Pathetic...

[SinfulWeeper]

All throughout my time of using PC's. I always bought OEM versions of operating systems. I recently found a retail version of WinME in which the price was right, and there is 0% difference in what is in the CD. The manual for the most part is the same as the OEM except for a few added worthless things.

How does say Microsoft justify the huge price difference between OEM vs. Retail when they are identical?

 

[Saltin]

It's basic economics friend.

You get a deal on volume. OEM's buy in volume, they get a deal, they pass the deal to you.

Don't blame MS. Blame society....that's the way it works.

 

[SinfulWeeper]

I thought about that. Lets put it this way then. Say you need to buy 100,000 copies of WinXP. Being there is no difference in the software and very little in the documantation. You are obviously going to buy in bulk, and the 'fancy' retail material is just a hype.
At the most it costs them about $0.25-$2.00 more to make. But even so you will be paying about $40 more for the extra cost in bulk quanities. Society making the choice? If 1% of the people who deal with this stuff spoke out, that would bring a whole new pricing to the retail vs. oem difference because they are the same.
By the way, even the OEM license works on a retail version and visa versa.

 

[Nothinman]

At the most it costs them about $0.25-$2.00 more to make.

It costs that to burn the CDs, that's not including production costs of the actual software.

 

[Saltin]

<< At the most it costs them about $0.25-$2.00 more to make >>



Software isnt about what it costs to press the CD.

It's about what it cost to produce the software.



<< By the way, even the OEM license works on a retail version and visa versa. >>



According to the law they dont.

 

[SinfulWeeper]

The cost difference in the CD's is zero. Holding the two in front of me, one says for PC's without windows. The other one says for distributaion with new computers only. Otherwise they are still identical.

Are you guys saying that ink costs more for one CD than the other? The only difference is in the ammount of paper between the two. Now come on. We all know paper costs very little there there is no point argueing there. Retail versions are a 100% total rip-off since there is no difference.

 

[Saltin]

<< Are you guys saying that ink costs more for one CD than the other? >>



No that's not what's being said at all.

Its not the value of the physical CD at all. It's the value of the information ( software) contained on the CD.

 

[acidvoodoo]

i'd like to hear your views on restore cds


oh i'm not dissing ya i'm curios as to if restore cds are programmed differently or anything

 

[SinfulWeeper]

Value contained on the CD you say. Going extensively through the OEM and retail CD, I still can not find any difference. They both are identical, in size and data.
Put it this way. Say you goto a car showroom and there are two 100% identical Ford Mustangs (or whatever you fancy), except one is color yellow, and the other red. Say the red comes with an extra 20 gallons of gasoline. Now the price difference is $3,000 extra for the red one? Would you pay the difference? Absolutely not I would hope.
On top of that, if that senario were ever to happen. No dealership would be caught dead trying a stupid scam like that unless he is a snake. I can hear in my mind right now what the person would say. "Red paint is harder to produce than yellow. Also our gas that we supply is guaranteed to work with the car."
Using that example, the different writing on the CD's would be the difference in colors for the car. And the extra 20 gallons of gasoline would be compared to the little bit of extra paperwork. Npow go find a dealer that uses this practice. You won't find one because they don't exist.

Restore CD's are simple. I just paid HP $9 shipped a couple months ago. The software was already paid for at the time of purchase for the computer. Fedex normally charges around $8 for shipping, so I see nothing wrong with that price as it seems right in park.

 

[bsobel]

Your argument makes little sense and shows a complete disregard for the economics involved.

"Put it this way. Say you goto a car showroom and there are two 100% identical Ford Mustangs (or whatever you fancy), except one is color yellow, and the other red. Say the red comes with an extra 20 gallons of gasoline. Now the price difference is $3,000 extra for the red one? Would you pay the difference? Absolutely not I would hope."

Let's use your little example. Let's say you want to purchase 1 Ford Mustang. But you just found out the evil dealership actually purchased 100 mustangs and because of that got them $3,000 less than they are charging you. HOW DARE THEY. They bought the EXACT same car that you want to buy, but since they bought in bulk, they got them cheaper. According to you thats not fair right?

Bill

 

[SinfulWeeper]

Bill, that point was already argued and won. You ever togo a CompUSA store? They normally have about 300 copies of say WinXP home on display plus more in backstock say about another 300. Now multiply that times whoever many stores CompUSA has. Or whatever national brand computer store you like comparing.
The store warehouses the stoftware in location a distributes it to the individual stores. The store itself does not order directly from Microsoft, the warehouse does which is buying in bulk quanities you would have trouble believing they can get that many.
So retail sales except for the moms and pops stores are still buying in bulk. So there is still no justification for the extra $100-$150 for the Retail vs. OEM price difference. You guys are taking the mantalitiy that just because you go over and buy a single box that it is not in bul. It is because the stores bought it in bulk. There is 0% resaon why retail should have such a drastic increase in price vs. the OEM. I can almost see a justifable difference if the pricing were about $10-$25 more, but it is not.

 

[bsobel]

> Bill, that point was already argued and won.

Err, no, you just declared yourself right.

> You ever togo a CompUSA store? They normally have about 300 copies of say WinXP home on display plus more in backstock say about another 300. Now multiply that times whoever many stores CompUSA has. Or whatever national brand computer store you like comparing.

Regardless, OEM's buy on a much more massive scale than the store does so this by itself doesn't hold water.

> So there is still no justification for the extra $100-$150 for the Retail vs. OEM price difference. You guys are taking the mantalitiy that just because you go over and buy a single box that it is not in bul. It is because the stores bought it in bulk. There is 0% resaon why retail should have such a drastic increase in price vs. the OEM. I can almost see a justifable difference if the pricing were about $10-$25 more, but it is not.

The difference is your paying for the ability to walk into a nationwide chain like Compusa and purchase the product. You seem to think you have some god given right to the product, and additionally the wharehouse, middlemen, and stores have no right to make a profit. At least 50% of the costs of goods goes towards those people. So, remove that and you remove the very profit that makes the stores want to sell you the product in the first place.

Additionally, you have to consider that on the OEM side, a lot of the cost of goods is absorbed by the OEM. E.g., no box, etc. You may be right in that the actual box costs are not signifigant, but the transporation and storage of those boxes costs money. Those costs are passed on to you.

Bill

 

[CSFM]

Bill I think your getting it a little mixed up... A company that buys, say 10,000 barrels of oil will pay the same as the next company that buys 6,000,000 barrels of oil per barrel. So you see that this theory of "economics" only works for those who have something to loose.
Microsoft charge those who have OEM "buying power" a yearly subscription or licensing or what ever they call it, to give you the right to buy at those prices. They also can and do come into your store and do a complete ordit of all your stock to make sure your not violating their EULA. So the "discount" in my eye's is only just compensation enough to put up MS and their heavy hand.

MS do charge an extraordinary amount for their retail software. More than twice the price of OEM versions of the same software. I know that the OEM suppliers make very little off this software. And the retail stores are making little off the software too.

To be fair though, it has taken MS a lot of time in research and development to produce these OS's... but I agree that they are WAY too over priced for the amounts they turn over... no one man needs to be as rich as Bill Gates... no one company needs that much money... when we have poor and starving people around the world, including our own back yards.

-CSFM-

*EDIT* Sorry about the rant... I am in a very bad mood and I am blaming MS for it. They have stuffed me around all week about their EULA for Office 2000... long story, but they wont let me reactivate the sorftware without buying a new copy. I am VERY P1SSED OFF... I now have 3 new coasters for my loungeroom. I suppose I have to learn to laugh... LOL

 

[nortexoid]

and the price delta seems even more absurd in light of the fact that u can download it for the cost of your monthly internet fee! (roughly $40 for broadband).
even more absurd if u use the internet for free (i.e. at school)!!

tyrants.