A lot of people aren't comfortable buying a computer over the phone. They like to be able to see it, play around with it, talk to someone face to face. Country Stores allow this. Look at it from the perspective of a person that hasn't really used a computer, not sure of much. Would you want to spend 1000-2000 dollars on something you never saw or touched?
>Retail is not the way to sell computers (just >ask Inca or Computerland or Entre' or Egghead) >but what did Gateway do? Open Gateway Country >stores!
Country Stores are not retail stores. You can't pick the computer up there. They are simply places you can go to see and play with the computers and then order. The computers are then built and shipped just like if you had ordered over the phone. Most also have a service center and software training classes.
>You dammmm right about that. The Gateway folks >are just as bad as Micro$oft in the "tech >support" arena
Um, as a former Corporate and NT tech for Gateway (now in a different dept there), I have to disagree. Yes, the outsourced tech support can be bad, but that's true for any company. But if you get a tech that actually works for Gateway, it's a good thing.
You compare us to MS, but we actually support our products. I guess it's true about those that have good experiances are silent, but those that have bad ones piss and moan.
Do you really record off the radio onto a CD? This is the only way to compare the two. Recording onto cassette is much better for radio. The quality of cassettes is just fine for radio, and they hold more music than cds do. The same can be said of DVD/VHS and TV.
Unless you have a digital satilite, a dvd recording is not going to give any better quality. Now, it won't deteriorate over time, so that is a plus.
People who say that DVD isn't a good idea until you can record are the same as those that said that CDs wouldn't take off until you could record. This just isn't true. The factors are even better for DVD then they were for CD.
1) The players were cheaper from the begining. 2) The difference in quality is more apparent then it was for cassett/cd. 3) The selection is growing faster than it did for cd. 4) It has been integrated into computers faster. 5) The consumer base is growing faster than for any other electronic appliance.
If you haven't sat down and watched a movie like True Lies, or 5th Element on a 27" Tv, with Dolby 5.1 sound and kick ass speakers, then you really have no frame of reference for whether or not DVD is worth it.
>> I'm saying it because I don't know a single woman who saw the film and liked it. Most were too caught up in the films violent content to watch it. It was an instant turn off that prevented them from viewing it objectively. >>
Actually, I know 3 or 4 that liked it. One was my sister, the others are part of a scifi group at Texas A&M. I think perhaps the determining factor is the ability to apprieciate Science Fiction. And not having been brainwashed by the PC[1] crowd. Every single female that I know that liked it, fit into that catagory.
>The only plot I could discover in the Matix was: ultra-violence will solve every problem.
You must not have seen the same movie as I did. Yes, on the surface, you might think that. But if you notice, violence did not solve anything. Every time they "killed" one of the sentinals, they just came back in another body. It wasn't until Neo started using his mind that he was able to defeat them.
It always amuses me when people think that violence is bad. I liked JMS (Bab5) when he said that he thought that there should be more violence on TV, just that they should show the consequences of that violence.
>That's neither original, nor interesting
Did you find Saving Private Ryan interesting? That was much more "ultra-violent" than anything in the Matrix.
-- Ty alSeen@narnia.net "This is quite a blow to the White House...." -- NBC reporter John Palmer opening a January 23 Nightly News story on White House reaction to the news Monica Lewinsky would be interviewed by House managers
>I mean, surely film makers wouldn't >simply be after a cheap buck by cashing >in on an earlier success?
Actually, I heard not long after the movie was released that they planned on 3 movies. It was pretty obvious through out the movie that they did. With all the talk about Zion (the human city) and Neo's speech at the end, most people had to know that at least one more movie was on the horizon.
-- Ty alSeen@narnia.net "This is quite a blow to the White House...." -- NBC reporter John Palmer opening a January 23 Nightly News story on White House reaction to the news Monica Lewinsky would be interviewed by house managers
Having actually played with one of these, I have to say it has a fantastic screen. Probably one of the best I've ever seen. Watching a DVD on it was really cool. The only thing I would have wanted would be a SBLive card in there for surround sound.
Now, the system can be upgraded some. It takes laptop harddrives and memory, usb is there for external upgrades also. I personally would still go with a full tower and a top o' the line 21" monitor, but this is still a pretty cool machine.
Yes, this isn't really meant for home users, but it's great for people who have limited space.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, but will they run linux?
--
Ty
alSeen@narnia.net
>Maybe it's because I'm just a cat, but I don't see how this idea would ever work.
I can see why it would be confusing, but it does seem to work. Gateway isn't big on wasting money, and they are opening new ones all the time.
I think one of the big reasons is because they have the service centers in them also.
--
alSeen@narnia.net
>And they make money how?
A lot of people aren't comfortable buying a computer over the phone. They like to be able to see it, play around with it, talk to someone face to face. Country Stores allow this. Look at it from the perspective of a person that hasn't really used a computer, not sure of much. Would you want to spend 1000-2000 dollars on something you never saw or touched?
--
alSeen@narnia.net
>Retail is not the way to sell computers (just
>ask Inca or Computerland or Entre' or Egghead)
>but what did Gateway do? Open Gateway Country
>stores!
Country Stores are not retail stores. You can't pick the computer up there. They are simply places you can go to see and play with the computers and then order. The computers are then built and shipped just like if you had ordered over the phone. Most also have a service center and software training classes.
--
alSeen@narnia.net
>You dammmm right about that. The Gateway folks
>are just as bad as Micro$oft in the "tech
>support" arena
Um, as a former Corporate and NT tech for Gateway (now in a different dept there), I have to disagree. Yes, the outsourced tech support can be bad, but that's true for any company. But if you get a tech that actually works for Gateway, it's a good thing.
You compare us to MS, but we actually support our products. I guess it's true about those that have good experiances are silent, but those that have bad ones piss and moan.
--
alSeen@narnia.net
Do you really record off the radio onto a CD? This is the only way to compare the two. Recording onto cassette is much better for radio. The quality of cassettes is just fine for radio, and they hold more music than cds do. The same can be said of DVD/VHS and TV.
Unless you have a digital satilite, a dvd recording is not going to give any better quality. Now, it won't deteriorate over time, so that is a plus.
People who say that DVD isn't a good idea until you can record are the same as those that said that CDs wouldn't take off until you could record. This just isn't true. The factors are even better for DVD then they were for CD.
1) The players were cheaper from the begining.
2) The difference in quality is more apparent then it was for cassett/cd.
3) The selection is growing faster than it did for cd.
4) It has been integrated into computers faster.
5) The consumer base is growing faster than for any other electronic appliance.
If you haven't sat down and watched a movie like True Lies, or 5th Element on a 27" Tv, with Dolby 5.1 sound and kick ass speakers, then you really have no frame of reference for whether or not DVD is worth it.
--
Ty
alSeen@narnia.net
>>
I'm saying it because I don't know a single woman who saw the film and liked it. Most were too caught up in the films violent content to watch it. It was an instant turn off that prevented them from viewing it objectively.
>>
Actually, I know 3 or 4 that liked it. One was my sister, the others are part of a scifi group at Texas A&M. I think perhaps the determining factor is the ability to apprieciate Science Fiction. And not having been brainwashed by the PC[1] crowd. Every single female that I know that liked it, fit into that catagory.
--
Ty
alSeen@narnia.net
[1]Policital Correctnes - not Personal Computer.
>The only plot I could discover in the Matix was: ultra-violence will solve every problem.
You must not have seen the same movie as I did. Yes, on the surface, you might think that. But if you notice, violence did not solve anything. Every time they "killed" one of the sentinals, they just came back in another body. It wasn't until Neo started using his mind that he was able to defeat them.
It always amuses me when people think that violence is bad. I liked JMS (Bab5) when he said that he thought that there should be more violence on TV, just that they should show the consequences of that violence.
>That's neither original, nor interesting
Did you find Saving Private Ryan interesting? That was much more "ultra-violent" than anything in the Matrix.
--
Ty
alSeen@narnia.net
"This is quite a blow to the White House...."
-- NBC reporter John Palmer opening a January 23 Nightly News story on White
House reaction to the news Monica Lewinsky would be interviewed by House managers
>I mean, surely film makers wouldn't
>simply be after a cheap buck by cashing
>in on an earlier success?
Actually, I heard not long after the movie was released that they planned on 3 movies. It was pretty obvious through out the movie that they did. With all the talk about Zion (the human city) and Neo's speech at the end, most people had to know that at least one more movie was on the horizon.
--
Ty
alSeen@narnia.net
"This is quite a blow to the White House...."
-- NBC reporter John Palmer opening a January 23 Nightly News story on
White House reaction to the news Monica Lewinsky would be interviewed by
house managers
Having actually played with one of these, I have to say it has a fantastic screen. Probably one of the best I've ever seen. Watching a DVD on it was really cool. The only thing I would have wanted would be a SBLive card in there for surround sound.
Now, the system can be upgraded some. It takes laptop harddrives and memory, usb is there for external upgrades also. I personally would still go with a full tower and a top o' the line 21" monitor, but this is still a pretty cool machine.
Yes, this isn't really meant for home users, but it's great for people who have limited space.
--
Ty
alSeen@narnia.net