Czy Spadające Ceny Pamięci Flash Zagrażają Microsoft?

One for my Polish readers (with thanks to Iwo Hencz).

Why Falling Flash Prices Threaten Microsoft

In the Guardian.

Flash of Inspiration

One of the many flashes of insight that the Asus Eee PC has provided me with is that DVDs are dead. The Eee PC has no CD/DVD drive, but lets you plug in both USB drives and flash memory of suitably capacious volumes: who needs spinning bits of plastic when you can have totally poised transistors doing the work?

It seems someone else has had the same flash of inspiration:

AN IRISH OUTFIT, PortoMedia, is to open kiosks at which people can download the latest films straight onto a flash memory card in less than a minute.

The kiosks, in shopping centres or stations, will have up to 5,000 films available for rent or sale using a PIN number.

All punters need do in order to buy or rent a flick is to plug in their memory device, a key bought from the company resembling a standard USB, enter a PIN code, and then when they arrive home, connect the device into a dock attached to their TV and hey presto! Movie madness!

Galway-based PortoMedia reckons that a standard-definition film can be transferred to the card in 8 to 60 seconds, depending on the feature's length and the chip's speed.

Apple the Imitator

Seems like Microsoft isn't the only company copying the innovations of the open source world:

Apple plans at Macworld to introduce a 12-inch Mac laptop with flash memory in place of a hard drive.

Wow, how original....

Microsoft: Gone in a Flash

I have commented here and elsewhere that the new category of ultra-light portables using flash memory represents a huge opportunity for GNU/Linux - and a potential bloody nose for Microsoft. It seems I'm not the only one to see it that way:

Microsoft announced plans today to expand support for Windows XP on budget flash-storage computing devices with an eye towards getting Windows XP running on the OLPC. The software giant will publish design guidelines next year that will make it possible for manufacturers of low-cost mobile devices to build hardware that provides optimal compatibility with Microsoft's legacy operating system. The company also announced plans for field trials next month that will put Windows XP to the test on One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project's XO laptop.

This is interesting from two points of view.

First, it confirms that Windows Vista is a complete dog: it will be Windows XP, rather than Vista, that forms the basis for most desktop computing - which means less revenue for Microsoft, and trouble with its entire ratchet pricing model.

Secondly, it shows - contrary to all the usual whining - that GNU/Linux is innovating, and Microsoft is following. In fact, this is far from the only such case of open source being the leader - remember, the Internet is open at all levels - but it's nice that Microsoft is once again seen to be trotting behind the open pack with its tail between its legs.