Re: Re: Fighting a loosing battle

Hmmmm. So, what about the Cloud? Balmer's great plan B is the OnLive/Office365 service which allows PC users and fanbois to use the latest Windows software, including Office, from anywhere and on just about any Windows or iOS device. A friend actually uses his iPad2 as his home-office workstation using the service, an iPad dock and a wireless keyboard. Ten years ago he would have laughed at using Office at home (he's a diehard fanboi), let alone on an Apple device, but it's simpler for him given that his work setup is Exchange/Office.

Point is, when services like Office365 are getting businesses used to the idea of Clouds, it's easier to get them to accept the idea of external Clouds for enterprise apps. When enough people get used to the idea of my-client-to-someone-else's-server, suddenly the idea of running your large database apps out on the Cloud also becomes easier to swallow. And Oracle is both expensive and not leading when it comes to Cloud, it's lagging others like MS and SAP. Indeed, you could say that building appliances is heading in the opposite direction.