If China Gets MS Office for $29, Why Don't We?

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I have always wondered why we get shafted like this. Obviously “crime doesn’t pay” does not apply to China. I don’t suppose it would be as bad if they weren’t doing this to "combat" piracy.

Still, we Westerners have been paying through the nose for Office for almost two decades. If anyone deserves a price break, it's us--not the thieving Chinese. I understand what Microsoft is doing and why. I am happy for anything that reduces software theft, but that doesn't make me nearly as happy as a $29 copy of Office would.
 
The decreased cost may have increased sales, but that doesn't mean they get the low price directly because of piracy, it could be because the average china-man makes like a dollar a day so a $300 price tag was deemed inappropiate... who knows, but hey, I'm always up for another round of mindless MS bashing...
 
Yeah the 'regular' price wouldn't move many copies, and I suspect MS would like to gain some substantial penetration in the market.
 
The obvious solution would be to start pirating Office here until Microsoft decides to lower the cost to combat the problem. I'll start "protesting" as soon as my download is done. :D
 
MS, or any business for that matter, will charge however much people are willing to pay for it.
 
If anyone deserves a price break, it's us--not the thieving Chinese.
Fuck that article. Yes, some people make less money than people in the U.S. do. No need to demonize them because they refuse to pay their life savings for a piece of software.
 
The obvious solution would be to start pirating Office here until Microsoft decides to lower the cost to combat the problem. I'll start "protesting" as soon as my download is done. :D

You'll have to start earning lower than minimum wage to level the playingfield.
 
Proportionally, the average Chinese are actually paying more than us, aren't they?
 
errr i use openoffice.org dun you? Its free Fook MS
It unfortunate when your boss sends you a Word .doc that contains strange formatting which shows up as garbage when viewed through OO. Of course in that case I just go to a computer computer or public library workstation.
 
It unfortunate when your boss sends you a Word .doc that contains strange formatting which shows up as garbage when viewed through OO. Of course in that case I just go to a computer computer or public library workstation.
Haha, meant to say "company computer".
 
Different prices for different regions, which is why some platforms are/were region limited. For example, there was a whole bruhaha a few years back right after the release of the Orange Box where people found out that they could get Orange Box keys from etailers in Thailand for much lower prices than in the West, which meant a lot of business for said etailers and the Westerners buying them until Valve put a stop to it alongside the existing Thai keys in non-Thai places.

Another example is the price difference between North American and European software, where the latter is almost always more expensive even after taking into consideration the higher VAT rates European governments tend to have.
 
Dont like it, don't buy it. I don't think bitching about it is going to get Microsoft to change the price. Vote with your wallets people!
 
American prices don't work in China. Over there you can eat out and get a pretty good meal for $1 American. Places like Pizza Hut and KFC charge the same price as they do in America so only wealthier Chinese people can afford to eat at those places, which is quite the opposite of how it works here.
 
There's LOT's of legal and inexpensive ways to obtain Office. Really, if you complain about the price of Windows and Office you don't need them. But when time is money and a job needs to get done and it pays the bills you don't worry about the price, you just buy it.
 
There's LOT's of legal and inexpensive ways to obtain Office. Really, if you complain about the price of Windows and Office you don't need them. But when time is money and a job needs to get done and it pays the bills you don't worry about the price, you just buy it.

You lost me? Because I always care about price no matter what. And, a job(meaning employer) usually buy your licenses for each workstation. But even if I worked for myself, price/money would then matter even more. So again, you lost me.

By the way, I use Office 2007 at work and it cost me nothing. I also use Office 2007 at home and it cost me nothing. :D
 
They are probably trying to make MS Office the industry standard in China in a similar way Photoshop is the standard. Except that Microsoft can not literally give copies away for free.
 
I use MS Office at work, but at home its open office all the way. Totally free and opens all my docs fine. There is also google documents as another alternative. As far as office software goes price is a moot point because there is something at every price point from crazy expensive to totally free.

If you really want to hate on a foreign country or be jealous start with our horrible health care most other Nations on the planet are way better than the use for "healthcare, education, workers rights, personal freedom." I could do this all day.
 
With the advent of Open Office, I see no reason to use any Microsoft Office product ever again.
 
I use MS Office at work, but at home its open office all the way. Totally free and opens all my docs fine. There is also google documents as another alternative. As far as office software goes price is a moot point because there is something at every price point from crazy expensive to totally free.

If you really want to hate on a foreign country or be jealous start with our horrible health care most other Nations on the planet are way better than the use for "healthcare, education, workers rights, personal freedom." I could do this all day.


You must've voted for Obama....

As for healthcare.... you make me laugh. I don't have any health insurance... last time I was sick enough to go to the doctor, I went to a walk-in clinic. They saw me, took a quick blood test to find out if it was viral or bacterial. It came back as bacterial in about 15 minutes. They gave me a prescription that was free. Total cost of the doctor visit was $70.

True... insurance costs are way out of line.. as well as the insurance companies shafting you every chance they can get.... you think Obama-care is going to take care of that... BWAHAHAHAHA.. he doesn't even know what is in the bill because he hasn't read it.

Education: public schools in general are super crappy. They are more interested in teaching their left wing liberal views and sex-ed to 5 year olds than any actual education.

I went to a private school and was home-schooled also... when I graduated and then took my SATs, I was getting all kinds of mail from ivy-league colleges. Some of them even contacted my private school wanting to know how so many students there were getting such high SAT scores. It is called a real education.

Workers rights???? huh... what is wrong with "workers rights" in the US? The fact that you can be fired if you are lazy and/or break company policy and/or are disrespectful to your employer, steal, etc???? You want to be like some places in Europe where the employee is not able to be fired except under very extreme circumstances?

Personal freedom??? What are you talking about? If you did vote for Obama you personally voted to get your freedoms taken away and you can say "Welcome to the USSA" here in not to long if he gets his way.
 
I have always wondered why we get shafted like this. Obviously “crime doesn’t pay” does not apply to China. I don’t suppose it would be as bad if they weren’t doing this to "combat" piracy.

What about considering the vast differences in quality of life in China and the developed West?
 
You must've voted for Obama....

As for healthcare.... you make me laugh. I don't have any health insurance... last time I was sick enough to go to the doctor, I went to a walk-in clinic. They saw me, took a quick blood test to find out if it was viral or bacterial. It came back as bacterial in about 15 minutes. They gave me a prescription that was free. Total cost of the doctor visit was $70.

True... insurance costs are way out of line.. as well as the insurance companies shafting you every chance they can get.... you think Obama-care is going to take care of that... BWAHAHAHAHA.. he doesn't even know what is in the bill because he hasn't read it.

Education: public schools in general are super crappy. They are more interested in teaching their left wing liberal views and sex-ed to 5 year olds than any actual education.

I went to a private school and was home-schooled also... when I graduated and then took my SATs, I was getting all kinds of mail from ivy-league colleges. Some of them even contacted my private school wanting to know how so many students there were getting such high SAT scores. It is called a real education.

Workers rights???? huh... what is wrong with "workers rights" in the US? The fact that you can be fired if you are lazy and/or break company policy and/or are disrespectful to your employer, steal, etc???? You want to be like some places in Europe where the employee is not able to be fired except under very extreme circumstances?

Personal freedom??? What are you talking about? If you did vote for Obama you personally voted to get your freedoms taken away and you can say "Welcome to the USSA" here in not to long if he gets his way.

Where did you go? Come back to earth.
 
The obvious solution would be to start pirating Office here until Microsoft decides to lower the cost to combat the problem. I'll start "protesting" as soon as my download is done. :D

Considering your nick, wouldn't the appropriate protest be to... well, to just continue burning, to a nice smoldering crisp?
 
Proportionally, the average Chinese are actually paying more than us, aren't they?

Yes, they are.

Shouldn't we compare the average salary in the USA to the average salary in China/Other countries when talking about product prices?
 
Yes, they are.

Shouldn't we compare the average salary in the USA to the average salary in China/Other countries when talking about product prices?

Well if that's the case then digital things like software have inherently no real value, that companies are simply milking the market for whatever they can squeeze out of it, and all arguments about piracy being bad go out the window.
 
This is just like Capital one raising my interest rate 3% for no reason what so ever. I always pay over my balance every single month. I accidentally had my last payment scheduled 3 days before the next cycle so I double paid a cycle and didn't know I missed the next month payment. They call me and offer to lower my interest rate to 4% if I pay my bill now. So when I'm a good customer and make them tons of money they F me but when I'm a low life(on accident) they reward me. So dumb....
 
You must've voted for Obama....

As for healthcare.... you make me laugh. I don't have any health insurance... last time I was sick enough to go to the doctor, I went to a walk-in clinic. They saw me, took a quick blood test to find out if it was viral or bacterial. It came back as bacterial in about 15 minutes. They gave me a prescription that was free. Total cost of the doctor visit was $70.

True... insurance costs are way out of line.. as well as the insurance companies shafting you every chance they can get.... you think Obama-care is going to take care of that... BWAHAHAHAHA.. he doesn't even know what is in the bill because he hasn't read it.

Education: public schools in general are super crappy. They are more interested in teaching their left wing liberal views and sex-ed to 5 year olds than any actual education.

I went to a private school and was home-schooled also... when I graduated and then took my SATs, I was getting all kinds of mail from ivy-league colleges. Some of them even contacted my private school wanting to know how so many students there were getting such high SAT scores. It is called a real education.

Workers rights???? huh... what is wrong with "workers rights" in the US? The fact that you can be fired if you are lazy and/or break company policy and/or are disrespectful to your employer, steal, etc???? You want to be like some places in Europe where the employee is not able to be fired except under very extreme circumstances?

Personal freedom??? What are you talking about? If you did vote for Obama you personally voted to get your freedoms taken away and you can say "Welcome to the USSA" here in not to long if he gets his way.

lol u b trollin'
 
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