M$ Office goes free - why should you care?

Microsoft have finally launched a free version of their Office suite. Actually there are two versions, a web-based one, and a regular one. Why should anyone care?

We're already got Google Docs for our web needs, and we've already got Open Office or Lotus Symphony for our off-line needs. All of them are easy to work with, ad-free and work on a number of operating systems and browsers.

Microsoft Office, on the other hand, isn't. They've managed to infest the applications with ads (really???), and I can only presume that the regular version is only available for the Windows operating system, excluding all Mac and Linux users.

So why bother when there are better options out there?

"This CD is brought to you by Elisabeth Arden"

The latest in a series of pathetic convulsions from a dying record industry: Selling ad space in CD booklets in an attempt to further increase profit. God forbid you should give the consumers what they actually want:

Skivförsäljningen går ned. Vinsterna blir mindre. Nu försöker skivbolaget Def Jam lösa problemet genom att sälja reklam i sina cd-häften. Först ut blir Mariah Carey vars kommande album ”Memoirs of an imperfect angel” kommer att innehålla reklam för bland annat Elisabeth Arden, Angel Champagne och Bahamas turistbyrå.

Presumably the price for the consumer will still be the same, in other words way too high for an outdated, unnecessary piece of plastic. Personally I would take it as an insult if I bought a CD and found the booklet filled with ads, and ask for my money back. If I bought CD's, that is.

What's next, a deep, melodramatic voice telling us about the upcoming blockbuster movie "coming to theaters near you in October" at the beginning of the CD? In between the tracks, maybe? The movie industry has been doing this for ages, so why not? The question is who will buy rubbish like that?