Hi All, Some years ago I was told a story (which I could neither confirm or deny) about the Amstrad Corporation. Apparently in Europe about the time that IBM clones were becoming popular, Amstrad Engineers designed a computer that used convection cooling only (Yep - NO FAN!) that was literally whisper quiet. The problem was that by this stage, people were used to computers with noisy fans and people were scared that the computer would overheat without one and it didn't sell well. Apparently Amstrad did some market research and discovered this and demanded that the Engineering department redesign the box to accommodate a fan so that customers minds were put at ease. This they did and so Amstrad produced a computer with convection cooling that was perfect that was augmented with a cheap noisy fan that did nothing except blow cooled air out of the case and reassure the customers. This particular model then went on to sell very well.
Now the above story could be an urban legend as I cannot verify it, but it does sound good, and is the sort of thing that customers and marketing departments do sometimes. Maybe someone CAN actually verify it, I would be very interested in the results if it was true.
Slashdot Mirror
Hi All,
Some years ago I was told a story (which I could neither confirm or deny) about the Amstrad Corporation. Apparently in Europe about the time that IBM clones were becoming popular, Amstrad Engineers designed a computer that used convection cooling only (Yep - NO FAN!) that was literally whisper quiet. The problem was that by this stage, people were used to computers with noisy fans and people were scared that the computer would overheat without one and it didn't sell well. Apparently Amstrad did some market research and discovered this and demanded that the Engineering department redesign the box to accommodate a fan so that customers minds were put at ease. This they did and so Amstrad produced a computer with convection cooling that was perfect that was augmented with a cheap noisy fan that did nothing except blow cooled air out of the case and reassure the customers. This particular model then went on to sell very well.
Now the above story could be an urban legend as I cannot verify it, but it does sound good, and is the sort of thing that customers and marketing departments do sometimes. Maybe someone CAN actually verify it, I would be very interested in the results if it was true.
Cheers!
Phantm.