Microsoft Office in China Retails for $29

[tacoslave]

why cant they do this in Mexico?
no ago tanto dinero yo para estar dandolo al pendejo de balmer.
seriously i only make around 25k a year. By the way electronics are more expensive over here 🙁 i spent my months sallery on a flat screen and building my pc with a *legit* copy of windows.

 

[blarneypete]

pendejo de balmer

 

[scryer_360]

$30, Microsoft makes money. Just letting us know how badly MS is ripping us off here. MS wouldn't offer Office at all at $30 if it couldn't make money on it. More proof MS could give a crap less about its customers, its just happy to live in the loop.

 

[truehighroller]

I actually bought my Office 2007 Ultimate for $69 and some change. I was very happy and jumped right on that. It was a special that I ran across for students in college. I found the deal online some where. I still have the link for any one that wants it. Now it is $59


http/www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

 

[computabug]

This makes us westerns want the pirate all the more...

 

[tayb]

Let them steal it or sell it at a reduced price, get people addicted to it, and slowly raise the price. Seems like a pretty smart business plan to me. Let the bitching continue.

Oh, and I laugh at the guys saying "this makes me want to pirate it even more" as if you weren't already going to steal it anyways. Go on.

 

[doomtomb]

So to fix this: The West needs to pirate more and force Microsoft to lower their prices.

 

[azxcvbnm321]

A lot of Americans are spoiled. Dude, you aren't entitled to everything, it's not your right to have what you want, if you think the price is too high, then don't buy it. I use Open Office too because I think MS Office is too expensive, but I have no right to use MS Office for free.

You are not entitled to what someone else produces, period. If Microsoft wants to raise the price of Office to $1000000, then they should be able to and you have no right to steal that. It's not yours and no one has a duty to make it affordable or provide you with it. Market forces encourage sellers to make their products/services affordable, but if they lower the price for you, they usually have to lower for everyone (in order to avoid anger, other issues that hurt image, etc.). But if in the end you are unable or unwilling to pay, then so be it, that's your choice as it's theirs not to sell it to you. They have no right to force you to pay and you have no right to steal the product.

 

[cletus_slackjawd]

Latin America has probably the most disproportionately priced software to median wage in the world. Almost every town has their "Paraguay Fair" with illegal copies of software and movies, and for good reason. They cannot afford the high tariff on imports of these items.
Even the wealthier won't spend money on a legit copy of office/windows etc. The price equates to paying for a daily housemaid for a month.

 

[okibrian]

Yeah, but China is going to block Word, Excel, Access, Power Point and all Outlook mail. 🙂
But seriously, piracy does pay. That's the moral of the story here.

 

[bk420]

becuase it's a piece of crap software.

 

[kelfen]

RFLO to piracy... china has piracy who would have guessed?!?!?!

 

[anamaniac]

I view this as a smart action by Microsoft.
Simply put, you charge what the market will bear.
Microsoft is a business, and they're here to make money, so they just do what they have to do.

[citation][nom]azxcvbnm321[/nom]A lot of Americans are spoiled. Dude, you aren't entitled to everything, it's not your right to have what you want, if you think the price is too high, then don't buy it. I use Open Office too because I think MS Office is too expensive, but I have no right to use MS Office for free.
...[/citation]

Nicely put.
Yes, we in North America (and parts of Europe and some other countries) are quite spoiled. We love the high life and yet still want more, it's only natural to want more though.

I love Microsoft Office though. A very useful suite of software for a student (though student no more). Though my first computer ran some version of MS DOS (then 95, 98, 2000, xp twice, and now 7... I think the list is correct), I have never bought MS Word. I wznt the product, and I don't want to pay... Is stealing wrong? Yes. Will it stop me? No. Is Canadian copyright law a joke? Yes.

[citation][nom]okibrian[/nom]Yeah, but China is going to block Word, Excel, Access, Power Point and all Outlook mail. 🙂But seriously, piracy does pay. That's the moral of the story here.[/citation]

Damn, if it pays, my harddrive should be worth atleast $50,000 by now.

 

[Kryan]

[citation][nom]neon neophyte[/nom]kryan, your anology fails in that, software... has little overhead. it doesnt cost microsoft lots of money to make software for china. the software already exists. producing copies costs next to nothing. hardware has a real pricetag on it. producing silicon and tying it all together, isnt cheap. you cant sell something for less than what it costs to make it (ok yes you can, and they do.. in certain scenarios, like console gaming.)[/citation]

That is a fair point, one I did not consider last night. Still, the fact remains that a graphics card will cost more here (Europe) than there (USA) (if only slightly).

[citation][nom]okibrian[/nom]Yeah, but China is going to block Word, Excel, Access, Power Point and all Outlook mail. 🙂But seriously, piracy does pay. That's the moral of the story here.[/citation]
lol@the blocking thing...and i'm afraid your deduction of the moral seems to be pretty accurate (at least according to the article)

 

[hok]

this story is BS and gives an inaccurate picture. This is for a student version and basic only word, excel, powerpoint. comparable with student versions in Canada and US... FUD

 

[neon neophyte]

good eye hok.

and btw, my 150 figure isnt far off. a chinese rice farmer makes approximately 1/12th that of what your average person makes in a city.

and its becoming more difficult, pollution is making it extremely difficult to grow and sell rice.

 

[ssddx]

anamaniac:

Is it wrong.. yes.. will it stop you.. no

And you feel justified how? How about if it was your bank account that was being leeched. I'll bet you would change your tune quick enough.

As stated by azxcvbnm321, people in general are like spoiled kids. Just because they want something they believe it should be theirs. If not legally, then otherwise.

And how do we punish spoiled little brats who steal something? (think 10-20 years ago, before all the child-abuse activists) Enough said.

 

[elbert]

LOL I wonder how long it will be until someone in china make a site to sale these around the world for say $30. Maybe M$ is try an outsource buying model.

 

[Distinct]

Seems as if Microsoft has had their heads on straight as of late, although; 2006 - 2008 were some nasty years.

You can't hate on Microsoft for doing this, look at it this way... make zero money from the 95% of businesses that pirate Office, or drop the price to $30 for Office, and convince 25% of that 95% to actually buy the retail version and turn money over that you would otherwise not turn. It's very smart on Microsoft's part and anyone that says otherwise is ignorant.

 

[Guest]

This makes me want to cancel my Windows 7 pre order and just pirate the thing when my RC license expires. And then pirate the new Office as well...