There are lots of issues that I do not agree with.
Firstly, Oracle is NOT, I repeat *NOT* making the NC. They are planning to provide the software for it. When we talk about
NC (or NetPC) we are talking about semi-dumb terminals that
talk to servers and Databases. How much % of the current installed
base (lets talk of the US right now) of these servers and databases
is on Windows NT? I believe everyone will agree that is very small.
Then how the hell can MSFT beat a ORCL-SUN-NSCP alliance? Oracle
and SUN are big players because of their servers/databases. No way,
can MSFT beat them (atleast for the next 5 years until NT becomes
more widespread - I dont believe that NT servers will ever have the
power and the bandwidth to handle terabytes of data that UNIX
servers and mainframes to). Alongwith NSCP that has 80+% of the
browser market, this alliance has the potential to be a MSFT
thrasher. Remember, MSFT has NOT been always successful. Good
examples are the MS LanManager (v Novell's Netware) and
MS Money (v Quicken). It took MSFT about 15 yrs to come up with NT
and Netware still has a bigger market share. Of course NT is going
to blow away Netware now, but it will not be sometime soon....
Secondly, MSFT does not have any NetPC to offer - nothing, zip,
zilch, nada. Sun has unveiled its version and ORCL will do so on
Nov 4th. ORCL offers a fully, FULLY functional N|C that can surf
the web and has their InterOffice Groupware Client running on it.
If you dont believe it, check-out the N|C at their OOW conference
in San Francisco during that week.
Thirdly, for people who believe that N|C is a joke - wake up.
Remember what Bill Gates said 10 months back - "It will never
work". Now every computer company is in panic mode - MSFT, INTC,
IBM, NSCP, HP, SUN.... all talking about N|C, scrambling to come
up with their versions.
As far as INTC goes, I dont think they care who makes the N|C.
They will make chips for N|C, NetPC or whatever else it will be
called in the future. I believe INTC will be the bigger winner
followed by ORCL (databases) and SUN (servers).
MSFT is not going to win this one....
Any thoughts ?
-Nilay |
