Microsoft is going to offer “FlexGo” pay-as-you-go hardware software and applications to emerging markets like India in the near future.
I wonder what sort of cultural considerations MSoft has taken to ensure that this market will actually want to pay-as-they-go. I could be wrong, but the typical Indian consumer (I know, there’s no such thing as a “typical” consumer any more..) is all about pay once, and reap the advantage over time. What is good about it is that the PC actually becomes the possession of the family after a certain # of hours are bought. Kind of like rent-to-own. I wonder what kinds of apps are installed as the boilerplate PC version. Would they allow other applications to be installed, or is it only the Microsoft suite? It probably doesnt matter anymore too much, as long as a browser is installed, since there are a plentitude of internet apps that suffice.
Its also interesting to see what kind of capital and resource will be thrown behind Linux, and open source applications to “compete” with Microsoft’s FlexGo.
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