Bloatware Removal Threatens PC Industry Profits

Anti-Globalism sends along a piece on how a consumer-friendly service is not so good for PC manufacturers. "Before they ship PCs to retailers like Best Buy, computer makers load them up with lots of free software. For $30, Best Buy will get rid of it for you. That simple cleanup service is threatening the precarious economics of the personal computer industry. Software companies pay hundreds of millions of dollars to PC makers like Hewlett-Packard to install their photo tools, financial programs, and other products, usually with some tie-in to a paid service or upgrade. With margins growing thinner than most laptops, this critical revenue can make the difference between profit and loss for the computer makers, industry analysts say."

Comments

We call this the linux philosophy

[poetmatt]

Thankfully, Linux comes pretty free of bloatware. I guess they don't like that artificially inflated revenues by shoving crapware in people's faces is now heading back towards "realistic revenues by giving people what they actually want"?

I seem to recall a time way back when some company actually installed gator with their pc's bloatware.

Re:We call this the linux philosophy

[nelsonal]

The people have already spoken. They want the best hardware specs on the side for the least money with little care about measures of quality that require a little more knowledge. When was the last time you heard of anyone buying an airplane ticket based on anything other than price and time?

Other companies already build similar computers without bloatware, but the prices are higher and they have fewer customers.

Re:We call this the linux philosophy

[Anonymous Coward]

In my experience, singapore air is the gold standard of flying comfort, and you are a lucky dog.

Re:We call this the linux philosophy

[Vlad_the_Inhaler]

I have flown with Air Hawaii. Twice. There and back. Never again.

• The flight was massively overbooked.
• The stewardesses mostly looked like they were moonlighting from their day jobs as Sumo wrestlers (if the flight is totally full, that can be a real problem).
• The air conditioning leaked water onto the passengers.
• The large cockroach marching along the ceiling was . . . use your imagination

This was not long after the roof came off of one of their 737s, back in the mid '80s. They may have improved since but enough is enough.

Let's stray back on-topic. I bought a laptop 18 months ago. Format, re-install, dual-boot XP/Linux. I left a hell of a lot of the bloatware off when reinstalling.
Reinstalling XP (or Vista, I imagine) is easy - even from a recovery CD. Why pay $30 to get someone else to do it?

Norton Anti-Virus was the toughest one. The licence was free for one year. Buying another scanner when I had one for free (for 12 months) was a real decision.

Re:We call this the linux philosophy

[clodney]

I used to feel that the same way, but the last time I looked at building a basic box for a family member I found that I basically couldn't beat Dell's prices - maybe $50, but not enough to compensate for the extra effort of buying pieces and assembling them.

At the high end I think you are correct, if only because I can cut back on expensive components I don't care about.

But given the economies of scale that the big operators have, it is hard to beat them significantly on price.

Re:We call this the linux philosophy

[Richard_at_work]

This seems to be a common myth that people believe - in Airbus aircraft the pilots have the final say, not the computer. Up to that point they have more assistance from the flight computers in a lot of areas (alpha floor protection et al) but if a pilot wants to do something stupid then he can.

Theres no limit in an Airbus aircraft to the pilots level of control. The belief that the computer has more of a say is nothing more than a myth perpetrated by people that don't understand what they are saying.

Re:Not sure how I feel about this...

[Scoth]

This isn't always true. My fiancee got a laptop a year or so ago that came with no discs whatsoever. It gave you the option of burning restore discs, which included all the bloatware. There was no way, short of buying a retail copy of Vista or going pirate, to reformat/install without the bloatware. Fortunately most of it uninstalled fairly cleanly, but "just format and reinstall!!" isn't always an option.

PC decrapifyer

[flyingfsck]

So they charge $30 to run PC Decrapifyer? http://pcdecrapifier.com/

Re:PC decrapifyer

[Anonymous Coward]

I tried to download the PC Decrapifyer but my firewall blocked it because it detected the Sohanad.EG worm.

That's a fine tool you got there, Lou.

Re:Not sure how I feel about this...

[LunaticTippy]

I call shenanigans. An IT guy that has never heard of the PC Decrapifier

"more expensive" != "overpriced"

[argent]

Mac's aren't "overpriced". Macs do cost more, but OS X is worth more than Windows Vista (if you don't agree, don't get a Mac, sheesh).

And a $30 change in the cost of a PC isn't going to make much difference.

Re:Not sure how I feel about this...

[Just Some Guy]

I do Unix. I bought the laptop to run Quickbooks and some industry-specific applications. I appreciate the link, but the point was that you don't have to be a complete babe in the woods to have these sorts of problems.

Re:Not sure how I feel about this...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not sure what brand you use, but all of the HP notebooks my company purchase come with both a Vista and an XP Pro Installation disk as well as a HP-Specific "EZ-Install" driver disc.

Neither of them those discs contain any trial software or bloatware with the possible exception of the CD creator software which while fully functional is a reduced feature version of a commercial product.

The HDD-based recovery puts it back in a shipped from a factory, but the discs they include don't.

Also, my recent personal purchase, a Dell XPS m1730 behemoth, also included re-installation discs without any bloat. I think that is specific to the XPS line though.

Re: g-limits

[icebrain]

Certification standards require that all such aircraft be able to withstand 150% of the highest allowable g-limit without structural failure. This is true for both Boeing and Airbus aircraft--and neither manufacturer is going to significantly overbuild their aircraft, because that adds weight. In fact, if tests show the structure is stronger than that, they will remove some to save weight.

And a properly-designed fly-by-wire system doesn't "trump pilot judgment." It puts in g-limits (so you don't rip the wings off) and an alpha limiter (so you don't stall the airplane; incidentally, this makes windshear recovery easier since you can just haul back on the stick). Almost any situation where you would possibly need to overstress the aircraft, or would get into a stall, is likely the result of poor judgment on the pilot's part.

I can think of only two incidents off the top of my head where aircraft crashed due to FBW-related problems... the aforementioned Airbus, and the recent B-2 crash.

I'm and engineer working on a fly-by-wire program, and a private pilot, fwiw.

Re:Not sure how I feel about this...

[raynet]

Companies buy a volume license version of Windows that gives you permission to make copies of the installation media for N number of machines. The fact that you might have license for Windows does not give you permission to download an image for it from the net. Local copyright law might give you that right but YMMV. Also OEM Windows serials wont work on vanilla Windows CDs. You do have (usually) the right to make couple backup copies of the installation media.