I couldn’t resist all the fanfare and went ahead and bought Windows 7 at the exorbitant price we Australians seem to be gouged with. I have a moderate case of buyers remorse now and I’m not exactly sure why I felt the inexplicable need to purchase a copy. Maybe it was a momentary lapse in reason or maybe my mind snapped under the “gotta have it now” syndrome, a syndrome which seems pandemic in the cultural environment we call western society. Maybe it was because I just could?

Well what’s done is done! Because I can’t wind the clock back, there is no use wishing I exercised some thrift on this occasion. But on the bright side, my laptop has the latest and greatest operating system in the world. Well that is what Microsoft would have us believe, however,  the truth is that I didn’t need it to run my laptop. I have a perfectly good Linux operating system installed on it and I truly didn’t need to update the OS on it, so I’m left pondering if I’ve just completely gone mad. I’d been trawling the forums over the last few days before I got the “fuckits” and impulsively made my purchase, reading about people’s experiences with the new fan dangled offering from Microsoft, I just couldn’t resist all the hype any longer. As always, resisting temptation once an obsession kicks in is an exercise in futility.

Let’s face it! I wanted it, but why do I feel so dirty and disgusted with myself because of experiencing such a desire? It’s hardly anything to feel guilty or ashamed over – even if, only moments before, I was vainly trying to dissuade myself from such a extravagant and senseless purchase, however there is this nagging feeling that I’ve somehow let myself down by supporting a company that has no qualms over ripping consumers off, based purely on nothing more than some sort of regional elitism. Although Microsoft claims it doesn’t set the prices, blaming the retailers for the pinch in our hip pockets, i find it rather weak when they purposely region lock sales based upon region. It’s not like I can go to the MS US store to make my purchase.

Far from finding ourselves in an egalitarian society, we are somehow lead to believe in free trade and globalisation as the way to promote, at the very least, an equality in trade between nations, which presupposes, probably rather naively, that there ought to be a fairness somehow bundled along with the ideology being sold. However, it is becoming more and more apparent that fairness and free trade is a juxtaposition that are on opposing poles rather than items that can be readily bought as two parts of a whole. Globalisation has merely opened markets to exploitation.

Case in point is Windows 7. Why is it that the market price for a downloadable version of Home Premium Upgrade in Australia is $199 AUD and the exact same version in the US is $119.99 USD, which equates to approximately $130 AUD at current conversion rates. A $70 AUD price difference for the exact same thing. So Australians are ostensibly being overcharged and moreover, the US is offered a 3 user Home Premium family pack for $149 USD, which is less than a third of the cost of what we Australians would have to pay. We aren’t even offered a family pack so 3 licenses at $199 a pop, would represent a weeks pay for the average Australian. Does this represent fairness or is it just another way to shaft the consumer?

Hence my buyers remorse at having essentially vetoed my opposition to this lack of reasonableness and fairness. Not that my purchase or for that matter, if even ten others, disillusioned at being price gouged, were to withhold their purchases would even cause the slightest dint in the consciousness of Microsoft. Because we pay the asking price, nothing is going to change and it would probably take the whole of Australia to boycott sales to even raise an eyebrow in MS HQ. In a way Microsoft can charge what they like and for the most part, end users will be held to ransom because Microsoft has such a ubiquitous presence in the computing world. The majority of people have the choice between Apple and Microsoft as the two alternatives available to them and because familiarity is endearing to humans, the choice is ostensibly just one.

Although the majority of consumers aren’t going to upgrade their operating systems until they are ready to purchase a new PC and as such won’t even have an inkling as to the price they are paying for the software to run it, as it’ll be included in the cost of their new purchase, it leaves little hope that Microsoft is going to change their pricing structure and region locking anytime soon.

It is more than a little curious as to why people like me, who are aware at the rip off we are subjected to and who have more than the choice between Apple and MS, yet who are still willing to abide and support the system laid in front of us. To be sure I do try and get away with the path of least damage. By buying OEM or upgrades and using those licenses against the EULA, rather than buying full retail versions I do get a small discount but it is still not a price I think is reasonable. But unfortunately if I want to use Microsoft Windows I am left at the mercy of what the they want to charge. It’ll be interesting when more competition becomes available. Google’s plans to develop an Operating System may offer hope in breaking the Microsoft monopoly.

The problem is that we consumers are more than happy to just bend over and take it up the ass. On the one hand we have the message “You wouldn’t steal a car…..blah…blah..blah..” and on the other, we have corporations, which have no objection in placing restrictions like region locking to maximise profits and to basically rip consumers off. Hence why we would in fact steal a car if we could download the fucking thing. Especially when I could buy the same car overseas for a substantial saving and especially so when bypassing import restrictions is as easy as the simple action of clicking a button on a mouse. Then, Yes, I would steal a copy of that car.