06-26-2004, 07:03 AM
What I am primarily referring to is the difference between direct profit and associated profit. The Microsoft/IBM "partnership" is a case of direct profit (where you profit directly from the product). Developing a console is a case of associated profit (where you profit from other products which rely on or support your product). No companies make a profit from sales of the consoles themselves. The cost of all the factors combined in producing and distributing a console is higher than the cost of the console itself. That's why Microsoft was whining about losing too much money with the X-Box. Rumor has it that to compensate, they raised license fees. This is also why the success of a console is entirely dependant on the software that is developed for it, and why the company producing the console has control over licensing (and in Nintendo's case, manufacturing) fees and also produces a large amount of the software that will run on the console. All things aside, the main thrust of console development is to create a vehicle for software creation, not to directly create a profit.
All this being said, I still argue that IBM and Microsoft, until we see otherwise from a legitimate source (not from some random paper which could have easily come from a high school kid doodling in a boring Physics class), are not working together on this so-called "Xenon" project (which, as I already stated, conflicts with an existing product by Intel, the real source of Microsoft's "power", one they would never even dream of double-crossing). While the paper is certainly very believable to the layman, it doesn't quite sit right with me.
All this being said, I still argue that IBM and Microsoft, until we see otherwise from a legitimate source (not from some random paper which could have easily come from a high school kid doodling in a boring Physics class), are not working together on this so-called "Xenon" project (which, as I already stated, conflicts with an existing product by Intel, the real source of Microsoft's "power", one they would never even dream of double-crossing). While the paper is certainly very believable to the layman, it doesn't quite sit right with me.
I'd knock on wood, but my desk is particle board.
![[Image: anya2.jpg]](http://rel.betterwebber.com/Mypics/anya2.jpg)
. I still play Paperboy, Ninja Turtles and SMB3 all the time.