No Demand for Linux in the UK? 207
eldavojohn writes "If you're a Linux user in the UK looking for a Linux box, you're not going to get it from Acer. The computer maker has started releasing Linux installed machines in Singapore but cited 'no demand' as a reason for not releasing the same computer with Linux installed in the UK. From the ZDNet article: 'Before the launch of the Acer Aspire in Singapore, there had been no suggestion that any major manufacturer other than Dell was even considering releasing Ubuntu-based products. However, Acer president Gianfranco Lanci did tell Financial Times Deutschland that "the whole [PC] industry is disappointed with Windows Vista". Lanci claimed that Microsoft's new operating system had not boosted PC sales, due to concerns over its stability and overall maturity.'"
No demand...really? (Score:2, Interesting)
Very clever (Score:2, Interesting)
I say, you must have stolen a marketing strategist or two from Google or Apple. Don't worry. I won't say, "I told you so" when you finally do offer Linux in the UK and everywhere else. I'll just be standing by and by with a golf clap saying, "Good show, Guvna."
Friends don't let Friends buy Acer (Score:4, Interesting)
I guess you get what you pay for with them...
I will never buy Acer again.
Re:Maybe... (Score:4, Interesting)
Silliness (Score:3, Interesting)
The point isn't that I was just one customer, it's that I was just one more customer. Dell's market share grew by just one customer that day, and probably a lot more than that but I'm speaking about my own story here. Acer (and dang near all American telecommunications companies) need to get what Dell did, that markets are built one customer at a time. I just don't get what they're teaching in business school these days. Damn kids.
UK = IT conservatives (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm a Linux user in the UK, but I'm not remotely surprised by this news. By and large, people in the UK are extremely conservative about IT: Firefox take-up here has been far lower than in the US or mainland Europe, for example.
Basically most people don't want to appear remotely "geek-ish", and to show the slightest interest in what software your computer is running, or to change any of the standard default settings (internetexploreroutlookexpressmicrosoftoffice...) , is to break this anti-geek taboo.
This applies in business and the public sector as well as the consumer market. The use of FOSS in the UK is far lower than in most other EU jurisdictions, in all sectors.
Re:Friends don't let Friends buy Acer (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Maybe... (Score:3, Interesting)
Bob
Question of time before EC complaints (Score:3, Interesting)
Acer + Linux experience (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Why buy Linux wnen you can get it for free? (Score:2, Interesting)
Barebone laptops are available everywhere (Score:1, Interesting)
'Building' a laptop if you can call it that, takes about half an hour, easier than building a desktop. You get a laptop without a brand name on it, you can put your own, "Joe's Company etc.". No windows sticker either, ready to install linux.
Re:Hrm (Score:3, Interesting)
Sales people get training? My experience is that they generally know less than what is printed on the box. How much can it cost to print out a few extra script sheets?
Cost of support, you get a person wanting linux but never used it before, get it and everything seems to go wrong and talking to technical support. I am assuming that they don't use global support.
Maybe they should consider providing the same level of support that they provide for Windows.
Cost of wearhousing now you need to manage 2 visual idenintal product lines the difference is the data on each system.
The '80s called. They want their product handling methodologies back. (Don't answer the other phone. It's the 90's looking for their lame form of sarcasm.)
If Acer is warehousing PCs, then they'll be out of business within the year. PC manufacturers don't build a PC until it is ordered. Do you think loading a Linux hard-drive instead of a Windows hard-drive would be any more trouble than installing a 1024M DIMM instead of a 512M DIMM?
Cost of selling systems without Extra Junk installed, all those demo apps the company pays acer to put default on their system.
You can only load so much junk. Acer makes some money off of that, but I doubt it amounts to what they pay for a Windows license. I think $40(US) is a good estimate of what they would be paying for a license. Each preload amounts to a single advertisement. How much can Nero afford to advertise to one customer. $5(US)? Then you'd need 8 preloads just to pay for the Windows license. If one 'advertiser' drops out, you're losing money. Ubuntu would allow you to make your customer happier, while relieving you of the headache of having to maintain multiple 'relationships'. You also get from under Microsoft's thumb, and can be in complete control of the OOBE ("out of box experience). In other words, Acer can market their laptops instead of Microsoft's product.
Trade Policies, sometimes by changing the OS you may need to renegoate your trade policy with other countries.
I can guarantee that Acer doesn't negotiate trade policy directly. The most it may do is try to buy off some politicians.
Re:Maybe... (Score:3, Interesting)
So? gnu/linux provides better continuity. (Score:3, Interesting)
This just goes round and round:
Ummm. O.K. Except for the fact I was explaining why a company wouldn't sell a product with little demmand...
But the best excuse you can come up with for selling Vista is that Vista will be "uniform" with itself if everyone used it. That's circular, don't you think?
You then go on to completely ignore the flexibility of free interfaces to talk about progman.exe as if it does anything of importance outside of Win3.1. KDE, for example, has been made to look exactly like the current versions of XP. No doubt, usability studies will show that people used to working with XP will be more productive on KDE than Vista, just as they did back when M$ switched from 98 to XP. Distributions like Xandros provide a smoother transition to modern software than Vista but give you hardware that works, data security and system stability.
Re:"From Whom?" (Score:3, Interesting)
So are you suggesting that Microsoft are above placing pressure on an OEM not to bundle any OS other than Windows with their hardware?
Oh, I see. It's not that MS aren't engaged in anti competitive practices, just you think it's terribly, terribly unoriginal of me to keep bringing up like this. I'll bear it in mind for next time :)
Re:Maybe... (Score:3, Interesting)
The company I work for (over 100,000) has over 16% (most technical) of their desktops running under Linux. Why we don't have more is the Company has a very good contact with Microsoft but at the moment the policy is "No Vista!".
Actually where you are seeing a huge switch to Linux is in India http://in.rediff.com/money/2007/aug/02linux.htm [rediff.com] and the Asian market is looking very seriously at this. I know some people say that the Asian market is rife with piracy for MS Windows but now it is just as easy and legal to burn a Linux DVD than a MS Windows DVD (the cost is the same and no hassles from the cops), the problem is marketing and that is happening as well.
As far as MAC's go I think the market will always be small. The interface is nice and the OS is great (it's Unix after-all) but you end up paying for lots of things. Of course you could put on freeware such as Open Office but you can do that with Linux as well (normally by default) and if you really want a "Wow" interface Linux has Beryl. The Asian market, China and Russia seem to think that Linux in one form or another is great. It saves them billions.
I am now waiting for "But what about games?". Well if game developers want to pass up on a billion dollar market then that is their prerogative. The problem for game developers is DRM and how do you stop piracy which is not that easy to do under Linux. Actually many people will buy a good game if there is value adding but a mediocre game normally gets pirated.