This might be a bit offtopic, but in India, almost 90% of all home computers are homebuilt.
We generally have a friendly neighborhood salesman who is ready to make your comp for you with:
1) Zero inventory
2) Ultra low margins
3) Readily available and replacable parts, nothing propreitary.
Stays near your house, sells you cheap computers, throws in a year of home service for FREE. Same day on-site service calls, since he doesnt stay too far off.
Plus, you know where HE lives.:P
Almost ALL the smaller businesses, e.g. building contractors with around 5-7 PCs, used assembled computers too.
No wonder Dell and Compaq cant make much headway in this country.
Tc,
sidd
*India has no infrastructure but is developing it. just to give you an example, Roads in India are currently being laid at around 25 times the rate they were being laid in 1995.
*India started getting computers (and i mean any sort of computer) around the 90s
*India became free around 50 years ago. States like Sweden, Japan & America has been free to pursue the well being of their country and countrymen for god-knows-how-long for god-knows-how-long.
Israelis are a hard working intelligent lot who superseded india because of the massive american aid and because India was so fucked up by socialism and by the Nehru family from the 50s through to the 90s. It is just in the last 10 years that free enterprise in India has really been given a chance.
Everyone starts somewhere. China was treated in much the same way when it started overcoming its obstacles. Even China was better developed that India is. India has a loooonnnng way to go.
But... Wait and watch.It is always nauseating to see anyone, including my fellow indians, boasting. I guess Indians do boast a lot, but thats probably due to our excitement at the prospect of being able to overcome our economic and political backwardness with technology and becoming world-class in at least one field.India will surprise you in much the way China did. Dont deny it. Expect it to happen.
In India, the information and broadcasting ministry recently passed an order requiring all cable operators to install equipment which would allow users to select their own channels. Although it is similar to what is seen in the US, the main differenciating feature is that there are no "bouquets" by the cable operator.
A look at the minisculine costs invovled would surprise you.You pay around 20 rupees (thats around 35 cents)a month for HBO, another 20 for Star movies (the competing movie channel) and so on and so forth.
However, The @!#ing TV companies however, might well take advantage of the habitualy lax enforcement by indian authorities and form a cabal of sorts, driving up costs and making artificial bouquets of channels (with the better ones and not so good ones bundled together) so that the channels get bunched together by the TV companies rather than the cable operator. I think there is some provision in the law against this happening to, but im not sure.
HBO sucks. You wont believe it, but they show ads every 10 minutes in india. 10min-ad(2min)-10min-ad(2min) . Heck.. i know which movie channel I am going to suscribe to..
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This might be a bit offtopic, but in India, almost 90% of all home computers are homebuilt. We generally have a friendly neighborhood salesman who is ready to make your comp for you with: 1) Zero inventory 2) Ultra low margins 3) Readily available and replacable parts, nothing propreitary. Stays near your house, sells you cheap computers, throws in a year of home service for FREE. Same day on-site service calls, since he doesnt stay too far off. Plus, you know where HE lives. :P
Almost ALL the smaller businesses, e.g. building contractors with around 5-7 PCs, used assembled computers too.
No wonder Dell and Compaq cant make much headway in this country.
Tc,
sidd
*India has no infrastructure but is developing it. just to give you an example, Roads in India are currently being laid at around 25 times the rate they were being laid in 1995. *India started getting computers (and i mean any sort of computer) around the 90s *India became free around 50 years ago. States like Sweden, Japan & America has been free to pursue the well being of their country and countrymen for god-knows-how-long for god-knows-how-long. Israelis are a hard working intelligent lot who superseded india because of the massive american aid and because India was so fucked up by socialism and by the Nehru family from the 50s through to the 90s. It is just in the last 10 years that free enterprise in India has really been given a chance. Everyone starts somewhere. China was treated in much the same way when it started overcoming its obstacles. Even China was better developed that India is. India has a loooonnnng way to go. But... Wait and watch.It is always nauseating to see anyone, including my fellow indians, boasting. I guess Indians do boast a lot, but thats probably due to our excitement at the prospect of being able to overcome our economic and political backwardness with technology and becoming world-class in at least one field.India will surprise you in much the way China did. Dont deny it. Expect it to happen.
Just because you pay a lot for something doesn't mean that thing is good.... I thought that was the argument against M$ anyway...
In India, the information and broadcasting ministry recently passed an order requiring all cable operators to install equipment which would allow users to select their own channels. Although it is similar to what is seen in the US, the main differenciating feature is that there are no "bouquets" by the cable operator. A look at the minisculine costs invovled would surprise you.You pay around 20 rupees (thats around 35 cents)a month for HBO, another 20 for Star movies (the competing movie channel) and so on and so forth. However, The @!#ing TV companies however, might well take advantage of the habitualy lax enforcement by indian authorities and form a cabal of sorts, driving up costs and making artificial bouquets of channels (with the better ones and not so good ones bundled together) so that the channels get bunched together by the TV companies rather than the cable operator. I think there is some provision in the law against this happening to, but im not sure. HBO sucks. You wont believe it, but they show ads every 10 minutes in india. 10min-ad(2min)-10min-ad(2min) . Heck.. i know which movie channel I am going to suscribe to..