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Wal-Mart Lindows PCs Selling Well
andyring writes "CNN.com is reporting that sales of the $199 PCs have exceeded expectations. Although CNN terms them "full fledged, if low power," it seems customers don'd mind all that much if their computer does not run Windows and doesn't carry an Intel processor. Slashdot covered two reviews of those machines July 4."
I just bought one of these for my dad. I installed redhat 8.0 and he loves it! He doesn't know the difference between it and windows. It is fun to watch is use mozilla for web browsing and mail. If microsoft disappeared off the planet I really think desktop computing would go on fine at this point.
Would be great... Because leaving Lindows to Linux newcomers is really the worst thing that can happen to them! 1) proprietary stuff everywhere 2) using the system as root = welcome to viruses in the future and so on.
Users need a real and *easy to use* Linux system! A pre-installed Mandrake Linux (8.2 or 9.0) is in my opinion the best system they can be offered. It's real Free Software, it's secure, it's fast, it's reliable, and there are many many software available for it.
Lindows' success is the result of it's CEO's address large book really a bad for Linux because it's just an attempt to provide a *very badly designed* system that looks as closely as possible to Windows.
This isn't the future of masses computing in any way in my opinion.
And, for better or for worse, despite the carping of usability engineers and the whining of Microsoft zealots, if they run Gnome/KDE, Mozilla, and OpenOffice on it, end users will have a software experience not too different from Windows with Microsoft Office.
It will be definately interesting to see how well these sell, and more importantly, what the sell-to-return ratio is after Christmas. I expect a lot of people are saying "hey, cheap computer!" and putting it under the tree.
Heck, for some guy buying a computer for his almost-never-used-a-PC-before granny/mother/aunt/etc this is a great present. Cheap, goes online, runs a word processor. They're not super-fast, but they're not retarded-slow either.
I doubt you'll see many gamers buying these, but for those who are just trying to get some letters printed and emails sent, it's a good deal.
"player 4 hit player 1 with 0 stroms"
I wonder noone mentioned the poor public education. $200 per box? It's a perfect price for schools! I am going to talk to the principal - my kid complains they don't have enough computer classes b/c there is not enough of computers. ... Jeez, is it 21st century or it's a middle age?
Less is more !
Yes.. The Intel logo does make a pretty big difference. Intel really does enjoy tremendous brand recognition and people tend to associate Intel with top of the line computer power.
However, while Intel is a big brand, Walmart is many orders of magnitude bigger. People are willing to overlook the lack of recognizable and trusted brand on the box because they have such high brand loyalty to Walmart.
Walmart has that effect. If anyone can inspire change in the industry.. its a retailer like Walmart. They have legions of loyal customers who trust them to stock merchandise that they can rely on... That's why I like this so much. Its only going to be much later that all of a sudden people realize that hundred of thousands (if not millions) of people are running these Linux PC's.. and THAT will be the day that people will finally realize that there is a world outside of Microsoft. THAT will be the day that Microsoft will begin to lose its desktop monopoly.
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At $200 you reach 80% of the population every two months or so. With $1000 you reach 10% every 6 months or so.
I mean, no matter how good your product may be, if it's not fighting in the $200 and under price tag, most people will not be able to afford it. Even if 10000^10000 times faster, it's still innacesible.
Of course, up until now these people could only get a used PC, or they had to make a mayor effort or do with less computers that they wanted or have a friend that custom built them one as cheap as possible.
The $200 lines opens up a huge market. "Hey, I have $200, why not buy this new PC?".
unfinished: (adj.)
I find Walmart a horrid, soul-sucking place.
I don't know why others hate them, but I hate them for several reasons -- (1) because they're simply big, cold, and impersonal, and just not pleasant to be in, but also (2) because they're a particularly extreme example of the increasing homogenization of culture in the U.S., and the obsession with low-price at the expense of any other measure of value (such as pleasant stores).
Sure, when a walmart bulldozes into town, they offer very good prices, a pretty reasonable selection of merchandise, and a certain sort of convenience. Consumers like this.
They like it so much, that they shop at walmart instead of old-Joe's local crap-n-stuff store (established 1837) to get that extra 5% off, and because Joe hasn't updated some of his inventory since 1853. Unless Joe is pretty clever, he probably then goes out of business.
`Good riddance' a lot of people think, Joe's place was always pretty lame anyway.
After a few years, they notice that the community seems somehow colder and more impersonal than it used to. Is it just nostalgia? Probably some of it is -- but I'll bet part of it is Joe.
Granted this has been going on for a long time, and Walmart's just more noticable because they're very good at it. Probably not much could be done to save old Joe, but I really hope there's a new generation of Joes out there that hate walmart like I do, and who have enough business accumen to somehow replace some of what has been lost. Maybe they can use some of the tools Walmart uses (e.g., computer technology), but still manage to make something local instead of a cookie-cutter outlet of a vast corporation.
Personally I try to spend my money in ways that reflect what I said above -- I'll shop a store that I like, even if it costs more, because I know my money is paying for more than just the physical product.
We live, as we dream -- alone....