On Sun, 5 May 2002 16:48:08 -0700, Tom Emerson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Charles Finley
>[...]
>> What HP does or does not do is up to them.  If we're to believe Mike
>> Cappelas, it seems to be their philosophy
>>   - That you will ultimately be able to get any kind of
>> computer you want from them as long as it is Linux or Windows.
>
>What strike me as odd is that nobody has noticed (or at least commented on)
>the fact that Mr. Cappelas's statement is, well, truly stupid [that's using
>the "nice" term...]
>
>As I recall, the statement was "Unix will be replaced by windows and
>linux" -- think about that a moment, and consider (or realize) the fact
that
>Linux *IS* Unix [and the side-line thought that MS is truly afraid of Linux
>because "it might really win"] and his statement boils down to:
>
>"Unix will be replaced by Unix and that other OS that couldn't compete with
>Unix..."
>
>Am I misinterpreting something here?  Or was his "statement" something
>cooked up by some adman high on some substance not purchased from the
corner
>drugstore... [or more likely, bandied about so many times that it was
>mis-relayed before I saw it...]

My own interpretation of Mr. Capellas's statement is that the world is
going to be leaving proprietary UNIX's for open source Linux (another
flavor of UNIX).  (Of course, some flavor or version of Linux from HP could
still be viewed as proprietary, I suppose.)  Then, in the alternative to be
sure that HP has a "broad" product line to choose from, you could get
highly proprietary Windows.

It is interesting how HP/Compaq detects when customers suddenly get the
urge to opt for a new migration opportunity.  Because, as any business
school student knows, a company's profits will soar to new heights upon
each and every switch of operating systems.  :-)

With this brilliant strategy HP will have all bases covered  --  at least
in the low margin commodity markets.  What more could you ask from a
company that is #1 in PC's?  I'm not sure where that will leave enterprise
customers though  --  perhaps looking for a more rational vendor that cares
about its customers more than its competitors.

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