Text 16158, 70 rader
Skriven 2006-03-09 02:05:00 av ROBERT FOWLER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JAY EMRIE
Ärende: Re: OS wars
===================
-=> JAY EMRIE wrote to ROBERT FOWLER <=-

 JE> The entire gist of Tom's ranting is that NO ONE should get XP, but stay
 JE> with 98SE or earlier because there is no need to upgrade. Not a very
 JE> logical bit of advice when one decides to buy a new flat bed scanner
 JE> (not having owned one before) and finding it is USB and drivers aren't
 JE> available for 98. That was my neighbor's situation. Now the options are
 JE> upgrade to 98SE (if it can be found - and what 60-70-80 year old knows
 JE> how to find a 98SE copy? - Very few average users would have any idea.)
 JE> The scanner bit is just one example - how about the necessity of
 JE> replacing failed printers of the earlier vintages? XP makes a lot of
 JE> this type of problems non-problems.

 JE> Admittedly, I upgraded to XP just because, but I found it a blessing
 JE> when getting later equipment.

 JE> Why would a manufacturer consider furnishing his new product with
 JE> drivers for earlier versions of Windows when by far the great majority
 JE> of buyers will be using XP?

 That's the same question that Alan (and others) recently raised however,
 in the opposite sense ("why wouldn't they?").  The answer is obvious.
 It's all about maximizing profits.  They spend less money on software
 development if they design for only one platform.

 Unfortunately, this only expedites forced obsolescence, to which
 perhaps the vast majority of consumers have become all too well
 acclimated.

 JE> I repeat: The average John Doe using a home computer hasn't the
 JE> foggiest idea of how to circumvent the problems of using 98SE and
 JE> earlier versions and upgrading peripherals. Tis much easier on his
 JE> mind, and often pocket book, to just upgrade to XP - often even if it
 JE> means buying a later computer.
 
 JE> Case in point: Recently I was called to "fix" a computer loaded with XP
 JE> because it was so terribly slow. Turned out he bought the (replaced)
 JE> system from law firm for $275. It only had a 10Gb Hd, 128 Mb of shared
 JE> memory. When I quoted him a price for upgrading to a 80Gb Hd (one of
 JE> the smaller ones my supplier caries) upgrading to 1 Gb memory (his son
 JE> wants to be a gamer) and adding a DVD - CDRW drive, he balked. It would
 JE> have been less expensive for him if he had purchased a new system in
 JE> the beginning.
 JE> This is the situation many home users find themselves in.

 Ignorance is often costly, and his purchase, based on his stated
 needs, was clearly unwise.  It could have become worse though.

 I know you're not a gamer, but 1GB of shared memory on the system
 you're describing isn't going to make a gaming machine. A video
 card is indispensable, and I suspect the processor is too slow to
 make it practical at all.  I would have personally probably deemed
 it impossible.  After all, if the results are disappointing, it's
 your fault. ;-)

 That having been said, your client may well make another mistake
 with a retail purchase, depending on whether or not he buys an
 entry level machine.  As you say, it can surely be had for less than
 he spent plus your quote, but it won't be a gamer either.  A real
 gaming machine is going to cost more than he would have spent with
 you.

 Regards,

 Robert Fowler

 
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