Slashdot Mirror
Wal-Mart to Offer Components for DIY Computers
FearTheFrail writes "Reuters reports that Wal-Mart is preparing to put "build your own computer counters" in 1200 of its 3200 stores, with plans to do so in at least 1400 by the end of the year. Maybe this will bring on an influx of new hardware enthusiasts, along with plenty of horror stories about attempted computer assembly. Do you think this will have an effect on the OEM parts market? And what about the operating systems to be offered? Will Wal-Mart shoppers migrate to Linux in order to save a hundred bucks or more, or will they even have the chance?"
Could Wal-Mart as a hardware vendor significantly reduce hardware prices, or is that unlikely?
I can see it now:
Customer - "The computer memory won't upgrade."
Walmart - "What was the problem?"
Customer - "I put it inside the CDROM drive and didn't get any more hard drive space."
Walmart - "Alrighty then."
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
Does it come with a soldering iron or were they figuring on wire-wrap?
If WalMart is good at one thing it's squeezing its vendors on cost.
If a OS vendor can reduce their costs below what MSFT wants, it's a pretty sure thing that even if MSFT is bundled there, Microsoft won't be getting any profit from there.
For years, we shipped assembly off shore to factories where people would work for 20 cents an hour. From these economic theory, Wal-Mart was born.
Now, they're shipping the labour back here.
Perhaps in future, Wal-Mart will offer sew-it-yourself clothing as well? They could market it as a sweat shop tourist attraction!
Skot Nelson music is my saviour / i was maimed by rock and roll
I wish Walmart would start selling self-assembled microwaves for $10. Talk about a quick way to clear out some of the genetic driftwood in this country.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Is this really going to be cheaper than stuff like the eMachines products they sell?
Wal-mart already offers computers without windows (with linspire, last I checked), so that's not an issue. What is an issue is that everything that wal-mart sells is on the, shall we say, low-end. I strongly doubt that Wal-mart will offer any hardware that people who are DIYers will find compelling, and if by some chance they do, the DIY crowd will probably look at other, cheaper outlets where they can get quality hardware for less than what walmart offers it (assuming, as I've said, they offer it at all).
Why wouldn't Wal-Mart customers "have a chance" to install Linux? Do they connect to a different internet than everyone else? Are they banned from entering computer and book stores?
Or are you asking if Wal-Mart will be carrying boxed RedHat distros?
It's never been about consumers having a CHANCE to install Linux, it's been about them having the CHOICE to, and like it or not, most consumers CHOOSE not to.
-l
but i'd have to step foot into a wallmart....which i'd never do!!!!
..etc) i'll be in no big hurry to wade thru the chubby walmart customrs to get a motherboard and proc.
additionally i'm willing to guess that the Wallmart employees will make the guys at compUSA look like NASA scientists if you actually had a question?
considering how well some of the online suppliers do at getting me what i want at a very good price (newegg/ mwave /
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
Walmart is going to sell Towers, Monitors, Keyboards, Mice, and Speakers seperately. Not the individule hardware pieces of the tower. Can't anyone read articles before posting them?
~~ Please keep your arms, legs, and outright stupidity inside the ride at all times. Thank You ~~
Cheap clothing, food, plans to open a bank, computers.... Is there nothing Wal-Mart doesn't provide aside from living wages, benefits, and dignified to its employees?
It's a girl!
It's a way to add a salesperson into the loop. Pick your parts from a nice kiosk display, have them "expertly" assembled. Have them remind you about upgrades and support contracts.
Why is it that every Slashdot story that even remotely mentions the computer hardware market HAS to mention the whole "OMG... will they get to switch to Linux? MAYBE THIS IS THE MOMENT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR." thing?
I highly doubt Wal-Mart is going to be handing out free Ubuntu CD's with every purchase when they can profit from the Microsoft tax. I also highly doubt that Average Joe building his own PC for the first time will even want to fiddle with that penguin thing, if they have even heard of it. Average Joe wants the same thing he has at work, the same thing his friends have, the same thing his boss has, and doesn't want to worry about OpenOffice compatibility with that new fancy Office 2007 thing or even older versions of office.
From the article, this just sounds like the "customize it" button on Dell's web site, not the PC Club style, "here's your parts, go fo it." Moreover, this could be really good for small computer shops. I don't see anything about Wal-Mart supporting those PC's. So, a few months after purchase, and two kids who know computers later, the owner will still have to go get the adware removed by someone.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
AMD says to Intel: "You can have Dell, we'll take WalMart"
The hardware-based 'AOL Generation' has now begun. "LOL WUT R U A WALMARTER OR WAT?!?!11/1/"
The good news is that Walmart porbably can. The bad news is that the standard will likely suck.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
I can see it now:
Slashbot poster - "The 'All uSerS aRe 1diotz' humour paradigm won't upgrade."
Slashbot #2 - "What was the problem?"
Slashbot poster - "I put it inside the Slashdot and didn't get any more good karma."
Slashbot #2 - "Alrighty then."
* Slashbot #2 summons The Hive to spend some mod-points *
I live in Fremont, CA where we have a brand spanking new Walmart accross the street from a Frys store. I can't imagine they can compete with a major chain store like Frys at component level sales?
This would be interesting.
Have you compiled your kernel today??
Comment removed based on user account deletion
There is no way clientele of WallMart will have expertise to put together a PC, less chose parts that will work together. So very likely they will sell 'kit' computers, something already proven to work together and not very complicated to put together. As to WallMart's effect of computer market - well I think from now on all cables will be of higher quality with clear markings and BIOS will have 'you plugged cable-such-and-such backwards' checks build in. As to Linux - I think it will provide stronger push for better automated installers/detectors.
" Will Wal-Mart shoppers migrate to Linux in order to save a hundred bucks or more, or will they even have the chance?"
I see this as totally irrelevant, based on the type of people I see at Wal-Mart. I don't think you'll get a whole lot of hits on a open source OS at the same place that has a gun counter and offers hunting licenses.
This could be good, for several reasons. One, now when someone has a HDD crash or failure at 2am, there's somewhere to go to get a new drive. Same with any hardware issues, or wanting a spur of the moment upgrade. Us geeks will no longer have time frames in which we can buy products to tinker with or to upgrade our PCs. Another good thing, is that Wal-Mart has a fairly good amount of buying power, so some items may be cheaper than at other stores. (whether its $0.25 or $25), so upgradeing on a short budget may be a little bit easier. I'm sure I could go on and on with this list...
However, the bad side to this.. is well... Now there'll be an influx of noobs on technical forums pleading for help with something. Stories like the Cupholder CD-Rom drive will be more abundant. While they will provide humor, it will also drive many people absolutly bonkers. Wal-Mart has never really been known for great and informative customer service, so that alone is going to lead to a lot of confusion and technical issues.
Really, this is good and bad, and a lot of it really relies on how well Wal-Mart implements this idea, and whether or not they hire knowledgable staff to help people peice together equipment. I hope they also offer assembly for a decent price. That way some of the issues that could come from this concept will be almost non-existant. --I would almost think Wal Mart would have to do this, otherwise their returns on broken/defective hardware would skyrocket through the roof.
Here "build-your-own computer" is just marketing speak for choosing options on a prebuilt package.
"Pick-your-own mouse" must not have done well with the focus groups.
Not every argument requires reduction to absurdity.
. . . millions of voices cried out in terror, and then suddenly silenced.
as long as they sell major brands (like HP/Compaq or Gateway).
In fact, I MUCH prefer this model where you can semi-customize your own PC from a range of well-defined options. Beats the hell out of CompUSA or Best Buy where you have to take whatever configuration they have have on the shelf.
I'd bet they get exclusive distribution rights to some major brand like Gateway and then sell them at 30% below everyone else's computer.
Don't underestimate the power of WalMart to sell anything to the masses.
"good for Wal-Mart".
I know that lots of people are going to give theories about what nefarious motivations Wal-Mart might have for doing this. (and then a lot of people are going to fire back saying 'this is how the market works, pinko!)
But I see this as just trying to create a new market for something that people might want. It is weird that we don't have more computer parts stores: after all, it is easy to find mass-marketed auto parts stores, and working on a computer is a lot easier than working on a car. This is just giving people a chance to be able to practice some new technical skills themselves.
Its weird that this hasn't caught on before. When I was in Taiwan, two years ago, I visited the computer market in Tainan, and in most of the stores, including some major ones, they had about as much DIY stuff (that was labelled DIY), as they had pre-made stuff. I feel Americans should be at the front of the world in gear-headism.
Hopefully I didn't put any [] around my words.
I have a friend who will remain anonyous (oh, but he reads slashdot) who tried to put together his own omputer one time.
I told him to wait till I got there, but no, he had to "get started" on it
When I got there, I found the motherboard screwed to the side of the case. As in, he hadn't screwed down the little "riser" things you put in first. When I pointed out to him that his whole computer would exploode in a glorius display of sparks the second he applied power, he stated incredulously, "i wondered what those were for"
I expect that telling everyday people they can build their own computer will get a lot of idiots who just want to save a few bucks trying it, and making all kinds of mistakes which, to the uninformed seem perfectly logical.
Maybe this will bring on an influx of new hardware enthusiasts, along with plenty of horror stories about attempted computer assembly. ...Will Wal-Mart shoppers migrate to Linux in order to save a hundred bucks or more, or will they even have the chance?
Yea, yea! And maybe they will all be nympomaniac blondes with huge bimbos that will be ready to do anything if you show them how to properly install a SLI video card setup on their home-made PC-s?
And they will be easily impressed when you show them your mad Perl skills?
----
Or maybe it'll create a small niche market for the already existing geeks and not change much of anything.
We can always dream though, that's what Slashdot is for.
I was a little concerned since Walmart's other DIY services are a bit too chatty for me.
What do I care about "Unexpected item in bagging area" and "Please wait for assistance."
Wal-Mart has a rather customer-friendly return policy (which I appreciated when I had to exchange a game that had a defective cd), compared to most stores. I'd personally be reluctant to buy a cpu or motherboard that could have been restocked after having who-knows-what done to it by some fool.
Many years ago, when I was growing up, lots of Wal-Mart-like department stores had extensive fabric departments...
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
I hope the guy programming the cash registers at Wal-Mart isn't the same guy as the one who did the math above. If he is, profits at Wal-Mart should be way up and I'm heading out to buy their stock.
Reminds me of a story of a store in Escondido, Calif. called Rube Nelson's Fabulous Country Corner. Boy was it a rip-off. Off-brands you've never heard of. And then there was The Broom.
By the checkout counter was a broom. For those few people who actually looked at their old fashioned (non-barcoded, non-itemized) cash register receipt and noticed an extra charge on it, they'd be told "That's for the broom". Only if they protested that it wasn't their broom would the charge be taken off. You can imagine that the number of protesters wasn't very high. The Broom, of course, remained exactly where it was waiting for the next customer to come through.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
But since most of us buy our components online, will this really affect *US* that much? I think not.
But, not to be
"so if you do put a memory module into the CDROM, it will install it for you, and spit out the old stick if there isn't enough room."
They already make it able to hold your coffee, you can't expect miracles you know.
Your joke had me laughing louder than I should in an office, even though I'm done work for today.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
I think we should all bow our heads in silent prayer for the poor fools working at the wal-mart returns and electronics desks. Then next time you start to think about how much you hate your job remember that there are people who would probably kill someone to be as free from stupidity as you are.
Slashdot: Where anecdotes and generalizations can be freely substituted for facts, logic, or intelligence
"The absolute, bottom-line Chinese component manufacturers will somehow make even cheaper and shoddier stuff, because that's what Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart's customers demand."
I agree Walmart has a piece of shit attitude and has run US companies into bankruptcy when they shift to cheaper mainland China products, but not all their stuff is crap either.
Walmart cannot cater to the piece of shit Chinese component manufactures because if the shit fries, they will lose tons on returns and unsold product. I also wonder how many of those brand-name products purchased online are actually made for the parent company in mainland China or similar anyways.
Walmart also tends to focus on brand name material across the board. Brand name stuff sells, and it's in the interest of the brand name trademark holder to put out decent quality stuff. They may be second class sometimes, but it's not all bad.
I go to Walmart regularly for 2 reasons--(1) speed and convenience, as my local Walmart has about 6-8 lanes for self-checkout, so I'm in and out in 10 minutes. (2) Best prices although sometimes only by a few cents--I buy my handsoap, laundry items, storage items, paper towels, napkins, trash bags, etc. there. Great place for items that are not durable goods. I'm not going going to buy my DVDs or CDs there (given their past track record of having "another" version just for Walmart).
On the durable goods front, it's a mixed bag. I hear their kitchen stuff isn't bad, but I tend *not* to shop at Walmart *except* for emergency computer parts that I know they carry. I'm not going to buy my stereo, tv, lawnmower, or snowblower there because the stuff often doesn't even seem of high quality.
But disposable cell phones, game consoles, games, even their mice and printers look and function as good as equivalently priced items at Office Depot.
Have you even looked at their computer items section? Brand-name DVDR media at better than Staples or OfficeMax or Office Depot prices. Seagate hard drives at good prices (better online but cheaper than Circuit City). The only location that sells Motorola cable modems at a decent price. I've bought a monitor there for a backup server when it's monitor died, and it functions to this day (plastic is great, picture is decent, features are 'eh').
(I've also had crap bought online that didn't work; at least I can return the stuff at Walmart.)
If they carried motherboards and I had a machine bite it, or just had the urge to slap together a cheapo machine, I wouldn't mind going to Walmart. Even if it is a second-class Abit board, I wouldn't mind.
"Maybe we'll start to see hard-drives with no warranties at all, and power supplies that catch on fire after 20 hours of use."
You also have to consider the pressure on manufactures. Again, Walmart tends to get brand-name manufacturers; where they in turn may get their stuff may be subject, but if the stuff is crap, people won't buy it, and this puts pressure on the maker, not necessarily just Walmart, to put out reasonable material.
If they had no name products, no one will buy them. (Walmart has these DVDRs that just sit there everytime I'm in there; no one really seems to buy them which makes me wonder how their inventory tracking really works.) If they sell things with no warranty, no one will buy the stuff. Half the stuff at retailers often only have 90 or 180 days warranties too, but if stuff gets purchased and dies shortly after, there will be no return purchases, and Walmart, whatever you may think, *thrives* on returning customers.
Correct, although this is several degrees simpler than Dell, which lets you configure the most inane aspect of a system. The exact quote:
Wal-Mart currently offers only prepackaged bundles of personal computers and accessories in most of its stores. With the build-your-own-computer counters, shoppers can choose between several different components. Such components include central processing units -- the brain of the computer that powers its basic functions -- as well as monitors, keyboards and mice that customers can combine to create customized packages they can load in a shopping cart and take home right away.
Perhaps the reporter is dumbing things down as they usually do. However, if it really is that simple and we have to worry about "horror stories about attempted computer assembly" from people deciding they want a 2GHZ processor instead of a 2.1GHZ processor or a blue logitech keyboard instead of a Microsoft keyboard...I fear for our future.
Please help metamoderate.
Although I haven't been in a Wal-Mart for several years now will continue to avoid it, the idea of having a source of computer hardware after 9:00 PM is appealing.
On a separate note, one of Best Buy's greatest fears is a more direct competition from Wal-Mart and I suspect Wal-Mart has been eyeing their market for some time. I would think that Best Buy would be concerned about this because even mediocre success in this area could put price pressure on Best Buy.
I agree with several of the /.ers when they question if people at Walmart can assemble a PC but isn't this just Walmart's way to make their shoppers feel included? I mean many if not most of the /.ers are never going to go to Wallmart for parts so the marketing guy who came up with this was looking at it as a way to make building PC's cool similar to how IPods make creating mp3's cool for those same Walmart shoppers. Just a thought......
On /., reading first is **cheating**!
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Making me feel thin again.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
I hate buying from Wal-Mart, but sometimes they carry things that no one else in the area sells.
I live in a pretty rural area. The nearest actual town has no CompUSA, no Best Buy, and in fact no stores that sell significant computer hardware. There have been many times when I wished there were at least one such store.
Even in the sticks, there's a number of computer guys out here who wouldn't mind having a hands-on place from which to buy hardware. Why not buy online? Because often I want to look at the box and read the specs and such. Not to mention, it's much easier to return something to a physical store than it is to return something bought online.
So Wal-Mart has a chance to snag a pretty untapped market in my opinion.
The Internet is full. Go away.
Don't forget #9 either.
Sadly, I'm kinda for this. More so if they carry powersupplies. There are plenty of 24 hour walmarts and if a server w/ standard hardware takes a dive, one can go pick up a supply at 3am instead of having to stock pile it at home and/or wait for a store (frys/compusa/worstbuy/pcclub/etc) to open to get a supply to get a machine back up and running.
Assuming they really do this, I'd expect them to be pretty much unbeatable for low-end parts.
I'm sure they'll have unbeatable prices for 5400rpm 5.25" harddrives.
....this will be helpful. It may end up being crap, but it will be crap that will get your machine running on a late sunday afternoon when nobody else is open.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
Wal-Mart has destroyed a lot of people's livelihoods on this planet. They are a money hungry company with no morals or ethics anywhere in sight. You may save a few bucks by shopping there but you are ruining your future by supporting them. Go mom and pop or get off my planet! As for OEM sales... sure go ahead and buy at Wal-Mart, take their advise too, I'm sure you'll be fine... Not! Few companies like Microsoft have the ability to stand up to Wal-Mart's strong arm tactics and I wouldn't be surprised to see some foreign supplier cave in to good ol' Wally-Mart and sell cheaper to Wal-Mart than all the mid sized distributors. Some good documentaries on the subject are : Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473107/ Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318087/
All this press about *selling* computer parts
and no details about how Wal-Mart will deal with the toxic
electronic crap when it fails in a year or two.
I guess *recycling* is only for crazy environmental friendly
companies like Apple....
WalMart has done this for a while...
... right across the isle from the new-fangled coaxial TV cables.
They've always had BFGTech 4400 128MB AGP 4X Cards in stock!
-jX
Don't you just love politics? It's like a comedy of errors.
The absolute best however was the idea to combine solid-fuel model rocket engines, large toy cars, and almost abandoned parking garages. A very stupid and dangerous activity of questionable legality was made all the more fun by seeing the checkers faces at that ungodly hour, trying to figure out why we were buying:
The conversations were always hilarious - and considering our share was coming from a bunch of "punk kids" with a random assortment of hair colors, piercings, stages of (un)dress, and associated stereotypes - we always had a good time.
Late Night Checker: Soooo... what are you fellas up to?
Punk Kids: We're building rocket cars.
LNC: *vacant expression*
PK's: We're going to attach these motors to the cars, and shoot them up ramps in parking garages.
LNC: Right, so the goggles are for protection... uh, the barbies?
PK's: Someone has to drive, dude.
LNC: And the liquid graphite is for the axles? (Every now and then we got a bright one)
PK's: Nah, that's just "personal lubricant".
Now, that's all gone. With self-checkout I can buy any assortment of bizzaire and crazy crap with no-one to question me with the exception of the few flagged items that require "customer service" checks - although this may not be true depending on how late the self-checkouts are open in your area.
In any case the idea of Wal-Mart doing this has Dell beat on one thing, if not price: instant gratification. A lot of times I'll dump an extra couple of bucks on something I can get right now as opposed to waiting for delivery. And if I can custom configure a box, get it at a competitive(ish) price with quality hardware, and pay say $50 bucks more to take it home and commence the fiddlin' associated with a new computer purchase - I'll probably do it.
On the same note however, if they can't beat the prices available online by a good margin or stay very close to prices available online - the only added incentive to me becomes: ease of return and instant gratification. I've become more savvy with my online shopping to accomodate for shipping times, returns, etc. My matra has become buy before you run out and have scheduled purchases. Which brings up yet another issue with selling locally and cutting in on the online sales of computers:
Taxes.
Where I live in Tennessee (By force, not by choice) we pay a "fair use" tax on internet and out of state sales, i.e., if you buy it online or in Kentucky (no sales tax) you're supposed to voluntarily give the State the sales tax. I am very dubious as to how often this actually happens by anyone who is not forced to do so by their employer, as I am.
I think for the people that are interested in spending the time to research best prices and save a buck are not going to be lured into buying their computers from Wal-Mart (especially the "high end" gaming market) or anything other than emergency peripherals. (If you ever need that kind of thing,. I have a box so full of mice you could choke a thousand donkeys with it.) But the sheer volume and monlith that is Wal-Mart is so saturated and in so many markets that "Average Joe American" cannot help but notice that their best friend and retailer of everything is now selling custom configuration computers.
hi mom!
Wal-Mart doesn't sell top line products, for the most part, but they generally do not sell junk. They also do not play in the market where 'Rebates' give the illusion that you are saving hundreds of dollars on that bargain priced 'eMachine'. I am often surprised at how many people do not have computers in thier homes. Wal-Mart will sell many computers to folks who do not have the cash or credit to pay the whole upfront price and wait many months for the rebate checks to dribble in. Also, for the knowlegable buyer Wal-Mart has a great many good quality mid priced items. Wal-Mart's purchasing folks do a pretty good job stocking the shelves with decent quality products at good prices. Their 'technology' department is doing pretty well now and will do better with this move, and it will create more work for small start up computer services companies.
the GeForce FX5200.
The thing is that yeah, they sell name-brand stuff, but it's not the same name-brand stuff that you buy elsewhere. They put so much pressure on the manufacturers, that most of their manufacturers have one regular version, and a Wal-Mart version. That's PART of the reason that I would never spend any money at Wal-Mart:
Good example of the Wal-Mart version
And Wal-Mart intends to pay me NOTHING AT ALL while I assemble my computer, which is a violation of my rights.
And don't get me STARTED about HEALTH CARE. Suppose I become injured or sick while assembling my computer?
And what about workers' rights... Suppose I want my domestic partner to help me assemble my PC? Will there by any support from Wal-Mart? NO?
It's just another way for Wal-Mart to screw over the consumer, make obscene profits, force small businesses to close, and discriminate against lesbians.
The lesson we can draw from this is perfectly simple. Wal-Mart is the earthly incarnation of Evil.
Fortunately, the local mom-and-pop store is PURER than the HOLY MOTHER VIRGIN.
Computer parts is one market where having variety can be just as important as having the lowest price. Not everybody is looking for the same thing. Wal-mart doesn't have the space to offer many options.
I doubt they will put a dent in the market share of online stores like Newegg.
Walmart - "Alrighty then."
Walmart - Huh.. I think that's how it's spozed to go. Maybe you need a DVD drive.
Sony ha
Does anyone else think this is just a 'life-hack' so WalMart can sell software at OEM prices? Buy that usb cable, sure now you can get XP for $45.
I wont even go into a Walmart unless it is absolutely necessary because the stench of poor people is so overwhelming.
Then why is money called filthy lucre?
(Paper) Money stinks after it has been handled by several/dozens/thousands of people--especially paper money that is so worn, dirty, smelly, and dilapidated, it should be destroyed and replaced on sight!
Then there is the (in)famous story of Lazarus and the rich man in the Bible....
And my personal favorite, the Warrant music album title Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich. (Sure does describe those greedy RIAA executives to a T, eh?)
Don't like the smell? Go cashless. (Of course, the Bible 'speaks out' about the 'end result' of that as well.)
The stench cuts both ways.
Don't like money and all it represents? Live like a self-reliant hermit on private/(public) land if you can. (Look what happend to the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. His brother 'fingered' him anonymously and pledged some of the reward money to the [survivors of] the victims. That backfired--he was 'outed' anyway. Was the reward money a factor? Possible/likely. But Ted 'arrested himself' when his manifesto got published in a public forum and his brother identified him from his writing style.)
Get used to it. "Money makes the world go around." Cabaret (1972)
slashdot captcha word for this post: mediator (coincidence?)
Then one day you're not going to be looking for computer parts; maybe you're looking to buy new towels for your bathroom. But while you're at Wal-Mart, you'll notice that they have that latest hot MMORPG on sale, and while you're there, you'll buy it. That's a sale that Fry's never got a chance to compete for (and it's one less trip you'll make to Fry's in the near future). If this kind of thing happens often enough, profits at Fry's start to go down, which starts them down the slippery slope of finding ways to get more money out of their customers.
Wal-Mart is the master of this kind of competition... you don't think people talk about Wal-Mart's business so much for no reason, do you?
Breakfast served all day!
I know Walmart offers Linspire as an alternative to the MS tax, but I can see a lot of OSS dev teams not being interested in working with Walmart. Typically any supplier to Walmart ends up taking it in the rear with not just tighter margins but the bending over required to meet Walmart's specifications. You become just a tool that serves Walmart's goals. Always at the expense of the supplier's input to their own product.
I'm sure Walmart loves the idea of a community working for free but would Walmart accept anything less than complete control over the design and direction?
Maybe from all this it will lead to Walmart starting its own OS in some sweatshop in China.
It's a mistake to think that the circumlocutions Best Box, Circuit Max and all of the other big box stores put you through are efficient. Clip the coupon, time the trip, gather the receipts, prosecute a deliberate mail and phone tag campaign for six months to save $20 on a flash drive? That's not sales, it's marketeering. When I'm looking for a hard drive, I don't need a three cornered deal with conditional execution of optional term relationship components. I'll take a square deal for cash on the counter, no questions, when I can get it. That they stand behind their products is just a bonus about which I had suffered some nostalgia after chatting up the sales drones at the CalcUSA over some planned purchases [notebook, camera, PDA]. Do you that remember that innocent era when if you bought something and it didn't work you could take it back to the store without paying a ton of money and/or hiring a lawyer? Apparently that sort of thing still goes in Wally World, but almost nowhere else.
I've read the comments about knowlegeability of the salesforce, as if Wal-Mart could be worse than the pimply kid at Fray's. This is laughable.
No, I don't work there.
People get emotional about Wal-Mart, but the fact is if they didn't have great prices, execute perfectly and treat customers with respect, people would shop somewhere else and they wouldn't be the world's largest retailer any more.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Oh, I guess they already did...
I hear that Walmart soap doesn't work nearly as well as soap sold in normal stores.
I doubt it will ever come to this, but thinking seriously about the DIY concept, there is some potential there.
What if upgrading and installing computer components were as easy as sticking a catridge into your Game Boy? Need a DVD+R... shove it in and that's it. No screws, no power cables, no drivers. Need more RAM? Install it. Doesn't matter if it's ECC or DDR or XYX.
If anyone can pull it off, it's Wal*Mart.
-David
you are missing.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Sounds like the kids clothing line where you matched zebra to zebra, lion to lion, etc.
Gee, all I did was put the LAMB memory in the LION motherboard and POW.... it all went blewie.
"With the build-your-own-computer counters, shoppers can choose between several different components" Where does the article say that consumers assemble the computer? sounds to me like customized computers assembled in store to take home.
This is good news on two major fronts:
1) Computer parts source that's open 24/7. There have been many times when I needed a part urgently in the middle of the night or even on weekends when the local computer stores, Frys, Compusa, etc, just are not open. Walmart never closes.
2) Price competition. I support my local computer shop when I can but he wants $80 for the same PSU Newegg sells for $40. Frys will sell me one for $60, if they actually have it in stock. Walmart is likely to bring parts to market at the lower end of that price scale and there won't be shipping costs.
Now before people jump up and down and say that doesn't support the local guy, yeah, I agree. But he's already priced himself out of the market when I can order the same thing from Newegg and pay for next-day shipping and still get it it for less money -and get it delivered early in the AM before the local store even opens.
The main question is, WHAT brands is Walmart going to sell. If they go low-end, then it will only be useful for basic parts. I'm not going to buy much less use a no-name $15 PSU. Fans and parts, OK, but I want decent brands for drives, cases, motherboards, videocards, etc.
Sig for hire.
AMEN! And boxed parts are likely to appear in stores if this works. If computer parts companies who aim for enthusiast are smart, they WILL hold out against the WalMart-cheapening of their products. There would quickly be advice on the 'Net pointing out which sound cards, or video cards or speakers used low quality parts under the brand's high quality name, so enthusiasts could avoid them. The use of low quality base parts (like no-name MB/RAM/power supplies/etc) in barebones computers is pretty common, so maybe they are safe there, but thhat seems like it would lead to more boxed parts next to the computers eventually.
There was this Slashdot article http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/28/223524 6 about a man taking his products OUT of WalMart to avoid the cheapening of his high quality lawn equipment (the cheapening of the brand, and the price gap/struggle in WalMart lawn centers without knowledgeable staff to enable the high-quality products to shine)
WalMart is also known to leverage additional censorship upon movies and music sold there, leading to those works being issued in WalMart-censored and everybody-else versions. (ex.the comic-book-animated movie Spawn.http://imdb.com/title/tt0118475/alternatever sions There was also a live action version with John Leguizamo)
There are very few computer parts that I wouldn't worry about getting a YET CHEAPER part than whatever the manufacturer manages to create for their margin vs. my brand expectation. As it is, those who care have to read a lot of benchmarks and tests to put something together a la carte that will be stable under pressue.
Maybe case screws? Floppy drives? Air in a can?
I would worry about the advice employees give too, except that the big computer chains usually give out their share of ignorant advice via their staff. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04I've priced a few of the parts they stock now. Never buy a computer part (exception: monitors) at walmart. You can do much MUCH better on price watch and get a better part in the process.
I can see posibilities in abusing WalMarts return policy.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
I work at a Wal-Mart store, just saw the incoming stuff for this today. Not sure how it s going to work, but it might be good for those among us that know what they are doing with a computer.
They wanted something like $80 for it. Very overpriced.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Half way there already. They've been selling video and audio cards, hard drives and optical drives and networking cards, etc, for some time now. This is just adding the rest of the components to the shelf, namely the mobo, empty cases and power supplies and RAM.
as I think WalMart is not going to be ready for the thousands of returns they'll have to deal with when someone fries their motherboard by plugging in a second graphics card without seating it properly. (no, this didn't just happen to me...really...honest...er...um...well...ok, it did.)
until DIY improves its failsafes and adds much better error detection (its actually gotten worse since the 90s, a LOT worse), its not for the casual user.
"But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
-- Joe
The summary is bogus. As far as I can tell from the article, all they're doing is unbundling the monitors (and possibly keyboards and mice) from the computer.
The preferred solution is to not have a problem.
If Walmart did contract a company to make Windows PCs for them then they still have to deal with Redmond. So by selling dyi parts Walmart is going around the Redmond monopoly and trying to break into computers the right way. This move by Walmart is most likely a shot across the bow aimed straight at Microsoft...good for them!
I can see it now, customer comes in to get Tire and Lube, walks around the store for 15, another 30 at the computer parts 'department' (comprised of 3 totally unqualified sales associates, and a CSM fulltime due to the nature of the beast), buys 2-3 components, and returns all 3 to an equally unqualified customer service rep demanding they specify why it is they are returning item. Customer states, it is incompatible with my operating system. Rep calls CSM, CSM states that if it is not broken, they will just exchange. However, customer doesn't want anything part-wise from wally because they found www.pricewatch.com, and lawsuits follow. I think this parts thing is definitely a lose-lose-lose situation for customer, for walmart, and for the local techs. Its going to be a nightmare.
So you see WalMart parts-is-parts a godsend - for now.
But when your mom and pop computer shop with outrageous fees is gone, and WalMart is then selling only "verified" hardware... you'll see. you'll see.
The dumbasses that shop at WalMart aren't going to know their ass from a hard-drive. These people will go in a few days before Christmas, buy a "NEW COMPUTER!!", buy a bunch of games (Windows games no less..), open it up on Christmas Day, find out Windows games won't work with Linux, get fucking pissed, take the computer back along with some buckshot for the electronics "associate" that sold them the computer; things will go progressively worse from there. Hey WalMart, stick to what you know best, selling shit to white-trash dumbasses. Selling computers WON'T FUCKING WORK.
Anyone know which stores were the test-markets? I never went to Wal-Mart until the Army stationed me in Hawaii, and all the ones around here have stuff like (basic) video & sound cards, networking equipment, keyboards & mice, and random stuff like screwdriver sets & CAT5. When I visit home, I never bother with Wal-Mart, so if the HI stores would carry more stuff than now, I for one welcome our corporate overlords. What difference does it make if you buy a [insert well-known hardware company] from Wal-Mart or from CompUSA/Frye's/online, if the prices are similar? I've seen the same Linksys networking gear at Wal-Mart & CompUSA. I think Wal-Mart is trying to cater to people like my mom; she's -starting- to use her computer for more than just word-processing, but places like Frye's are still intimidating. Wonder if she'd like The Sims... lol
"Make cyberlove, not cyberwar!" -Khaed(544779)
So whats the big deal? They'll probably sell for $200 what I have been doing in $75 for my customers. I've been assembling computers since quite some time now and don't see it as a great thing. Everything fits together perfectly and it would take a real moron to screw things up while assembling a comp.
Nearly _every_ computer and computer component is manufactured/assembled in China. The exceptions are the large-chip manufacturing fabs run by big chip giants in Germany, Malaysia, India, and other semi-technologically savvy areas with cheap labor.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
Gee, all I did was put the LAMB memory in the LION motherboard and POW.... it all went blewie.
You can only mix LAMB and LION components if you are using JesOS X.
(After typing that, I googled it for the heck of it and found that link!)
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
That is why I only use freshly laundered money.
This comment is guaranteed*
*not guaranteed
But when will Wal-Mart get into the gasoline retail business?
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Shouldn't be long before people start trying to overclock this stuff.
Left Shoulder: "Don't push it too hard, you don't want to fry it."
Right Shoulder: "Who cares, didn't you need to go to Walmart anyway ?"
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
I realize its not saying much given the collective pile of shit that is slashdot, but that has to be the most insightful post in the history of slashdot.
I welcome this as good news as I will be in the market after this summer for constructing an entire gaming rig from scratch on a tight budget (yay summer internships). Not to put in a plug for Wal-Mart, as I loathe feeding the corporate giant as much as the next hippie, but money is tight and I need a rig!
"Why not just order from the internet?!" - Well, because I prefer to be able to return something in person if it is defunct or incompatible, rather than dealing with mailing things back and forth and waiting. A comfort factor really. And now I won't have to pay out the nose for that convenience because I have a feeling Wal-Mart will price their products very competitively.
If Walmart is really going to do this, I'm sure that the components would be cheap enough to allow more computer illiterate users to get by purely on trial and error. Either that or they may just call out their local computer technician after the first few tries..
I have lost ALL faith in such retailers, except for Fry's, after I had an unbelievable nightmare of a time with a Technician/Counter Monkey who should have been folding towels in the Mens Room, instead of manning the Parts counter.
Since then, when it comes to such retailers, other than Fry's, treat them like a dead raccoon - - - Avoid.
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
1) Computer parts source that's open 24/7. There have been many times when I needed a part urgently in the middle of the night or even on weekends when the local computer stores, Frys, Compusa, etc, just are not open. Walmart never closes.
And as an added benefit, you'll get the cheapest, made specifically for Wal-Mart piece of crap components imaginable. Yes, they may have recognized brand names on them, but they will either be units built just for Wal-Mart or they will be factory seconds and factory thirds that nobody else would accept. Wal-Mart: Always shitty, third-rate products. Always.
The main question is, WHAT brands is Walmart going to sell. If they go low-end, then it will only be useful for basic parts. I'm not going to buy much less use a no-name $15 PSU. Fans and parts, OK, but I want decent brands for drives, cases, motherboards, videocards, etc.
What brands they are going to sell doesn't matter. A name-brand PSU bought at Wal-Mart will not be the same quality item as one bought somewhere else. They will also surely continue their habit of only stocking the most low-end crap on the market. Willing to pay $10 extra for a somewhat better product? Doesn't matter to Wal-Mart, because they will only carry the base model.
Right, and it's going to be the same Wal-Mart "quality" as the TV I bought that was already broken and all the LEGO sets that had missing pieces.
If you're buying ANYTHING from Wal-Mart, ESPECIALLY comp parts, then you deserve the nightmare waiting for you.
I work for Wal-Mart, so I'm really getting a kick out... erm wait a tick, I *really DO* work for Wal-Mart. /*sigh* my life is NOT where I thought it would be five years ago //damn my pyschologist! ///but I do get %10 off, so maybe this wont be so bad. ///am I really using slashies on /.?!
I don't shop at Walmart often, but they open early and stay open late around here, some are even 24 hour. I can't see that Wally-World parts could be any cheaper (quality-wise) than some I've seen inside pre-built "brand name" machines. If I am working on someone else's computer, or my own, it's generally late at night or in the early mornings before work. It would be nice sometimes to be able to run over and grab a part. Even if it isn't the best part money can buy, it could still help in a pinch. As for people who don't really know anything about computers but want to try to build their own, if the parts are cheap, then who cares if they mess it up? That's how I learned. Many electronic parts died at my hands while I figured things out. It was fun though. The last one I built for myself has run pretty steadily for 7 years now, so all those dead parts gave their lives so this one could live. Kinda touching, ain't it?
You know what? You are all a bunch of elitist shitheads. I'd rather hold a conversation with any one of the "uneducated" / "white trash" individuals that you bash for shopping at Wal-Mart than any one of you. Seriously... fuck off and die. The world would be a better place without you.
you keep using this word. I do not think it means what you think it means
being vague is almost as cool as doing that other thing...
this is great news and means that i'll be able to do my upgrades at a reasonable price, and in many cases, cheaper than purchasing via the 'net and instead paying state tax on purchases...
sounds like a win-win situation all around!
i always shop at Wal-Mart... in the past year i have saved a lot of money by buying clothes and other items there... while other brick-and-mortar stores offer overpriced junk, i can get quality goods at Wal-Mart and pay lower prices...
Pussy Scumbag.
Do you think this will have an effect on the OEM parts market?
Was this question for real? Everything WalMart does affects the the markets it touches.
WalMart selling a product in your industry is like Microsoft deciding to bundle the functionality of your software in their OS. It may be good (they buy your company and you retire to Tahiti, the land of booze and titties) or it may be bad (they take what they want and let you spend your grandma's pension fund fighting them in court for 2069 and a half years) but either way dude, YES, YOUR MARKET WAS AFFECTED!
Tom Caudron
http://tom.digitalelite.com/
-Tom
Don't they already do this?
Exactly. Wal~Mart already tested the PC components market and failed. Anyone remember the Smartz computer department back around, oh, '95 or so? Self-branded components, dismally cheap (price and quality). Typical WallyWorld shoppers wouldn't be building their own computers anyway, they just want one they can plug in & use, and any geek building their own PC wouldn't buy the cheap WallyWorld Smartz crap. Thus I don't believe Wal~Mart would repeat that mistake.
Oh yeah! Just put that counter right up near the Garden Pick-Up Drive-Thru, spec some insane cuts in teflon-coated tinfoil, take advantage of DirecTV rebates (TigerDirect + WalMart = running recycling plant backwards to remove anti-stylish RoHS-incompliant mechatronics), and spec out that [unarmed ATAT]/[40' pool] that folds into a truckbed, that you've always wanted to make.
Lots of cornhusking robots comin' down the line.
Yup.
Lotta robots that use solar power to bake and seal microwaveable tomato bakes.
ayyYup.
The AlRemezyud Boy up my road made me a one to train the calves to back into the trough by my hedges when they go.
Told me that last week.
I'm gonna have to read that Omblovka myself, soon enough.
Yup. R3Pwned t3h R3v0lu+:n!
This doesn't sound so DIY at all. I just don't think the submitter understood the extent to which most people consider a computer a complete unit (these are the folks who turn off the screen to turn off the computer).
It sounds like they're only doing DIY in the sense of package customisation, a-la Dell. We're not talking motherboards, memory, and swearing about clearance between the RAM slots and the video card here. More "I'll have that P4/2GB/200MB with that 19 inch LCD, that wireless keyboard and mouse, and, oh, I'll upgrade the disk to 500GB too, can you do that for me now?".
I quote:
In other words, "where's the news"? This doesn't sound much more interesting than what (eg) Dell have been doing for donkeys, except for the impulse-buy aspect.
Yes but the question is, what do you use to pay for your meds? It looks like you're not paying enough.
I really don't understand why everyone seems to hate WalMart. In the spirit of the capatalistic system, WalMart has managed to become a world leading retailer. True, they use policies that tend to obliterate neighboring businesses through loss leaders and pricing undercuts, and they are vehemently non-union, but, and this is the point, WalMart is the huge success of one man's vision, and isn't that the American Dream?
That's easy to answer.
People hate WalMart because the American Dream is a bullshit fairy tale which causes massive harm and misery through uncontrolled greed and psychopathic disregard for others. When community is destroyed and lives shunted into ever-decreasing viability, then something is very obviously wrong. Just because the offending entity happens to hold true to the founding rules of the 'American Dream' does not make it healthy, noble or worthy of respect.
Consider. . . Who coined and marketed the idea of the 'American Dream' to everybody and what was the motive?
-FL
If they're socio-economically ignorant enough to shop at Wal-Mart, the chances of them being interested in running Linux are slim and none.
This is GREAT! Now Wal-Mart can start strong-arming hardware companies to force them to move to the cheapest possible manufacturing process, regardless of what effects it will have on society. Worker benefits will drop, and so will product quality - just like everything else made specially for Wal-Mart.
Like their "Lee" jeans line. Normal Lee jeans too expensive for Wal-Mart's price point? No problem! Move the factory to some asian country so you don't have to provide jack in worker benefits and lower the quality of materials; problem solved!! It's what the consumers want! Lower-quality cheapo items that SEEM like they're the quality we're accustomed to (after all, they still have that Lee label). This business philosophy WILL fail, it's just a question of when people wake up to what's happening to the world.
Price is not the only cost you pay when you buy something.
2. This is probably a good thing.
3. Because. . .
4. When WalMart gets into a market, they start dictating how and where things get manufactured, thus turning whole industries into lopsided affairs regulated by WalMart's decision-makers.
5. This is bad, because. . .
6. WalMart, the morally upright entity that it is, (*cough*) will have the ability to flood the market with a bunch of DRM hardware and force manufacturers to follow suit.
Do you want that? DRM hard drives and memory sticks and flat screens that won't display anything unless the RIAA hardware filters let it through?
Didn't think so.
-FL
You know, they may offer decent components at very decent prices. However, until they start treating their employees better and offering them a slightly better wage... I will continue to try to steer clear of buying ANYTHING at Wal-Mart for the time being.
Their prices are tempting, but once Sam Walton passed, everything went to shit... (IMNSHO)
"don't let them screw you more: shop there"
I'm afraid that if I think too much about what you just said my head will implode.
Huh? What you said had nothing to do with what i said... I said the Poor People. Not the money smelling. GJ on a pointless rant.
I think the opportunity for more people to become more PC-savvy is the result of such a move.
I'm excited because I've always wanted to build a PC from the ground up, but never had the guts or the funds... Wal-Mart's buying power should reduce the cost a little, so that's a bonus, not to mention, the idea of maybe a large selection (who knows?) is enticing.
The reason non-union automakers pay so well is because theirs is a traditionally unionized industry, and they know if they're not competitive, the workers will likely vote in a union. So it's thanks to the unions that they have decent jobs.
Serving your airship needs since 1995.
Yes, thank-you. Leave it to a geek to split hairs when it offers no help other than to bolster his own ego.
I'll be sure to properly mention the MPAA when I next construct a relevant sentence.
-FL
I work at walmart, my store may be getting the DIY counter installed (my manager really wants it). We're just one of the 8-11 stores and our computer section is pathetic. Right now we have about 4 complete computers in a box (w/ or w/o monitors) and a handfull of peripherals. We're completely redoing the electronics department, though, so here's hoping we get some decent stuff. (I't also a small college town, no best buy, no compusa, just walmart, k-mart, radioshack, and the college bookstore) That said, I've seen printouts and pictures of the new DIY counter. As far as I understand, it's less a choice of what parts you want to customize your box with, and more which prepackaged box do you want? The email/solitaire machine, the office desktop for business, or the middle grade/low end gamer/media PC for the family or student. I may be wrong, the customizable everything would be great, but think about the walmart style. They'll make things as easy as possible for people. Instead of choosing which ram, HD, mobo, OS; customers will choose between 3 or 4 boxes, monitors, keyboards, and mice. I don't have a clue about what options for OS customers will have, my guess is windows for each box. If a customer wants to try linux, it's often because they've heard about it through a friend. They'll have to ask the friend for help. As a side note, I tried migrating once to linux, but sorry to say it was a headache for me jumping head first into it. I've ben on copmuters since the ti-994a and the amiga 1000. It's been intel chips at every level till amd was a viable alternative. I know windows, don't always like it, but it does most everything I want it to, most of the time. Most of my friends use linux, and have been for a while, I'm just not as interested in a computer I have to get down to the programming level to make great things happen. I know a lot more than the average walmart customer (thank goodness) The ones that want linux will get it somehow, everyone else will be happy with windows. The mac people probably would rather go to a certified macintosh dealer anyway, though I wouldn't mind the extra option here in small town Idaho.
http://www.jibjab.com/JokeBox/JokeBox_JJOrig.aspx? movieid=122
Enjoy
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
I'm not sure when the last time you guys went to a walmart electronics department was, but the last time I went (2 days ago.. electonics = flame, me = moth) they were selling keyboards, mice, webcams, speakers, monitors, (somewhat outdated) graphics cards, NIC cards, (very cheap) sound cards, hard drives, cd/dvd drives, dial up modems, and a few other peripherals. The only thing they DIDN'T sell was a CPU, RAM, and the case itself.
In fact, they have been selling these parts for years. This isn't exactly a new thing to them, they will just carry moer parts.