supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL
 ·Cox VOIP
·Skype
 ·Cox HSI
 ·AT&T Southeast
·magicjack.com
| They try to do the same stuff with WebTV People
The want WebTv people to add MSN dial-up to WebTV. It didn't sell but they are now making WebTV boxes that require MSN (only Sony's WebTV is holding out).
MSN is just hoping people are dumb enough to pay for a free service that some don't even want if it is free.
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Saving the world keeps me busy. However, I find Earth very primitive from my home planet of Krypton.
-Supergirl |
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barn25
join:2005-11-17
Springfield, IL | Wow...
The total income from this is nearly a billion dollars... (984 million to be exact) in a year... |
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
·Qwest.net
| I feel like.....
an AOL junkie. Yes I have MSN Premium, and the main reason why I have it is for the McAfee security software.
other then that I just don't use any of the services. Firefox is my default browser and iGoogle is my home page. I feel so, so, guilty MSN is like dope........  
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Eat pork chops for Allah! |
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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
 ·Site5.com
·AT&T Midwest
·Comcast
| Hardly surprising
Its kinda funny how BBR members read this article and think of it as a travesty. Thats because we know our way around the web. We know what services are free and which ones are pay for services. There are hundreds of thousands of sites offering pay for services that you can find free elsewhere. The problem is that the common user wants a path of least resistance. Look at all the people who were on AOL and were actually PAYING $10 a month to keep their service just to get access to their email when they moved to broadband.
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My domain - Nightfall.net |
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inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK
| it is a bizzaro offering
I honestly don't know how they get away with it.
On a side note, I like using the MSN Explorer for my kid, but you can't get that software to install anymore without signing up for a premium plan.
It is so strange that the free Windows Live services compete and beat this package in every way. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ |  Duh - MS is in business - to make money!!
Obviously Microsoft isn't doing much to inform customers that free alternatives are now available And why should they? They are in business to make money. Let BBR and others point out the alternatives. |
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wruckman
Ruckman.net
join:2007-10-25
Northwood, OH | Micro$oft
Microsoft gives nothing for free. |
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nightdesigns
Gone missing, back soon
Premium
join:2002-05-31
AZ
·Cox HSI
| My In-Laws still pay for AOL
That's right, not only do they insisit on using AOL, they still pay for it even though they have a HSI connection. I keep telling them over and over to dump AOL, or at least stop paying for it!
Yet their continue to bitch about how much they're paying each month for internet access.
So it's not MSN's fault, it's the end user.
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This Space for Rent... |
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Jeffrey
too dark too early
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Vonage
·magicjack.com
1 edit | reply to Nightfall
Re: Hardly surprising
I've been trying to get my girlfriend off MSN, but she doesn't want to. Partly because her brother pays the bill and has for as long as she can remember, so it doesn't hit her pocket directly, and thus no responsibility.
It's what she's used to, but it's not my cup of tea. Especially @ $120/yr. I've offered to give her a choice of whatever name she wants at my domain, IMAP/POP, but wants to stick with MSN.
Edit: left out a word. 
--
And so castles made of sand, slip into the sea, eventually.
I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing. |
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axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
| If people want to pay, why stop them?
Some people believe "you get what you pay for". It's a placebo effect, they just have to spend something to be satisfied.
One benefit (maybe?) is that it gives leverage in customer service. They can say "if you don't fix it, I'll take my business elsewhere". I don't think there's a tech support number for GMail. Of course, with free services you can be simultaneously signed up for as many as you want, and stick with the one you like best. But, for some people... they don't like being in control of technology, or responsible for fixing it. |
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cableties
Premium
join:2005-01-27
·Verizon FIOS
| reply to wruckman
Re: Micro$oft
Wait! They give me frustration for free!
(MS Patches, Security fixes, hot patches, Vista drivers,...)
But yes, I would be paying M$ $50/yr for LIVE account on Xbox. And so today, having received my 3rd and final RRoD unit back, which BTW sounds like a vacuum cleaner, I cancelled my subscription and gaming on the 360.
Microsoft, I will not be stressed by your crappy hardware again. |
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inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK
1 edit | If you paid $50 a yr for XBL then you overpaid. The 12+1 cards can be found online for less than $35. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to wruckman
said by wruckman  :Microsoft gives nothing for free. Maybe you didn't read the article. The whole point of the BBR news item was that they DO give away "for free" all the things they are also charging for. So I guess you are WRONG!
--
Internet News
My BLOG
My Web Page |
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PeteC2
Got Mouse?
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT
clubs:
·AT&T Yahoo
| I think that there is more to this than just "greed"
...although there is that aspect as well!
Part of this has been an ongoing issue for as long as on-line services have been around, and that is the "money" end of it.
For example, back years ago, I actually paid to "own" a copy of Netscape...only to find out that I could have downloaded the exact same version, for free! Believe me, I was major hacked of at the time! Of course, now, nobody pays for a browser, right? Well sports fans, it was not always that way. And oh, BTW, Microsoft is the reason that browsers are now free...so b_tch at them as you will, but that's a fact.
The same things apply to on-line services. At one time, AOL was just another separate on-line service (not Internet based), like Compu Serve used to be. Used to pay for access literally by the minute! As the Internet developed into a publicly accessible entity, of course all that changed. All kinds of "players" came and went, all kinds of pricing schemes and levels of "service" did as well! In fact, plain and simple, the real "death" of AOL was the ascension of broadband...otherwise, they would be still raking in $21.95 a month from millions upon millions of subscribers!
As the technology changes, and the business model changes as well, there never is universal "instantaneous" change, it takes awhile for old stuff to "wind down" and new paradigms to emerge...the trick is to be observant, and flexible enough to see the new (often less expensive), changes as they come about. Along that line, I too have an old friend who it took both me and his daughter many months to quit paying for AOL dial up when he is now paying no more for basic DSL service...
--
...something is happening here but you don't know what it is...do you, Mr. Jones? |
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quatrix
Premium
join:2005-02-11
Davie, FL | reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Micro$oft
Only "free" in the strict sense that you don't pay them money directly. |
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claco
join:2002-09-29
Tallmadge, OH | I'll top that.
Apple still wants $700 to install 4GB of memory in a new MacBook Pro, even though it's $119 on Crucial.
In other news, companies make money because people don't research what they're buying. Film at 11. |
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brawney
Premium
join:2002-03-02
Frederick, MD
·Comcast
·magicjack.com
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to nightdesigns
Re: My In-Laws still pay for AOL
I have 2 sisters, both AOL users. Both got DSL some time ago. I kept telling them that AOL is now free - you get the same stuff and can keep your email address - just call them and tell them you want to stop paying. I know one of them finally stopped after close to a year. Not sure about the other. 
Why do these people think that AOL "is" the internet? I can get news, games, email, all sorts of stuff anywhere for free. Why do people think they need AOL? |
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mlundin
join:2001-03-27
Lawrence, KS
·Sunflower Broadband
·Comcast
| reply to claco
Re: I'll top that.
said by claco :Apple still wants $700 to install 4GB of memory in a new MacBook Pro, even though it's $119 on Crucial. I've noticed that as well. I think their claim is that they have better heatsinks... whatever. Still the best racket I've seen. |
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Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC | reply to PeteC2
Re: I think that there is more to this than just "greed"
Your dead right about MS making browsers free. Same with many little programs. |
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slomike2
join:2007-07-18
San Luis Obispo, CA
| MSN Premium shutting down
I read somewhere else a message from an MSN Premium user who get a message from MSN that the "MSN Premium" service is going away in the next few months. It advised moving to Windows Live OneCare to get partial replacement functionality. OneCare is cheaper.
-Mike |
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