1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,120
Do you have an extra 150 bucks laying around? That's how much it'll cost you

2
00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,240
if you wanna buy a standalone version of Microsoft Office.

3
00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:12,280
You know, without paying those monthly subscription fees. Meanwhile, you'll need to pay even more

4
00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:17,680
if you want an office license for commercial use. 440 bucks, just for one PC.

5
00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:23,400
Even if you just need Excel for your taco truck or whatever, buying just one of the office programs

6
00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,760
is 160 bucks. Holy cow!

7
00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:31,680
It might be easy to assume that these prices are another example of inflation run amuck.

8
00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:36,000
But it turns out Office has long been a very expensive product.

9
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,640
In fact, Office 97 started at a cool 499

10
00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:44,160
when it first came out over 25 years ago. But even with these outrageous prices,

11
00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:48,440
there's a very good chance that you've been using word processors for years without forking

12
00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:52,200
over hundreds of dollars. Because for the average person typing at home,

13
00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,880
plenty of viable alternatives have existed over the decades.

14
00:00:55,880 --> 00:01:00,680
Before cloud computing came to dominate the tech scene, it was common for pre-built computers

15
00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,760
to include some kind of productivity software,

16
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,080
whether it was from Microsoft or someone else. And even if you didn't get anything like this

17
00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:13,960
with your new PC, you'd at the very least be able to use WordPad, a very basic word processor

18
00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:17,840
that's still included with Windows 11. Today, of course, online alternatives

19
00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:23,800
like Google Docs are available for free. And Office itself actually has a free web-based version

20
00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,360
you can use through a browser. So why are they trying to sell you Office

21
00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,200
at a king's ransom? It turns out Microsoft isn't actually trying

22
00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,600
to sell Office to you, the typical home user.

23
00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:40,680
Office is expensive, partly because its key customer base is, well, offices.

24
00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:45,400
What may seem like a lot of money to you may end up being peanuts to a business.

25
00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:50,120
Of course, no business wants to pay for software if they can avoid it, but an Office suite

26
00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,120
often doesn't end up being a massive expense,

27
00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,280
especially considering larger businesses often negotiate volume licensing

28
00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:01,880
with Microsoft, meaning that they'll get a license for many employees at a discounted rate.

29
00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,160
Moreover, compared to some of the traditional open-source alternatives,

30
00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:09,220
the programs in the MS Office suite include a number of advanced features

31
00:02:09,220 --> 00:02:14,440
that businesses are willing to fork out money for, not to mention that they get support from Microsoft.

32
00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:19,560
And larger organizations often don't want to rely on a suite that's mainly browser-based,

33
00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,760
as that's potentially lots of downtime if there's an internet outage.

34
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:28,800
Of course, we have to mention that Office primarily operates on a subscription model now.

35
00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,800
Microsoft actually isn't even using the Office name

36
00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:37,200
for the current version of the suite anymore, instead rebranding it as Microsoft 365.

37
00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:41,240
It still isn't cheap. If you stay on a yearly plan for two years,

38
00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,900
you're paying nearly the same amount as just buying a standalone version of Office outright.

39
00:02:45,900 --> 00:02:50,680
But this also means that Microsoft doesn't really have a reason to make standalone Office cheaper.

40
00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:56,000
Even if you pay more over the long run, $7 a month sounds a heck of a lot more palatable

41
00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,640
than $150 up front. And unlike standalone Office,

42
00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:04,760
Microsoft 365 also dangles the carrot of extra cloud storage and future updates

43
00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,080
with their subscription service, as well as ongoing support.

44
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,120
And of course, Microsoft stands to make a heck of a lot more money over the long run

45
00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:16,200
with a subscription model than they would if they just kept selling individual licenses,

46
00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,680
which businesses may or may not choose to upgrade every few years.

47
00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:24,120
So they aren't going to make the standalone version cheaper as they want to incentivize you

48
00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,680
to pay for a juicy Microsoft 365 subscription.

49
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,360
And on top of everything we've talked about, there's a great deal of inertia

50
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,120
in the sense that many businesses have been using Office for so long

51
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,880
and they don't want to switch, especially when you consider lots of businesses

52
00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:44,440
employ university graduates that came from schools that also got volume deals on Office.

53
00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,520
But the good news is there's still no reason to shell out money if you just want

54
00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,400
to turn your computer on and type. And thank you for turning your computer on

55
00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:57,720
and pressing play on this video. Cause you watched all the way in the end and that's special.

56
00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,440
Oh, now I tell you to like, dislike, check out our other videos, comment below with video suggestions.

57
00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:06,240
Don't forget to subscribe and follow TechWiki. But I just want to be in this moment for another second.

58
00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:07,080
Wow.