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[zchris13]

Actually, they encourage giving them money.

[blah28722]

Yeah. Microsoft charges $100 for something that basically has a production cost of zero (excluding R&D)

[sneakey pete]

Yeah. Microsoft charges $100 for something that basically has a production cost of zero (excluding R&D)

Well that's got to be the stupidest thing i've ever heard. We can exculde R&D because....?

[blah28722]

Well, I have no idea how much they spend on developing windows XP or Vista.

I do know the cost of a CD.

[Outcast Orange]

Well, I have no idea how much they spend on developing windows XP or Vista.

I do know the cost of a CD.

It's ilk like you that give in to pirating!
We here at DF support our products.
Do you know it costs zero dollars to produce dwarf fortress?
I'm going to pay for it anyways.

[blah28722]

Wait, what?

I can't detest sarcasm over the internet, so I'm going to assume that was serious.

How did we make the jump from M$ to pirating?

[ToonyMan]

Real men donate to Toady.

[sneakey pete]

Well, I have no idea how much they spend on developing windows XP or Vista.

I do know the cost of a CD.

So your saying that MS is overcharging when you have no idea how much R&D is costing them? (or are you even saying that? thats what i assumed going by your first post at least)

[blah28722]

I was trying to explain how M$'s goal was to make money by bringing up an example of their massive profit margins.

[Outcast Orange]

What are you implying with "I know the price of a CD"?

It sounds like you are implying that since they can print out a million copies for cheap,
the product should be cheap also.

This is the thought that pirates think:
"It's only a CD. The company gets them for free, so why should I have to pay for a CD?"

[blah28722]

Yeah, I'm implying that since they can print out a million copies for cheap, they shouldn't sell something essential (inb4 linux) for a computer for $100 a piece.

Secondly, I actually pay for things I use. Don't call me a thief just because I'm complaining about high prices.

[Timst]

You seem to forget that printing on CD (yes printing, the process itslef has a cost too) is only the very last step in an OS creation. Before that, Microsoft had to pay hundreds (if not thousands) of highly experimented programmers or IT professionals to develop the product, test it, debug it, make it compatible with almost ALL the hardware created ever (except the oldest one of course). It involved large facilities, powerful datacenters, a ridiculous amount of security devices to avoid leaking or industrial spying, and all that during several years of development.

100 $ might be pricey, but it's not like "Hey the only cost we had is the CD which cost 0.02 $, so our margin is 99.98 $ !".

[sneakey pete]

Yeah, like i said origionally, it was one of the silliest things i've seen said.  R&D is massive.

[riffraffselbow]

Yeah, like i said origionally, it was one of the silliest things i've seen said.  R&D is massive.

See this if anyone still doesn't believe they spend a bundle on all sorts of stuff: http://www.microsoft.com/msft/earnings/FY09/earn_rel_q1_09.mspx#Balance

May seem like they don't spend much on R&D, but compare that to Coca-Cola; virtually all their expenses are marketing: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?annual&s=ko

And Apple spends roughly 3 times as much on (advertising, manufacturing, and admin) as they do R&D: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/04/22results.html
Not entirely a fair comparison; Apple is a hardware company.

[jaked122]

Yeah. Microsoft charges $100 for something that basically has a production cost of zero (excluding R&D)

the production cost is actually(excluding R&D) of around $15