Comments on: Homeward bound

Tech giants' newfound respect for consumer power is their roundabout way of winning enterprise customers, says CNET News.com's Mike Ricciuti.

[Not Bugged]

The Long Tail - good for Microsoft?

The idea of the "Long Tail" doesn't seem properly applied here. The Long Tail principle says that the vast shelf space of the Internet allows vendors to provide consumers with far more choices - and that individuals will respond by diversifying their tastes. Applied to the Goliath presence that is Microsoft, it would seem that the Long Tail should give a boost to the Davids out there in all the various markets that Microsoft competes. Maybe large companies can find ways to diversify their product lines (like Hollywood studios hiring independent film producers), but again, this would be a reaction to the Long Tail which should work against one-flavor providers like Microsoft in the short run.

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[Al Johnsons]

Goliath presence

http://www.analogstereo.com/dodge_daytona_owners_manual.htm

[mike ricciuti]

Not really...

You assume that consumers have a wide selection of PC operating systems and desktop applications to choose from. They don't. So while consumers may attempt to diversify their tastes, the menu is pretty limited. The overwhelming majority of PC makers ship Windows by default. So any boost in the number of consumers buying computing gear or any increase in computing buying activity should--by default--favor Microsoft.