The Other 10%
In my previous entry, I stated that 90% of PC users spend 90% of their computing time on Web and email. This supports my assertion that the platform is the Web browser and the operating system is a minor detail. So, what about the other 10% of people and other 10% of activities?
The other 10% of people are people for whom the operating system IS important. This includes UNIX geeks, Visual Basic programmers, and creative professionals. These folks insist on the use of Linux, Windows, and MacOS, respectively. These users won't care that Google is now preloaded on Windows.
The other 10% of activities includes things like word processing, photo/video editing and archiving. Photo editing is already included in Google software in the form of Picasa. It may not be as easy to use as iPhoto, but it's good enough for the 90% of users who don't care what operating system they use. Your typical home computer users wants to use their PC for photo management, and those that aren't using iPhoto will want to use Picasa because it comes preinstalled on their Dell computer. Dell and Google have really turned the tables on Microsoft.
So, Microsoft may lose the photo editing software mindshare to iPhoto and Picasa. So what? That may not matter much to Microsoft, but Picasa is just the beginning. Surely, Google is not going to stop there. So what else does Google have planned for the Dell desktop?
One of the Microsoft incentives Dell may lose by going with Google is favorable pricing on Office applications, like Word. Solution? Give up Word altogether and preinstall a link to Writely, the self-described Web Word Processor. And Writely just happens to have been bought by none other than Google!
Nah, nobody's going to replace Word with Writely, right? Think again. Why is it that nobody replaces Windows or Office with better alternatives (back when there were alternatives, at least to Office)? It's because what came with the computer was good enough for the 90% of people that didn't care to look beyond what came with their computer. That 90% of computer users is alive and well today, and if Writely is the word processor that comes with their computer, it is good enough!
Besides, Writely lets the user "publish on the Web", and "post on my blog", and remember the Web is 90% of what 90% of people do with their computer. Sure, Word can do that, too, but is Word going to be the obvious Web publishing solution when the Dell computer comes preinstalled with a Web-based word processor provided for free by the most recognized Web presence in the Internet world?
Let's not get too carried away, though. This will not convert 90% of people off of Word and onto Writely overnight, but it does put a crack in Microsoft's Windows-Office strategy. Eventually, Microsoft will release upgrades to both Windows and Office. At that time, users will have to deal with the cost and hassle of upgrading. By that time, users will have heard all about Writely from their friends who recently bought a Dell. The migration will proceed like bacterial reproduction. The first person to use Writely might convince two others to switch, but then those two will convince four more and so on.
The "other 10%" of what 90% of people do on their computers is going to change the future of the personal computing landscape.
The other 10% of people are people for whom the operating system IS important. This includes UNIX geeks, Visual Basic programmers, and creative professionals. These folks insist on the use of Linux, Windows, and MacOS, respectively. These users won't care that Google is now preloaded on Windows.
The other 10% of activities includes things like word processing, photo/video editing and archiving. Photo editing is already included in Google software in the form of Picasa. It may not be as easy to use as iPhoto, but it's good enough for the 90% of users who don't care what operating system they use. Your typical home computer users wants to use their PC for photo management, and those that aren't using iPhoto will want to use Picasa because it comes preinstalled on their Dell computer. Dell and Google have really turned the tables on Microsoft.
So, Microsoft may lose the photo editing software mindshare to iPhoto and Picasa. So what? That may not matter much to Microsoft, but Picasa is just the beginning. Surely, Google is not going to stop there. So what else does Google have planned for the Dell desktop?
One of the Microsoft incentives Dell may lose by going with Google is favorable pricing on Office applications, like Word. Solution? Give up Word altogether and preinstall a link to Writely, the self-described Web Word Processor. And Writely just happens to have been bought by none other than Google!
Nah, nobody's going to replace Word with Writely, right? Think again. Why is it that nobody replaces Windows or Office with better alternatives (back when there were alternatives, at least to Office)? It's because what came with the computer was good enough for the 90% of people that didn't care to look beyond what came with their computer. That 90% of computer users is alive and well today, and if Writely is the word processor that comes with their computer, it is good enough!
Besides, Writely lets the user "publish on the Web", and "post on my blog", and remember the Web is 90% of what 90% of people do with their computer. Sure, Word can do that, too, but is Word going to be the obvious Web publishing solution when the Dell computer comes preinstalled with a Web-based word processor provided for free by the most recognized Web presence in the Internet world?
Let's not get too carried away, though. This will not convert 90% of people off of Word and onto Writely overnight, but it does put a crack in Microsoft's Windows-Office strategy. Eventually, Microsoft will release upgrades to both Windows and Office. At that time, users will have to deal with the cost and hassle of upgrading. By that time, users will have heard all about Writely from their friends who recently bought a Dell. The migration will proceed like bacterial reproduction. The first person to use Writely might convince two others to switch, but then those two will convince four more and so on.
The "other 10%" of what 90% of people do on their computers is going to change the future of the personal computing landscape.
posted by Bernie at 6:57 AM
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