Re: Leaving the Desktop Market

On Apr 1, 2014, at 10:11 PM, Matt Olander <matt@ixsystems.com> wrote:

> This is like trying to predict automobile technology and dominant
> car-makers by 1905. There's always room for competition. Take a look
> at what's happening right now in the auto-industry. Tesla came out of
> nowhere 125 years after the invention of the automobile and is doing
> pretty well.

I think you=92re kind of making my point for me, Matt. :-)

Tesla benefitted entirely from deep pockets on the part of its investors.  =
Over $160M went into starting the company, of which $70M came from the pers=
onal checking account of Elon Musk, the current visionary and CEO, and to q=
uote the wikipedia page:  "Tesla Motors is a public company that trades on =
the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol TSLA.[5] In the first quarter of=
 2013, Tesla posted profits for the first time in its ten year history.=94

Yep, in other words, Tesla has been losing money for over 10 years and only=
 just started turning a profit, after raising a =93mere" $187M in investmen=
t and $485M in loans from the US DOE.  Your tax dollars at work!   On top o=
f all that Tesla has only managed to make money at all by focusing exclusiv=
ely the highest end of the luxury car market, where profit margins are also=
 the highest (the first car, the roadster, would set you back $110,000).

Getting back to computer operating systems, it would make most readers of t=
hese lists choke on their Doritos to know how much Apple had to invest in M=
ac OS X before it became a viable desktop operating system and of course yo=
u=92ve already seen folks screaming about how Apple gear is too expensive a=
nd they=92ll never buy it.

You just don=92t get a consumer-grade desktop Unix OS, or a practical all-e=
lectric sedan, without serious monetary investment and a luxury marquee to =
match, assuming you=92d like to actually make any of that money *back*.

So, back to BSD on the desktop.   Anyone got a spare $200M they=92d like to=
 just throw away?  That=92s what it=92s going to take! :)

Don=92t believe me?  Go ask someone who knows first-hand then.  Ask Mark Sh=
uttleworth:  http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/08/why-ubun=
tus-creator-still-invests-his-fortune-in-an-unprofitable-company/

:-)

- Jordan

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