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		<title>Microsoft's bet-the-cash-cow move</title>
		<ownerName>Dave Winer</ownerName>
		<ownerEmail>dave.winer@gmail.com</ownerEmail>
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		<outline created="Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:36:24 GMT" pgfnum="15579" text="&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/scriptingnews/8204423274/in/photostream&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://static.scripting.com/larryKing/images/2012/11/20/touchscreen.gif&quot; width=&quot;145&quot; height=&quot;145&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;float: right; padding-left: 15px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 15px;&quot; alt=&quot;A picture named touchPC.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://allthingsd.com/20121120/reed-hastings-on-microsoft-watch-windows-8-not-surface/&quot;&gt;This piece&lt;/a&gt; has an extensive quote from Reed Hastings as a departing Microsoft board member about Microsoft's thinking behind the odd way Windows 8 is organized. "></outline>
		<outline created="Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:37:28 GMT" pgfnum="15580" text="They think there's a transition to touch taking place that's analogous to the transition to the mouse in the 80s and 90s. So they're putting the windows part of Windows into a compatibility box, the way they put DOS inside a window on Windows. You can still get to your Windows apps, but they're betting you will prefer to use the touch-based apps. That don't yet exist. But will soon. That's their bet. "></outline>
		<outline created="Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:38:37 GMT" pgfnum="15581" text="My opinion: Wow. Why bet the company's user base and cash cow on that when they could just switch to Mac, as I'm sure a lot of them already want to, and get a &quot;traditional&quot; desktop. "></outline>
		<outline created="Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:42:41 GMT" pgfnum="15583" text="Apple has been edging up to the same idea, in a much more conservative and rational way, imho. Testing the theory before betting what is &lt;i&gt;not&lt;/i&gt; their biggest revenue source (Apple is now a devices company, iPad and iPhones make up most of their revenue). If Apple is being conservative, Ballmer thinks, I'll make the big bet. And hope I'm not wrong."></outline>
		<outline created="Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:40:54 GMT" pgfnum="15582" text="Problem is this -- desktop computers as touch devices is not a new idea. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/museum/personalsystems/0031/&quot;&gt;HP's first PC&lt;/a&gt;, in 1983, was touch-based. It failed. Not because there was no software, there was. The reason is that it's really painful to hold up your arm and touch the screen as a way of controlling the computer when the screen is vertical, not horizontal. The keyboard won."></outline>
		<outline created="Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:43:15 GMT" pgfnum="15584" text="Touch belongs in a tablet interface, for sure. But desktop computers need a pointing device like a mouse. I think Apple realizes that now, and isn't pushing the Mac in that direction. But this appears to be a bet-the-cash-cow move for Microsoft. Let's hope they have a Plan B ready to go!"></outline>
		<outline created="Tue, 20 Nov 2012 22:11:10 GMT" pgfnum="15586" text="See also: Jakob Nielsen's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.useit.com/alertbox/windows-8.html&quot;&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; on Windows 8."></outline>
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