Markets are inevitable. For all...

A lesson to farmers who point to other sectors and talk about how everybody else can set their own prices, while we are lowly "price takers".

Officially the price cuts announced by Microsoft on Thursday don't take effect until later this year when Service Pack 1 hits retail shelves. However, the company had said that many retailers were offering promotions that bring the software to its lower price.

But the ad at OfficeMax took things a step further. In this week's circular, the office products chain is selling Windows Vista Home Premium for $99. That's $30 less than Microsoft's just-lowered price and the same as the suggested price for Windows Vista Home Basic--though perhaps just a hair more than the clearance prices a couple weeks back at closing CompUSA stores.

The question now is just how low will Vista go. [More]

If Microsoft can't can't cram a overpriced, (and in my opinion, poorly made) product down consumer throats on their own terms, maybe no business can. Customers eventually force prices to match value received pretty closely.