Today a workmate was telling me about a visitor who had bought an Apple iBook a week ago, and was now totally devoted to it. I've never got my hands on a working Apple PC or laptop.
At work, I've just finished installing WinXP on my workmates PCs. At home, I dual boot WinME and various flavours of Linux (currently Xandros 3.0 OC).
I use what works, subject to availability and price. I have one PC with a licensed copy of Windows at home so I can do stuff from work, if I feel so inclined. If I want to read email, chat or websurf, I reboot into Linux.
Microsoft is not making a hell of a lot of money out of me, because the only new OS I've acquired in the last 3 or 4 years is a 'nix of one sort or another, straight off the cover CD of a computer magazine.
What's to love or hate about any computer company ? By and large I do my own tech support, but I'm happy to admit I don't know everything. Everything can crash, if it's broke, just fix it. That's what I learnt all this stuff for!
Back in the days of the big old clunky Xerox photocopiers that had the big drums (had to be polished regularly with metal polish) there was a service technician who used to turn up regularly and check that everything was going well, adjust and check a few things etc. The Xerox never broke down... he'd turn up with some parts, replace them simply and cheaply, and it would just keep on working.
Then after a while, he stopped coming.
Eventually the Xerox copier broke down and a service call had to be made... which cost a lot, as "these parts have to be ordered in" and "I'll have to make another call to install them" said the new guy. I found out years later, the service man who had kept it running with preventative maintenance had been ignoring the terms of his contract by doing so, and was eventually squeezed out. His crime ? He worked at the prevention so well, none of the machines he serviced ever broke down, so didn't require the "expensive imported parts" nor the "multiple call-outs" to install same. I found this out, because I met his son when I moved to another city, then met him on a return visit. Now there's a service ethic for you.
I help a lot of colleagues set up cheap "end-of-life" PCs they buy from the office we work in, and the common theme of "can you set it up for me..." always continues with "... you've got a copy of Windows you can install haven't you?" or similar.
Because they paid only $100 or $200 dollars for the (wiped) PC, they see it as ridiculous to pay $325 for Windows XP Home.
I haven't yet persuaded any to use Linux... but I've started trying to... the only victory I've had for common sense in buying software was to persuade two people to spend the money on an Internet Security suite (Antivirus & Firewall). It was a minor victory, they'd both had virus attacks at some stage.
Just by the way, I'm typing this on a Dell Optiplex GX1 I paid $57.50 for... running Xandros Open Circulation Edition 3.0:-)
Here in Australia, there have been discussions at Government level to delay the "switch off" of the analogue signal TV due to only something like 3% of consumers having bought a digital TV or set top box.
Yet I saw a set top digital converter in a grocery chain store here priced at $79.00 Australian... chalk me up as confused.
Oh, and no, I don't have one yet, the TV I have works fine : hey, maybe that's it! If it ain't broke, why should I, or anyone, buy a new one?
I think you'll find the government of the Australian Capital Teritory (ACT) beat them to it a couple of years ago. ACT is a small "state within the state" of NSW which surrounds our national capital Canberra. Coincidentally, Bill Gates paid a visit to Canberra and our (national) Prime Minister at about the same time... but the PM is not in charge of ACT:-)
They removed Freecell, Solitaire, Minesweeper etc. from our PCs (State Government in Australia)... and no-one could play... until the next round of hardware refresh, by which time they'd forgotten to bother. Meanwhile even the least geeky user found a copy of some old game, then brought it in on a floppy.
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Today a workmate was telling me about a visitor who had bought an Apple iBook a week ago, and was now totally devoted to it. I've never got my hands on a working Apple PC or laptop.
At work, I've just finished installing WinXP on my workmates PCs.
At home, I dual boot WinME and various flavours of Linux (currently Xandros 3.0 OC).
I use what works, subject to availability and price. I have one PC with a licensed copy of Windows at home so I can do stuff from work, if I feel so inclined. If I want to read email, chat or websurf, I reboot into Linux.
Microsoft is not making a hell of a lot of money out of me, because the only new OS I've acquired in the last 3 or 4 years is a 'nix of one sort or another, straight off the cover CD of a computer magazine.
What's to love or hate about any computer company ?
By and large I do my own tech support, but I'm happy to admit I don't know everything.
Everything can crash, if it's broke, just fix it. That's what I learnt all this stuff for!
Recent story on Slashdot ... unprotected PC now only has 12 minutes.
I might add, only in America is a $400 PC a "throw away" item.
Hasn't anyone heard of Adaware or SpyBot Search & Destroy ?
I just spent a couple of hours each, cleaning malware crap off two different PCs, for friends. They're back in business, a little wiser.
Back in the days of the big old clunky Xerox photocopiers that had the big drums (had to be polished regularly with metal polish) there was a service technician who used to turn up regularly and check that everything was going well, adjust and check a few things etc. The Xerox never broke down ... he'd turn up with some parts, replace them simply and cheaply, and it would just keep on working.
... which cost a lot, as "these parts have to be ordered in" and "I'll have to make another call to install them" said the new guy.
Then after a while, he stopped coming.
Eventually the Xerox copier broke down and a service call had to be made
I found out years later, the service man who had kept it running with preventative maintenance had been ignoring the terms of his contract by doing so, and was eventually squeezed out. His crime ? He worked at the prevention so well, none of the machines he serviced ever broke down, so didn't require the "expensive imported parts" nor the "multiple call-outs" to install same.
I found this out, because I met his son when I moved to another city, then met him on a return visit. Now there's a service ethic for you.
I help a lot of colleagues set up cheap "end-of-life" PCs they buy from the office we work in, and the common theme of "can you set it up for me ..." always continues with "... you've got a copy of Windows you can install haven't you?" or similar.
... but I've started trying to ... the only victory I've had for common sense in buying software was to persuade two people to spend the money on an Internet Security suite (Antivirus & Firewall).
... running Xandros Open Circulation Edition 3.0 :-)
Because they paid only $100 or $200 dollars for the (wiped) PC, they see it as ridiculous to pay $325 for Windows XP Home.
I haven't yet persuaded any to use Linux
It was a minor victory, they'd both had virus attacks at some stage.
Just by the way, I'm typing this on a Dell Optiplex GX1 I paid $57.50 for
Here in Australia, there have been discussions at Government level to delay the "switch off" of the analogue signal TV due to only something like 3% of consumers having bought a digital TV or set top box. Yet I saw a set top digital converter in a grocery chain store here priced at $79.00 Australian ... chalk me up as confused.
Oh, and no, I don't have one yet, the TV I have works fine : hey, maybe that's it! If it ain't broke, why should I, or anyone, buy a new one?
I think you'll find the government of the Australian Capital Teritory (ACT) beat them to it a couple of years ago. ACT is a small "state within the state" of NSW which surrounds our national capital Canberra. Coincidentally, Bill Gates paid a visit to Canberra and our (national) Prime Minister at about the same time ... but the PM is not in charge of ACT :-)
And what if it simply keeps switching off? No brain, no TV!
They removed Freecell, Solitaire, Minesweeper etc. from our PCs (State Government in Australia) ... and no-one could play ... until the next round of hardware refresh, by which time they'd forgotten to bother.
Meanwhile even the least geeky user found a copy of some old game, then brought it in on a floppy.