensing fees.

IMO though the licensing fees should be solely for the camera, not the media. Nobody pays MS licensing fees on a new hard drive, and nobody would because they don't necessarily have to use FAT - If they do use FAT they would have a (presumably) legal copy of Windows (obviously licensed to use FAT). Flash cards should be the same way, the licensing should be device specific, not media.

If the flash vendors insist on pre-formatting the cards then the above argument is obviously invalid.

Viper GTS

 

[bleeb]

This is just another ploy to steal more money from consumers, Don't Buy M$ products! So that M$ employees can live the lavish lifestyle and have expensive BMWs while everyone else is struggling to live in this economy.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: FelixDeKat
Dont they have enough money already?

pinko

 

[freegeeks]

if the digital camera biz decides to use an open source file system, MS will get nothing

 

[beer]

How long do you think it will take Sandisk or Lexar to hit up 1 million flash cards?

$250K is a drop in the bucket. I'm surprsied it'[s not more than that.

 

[PowerMac4Ever]

Originally posted by: bleeb
This is just another ploy to steal more money from consumers, Don't Buy M$ products! So that M$ employees can live the lavish lifestyle and have expensive BMWs while everyone else is struggling to live in this economy.

ok lenin

 

[ggavinmoss]

Originally posted by: bleeb
This is just another ploy to steal more money from consumers, Don't Buy M$ products! So that M$ employees can live the lavish lifestyle and have expensive BMWs while everyone else is struggling to live in this economy.

Get a grip.

-geoff

 

[FelixDeCat]

Originally posted by: ggavinmoss

Originally posted by: bleeb
This is just another ploy to steal more money from consumers, Don't Buy M$ products! So that M$ employees can live the lavish lifestyle and have expensive BMWs while everyone else is struggling to live in this economy.

Get a grip.

-geoff

Perhaps he was exaggerating.

 

[NogginBoink]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: dolph
phil has a point: they could just sell them unformatted

but wouldn't the camera have to format the memory?? So then MS just charges the makers of the cameras right??

either way MS will get their money it sounds like.

No, only preformatted media is subject to the royalties, not the camera that uses the filesystem. (At least that's how I read it.)

Since most cameras automatically format the media (or prompt you to) when inserted, yes, the vendors could just sell 'em unformatted.

Or, since it's only $0.25 per flash card, they could jack up the price by a quarter. Less, if they make more than a million of 'em a year.

 

[masterxfob]

Originally posted by: Amused
They have a patent on FAT. If YOU had the patent, you better believe you'd be cashing in on it. So why blame them?

exactly!

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: bleeb
This is just another ploy to steal more money from consumers, Don't Buy M$ products! So that M$ employees can live the lavish lifestyle and have expensive BMWs while everyone else is struggling to live in this economy.

Crap. You have NO right to the intellectual property of others. And MS has EVERY right to charge what they please for their products and patents.

It is NOT "stealing" to charge whatever you please for YOUR product.

The only point you have correct here is don't buy MS products if you don't like them.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: FelixDeKat

Originally posted by: dolph
phil has a point: they could just sell them unformatted

You and Phil go way back eh? 😉 I was checking out this site deciding whether or not to buy the Cannon A70 (I did) and read this.

Unfortunately requiring users to format their CF cards might be too much for some. I was at best buy today and this kid (18 or 19) was returning a video card he couldnt intsall (mx400 i think). He couldnt do it and was shocked at the $50 fee BB wanted to it for him. He said "$50 my ass!". I was going to try to explain to him how to do it, but he didnt seem like the type that would understand.

Just have the camera automatically format the cards if they are unformatted.

ZV

 

[Wozster]

Originally posted by: Amused
They have a patent on FAT. If YOU had the patent, you better believe you'd be cashing in on it. So why blame them?

[COUGH]
***bull$hit***
[/COUGH]

This is called a "submarine patent".

They let everyone think that the technology is free to use, then once the entire world is using it (twenty years later) they try to cash in on it.

More info here

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: Wozster

Originally posted by: Amused
They have a patent on FAT. If YOU had the patent, you better believe you'd be cashing in on it. So why blame them?

[COUGH]
***bull$hit***
[/COUGH]

This is called a "submarine patent".

They let everyone think that the technology is free to use, then once the entire world is using it (twenty years later) they try to cash in on it.

More info here

Read your own freaking articles. The patent has to do with LONG FILENAMES. Those aren't 20 years old.

 

This will just drive up costs for the consumer.
Thanks MS!.

 

[Wozster]

Read your own freaking articles. The patent has to do with LONG FILENAMES. Those aren't 20 years old.

It's still a submarine patent; they never lead anyone to believe that you'd have to pay a quarter per unit to use long filenames.

Side note:
I got an SD card from Crucial the other day and there was a bright pink note in the package that said the card was not pre-formatted and that I'd have to format it myself.
So it appears that MSFT DID warn the OEM's in advance that they'd be doing this.