Due to an extremely silly incident involving a support contract a server running an Oracle instance, I've avoided DeLL for years--which isn't easy since my Uni is ALL ABOUT Teh DeLL.
But I thought this was interesting enough to give another try.
Uni acct. rep wouldn't sell Got bounced all over the place Kept trying to sell me the same notebook with Vista (no matter what I explained) Finally decided to let us buy--but not as Uni, only as a person Which meant no P.O. and further hassles
I agree with you. People seem to (at times) get really, really upset about the First Post! but it just doesn't bother me. And, the longer it goes on, it has just become a part of the landscape for me, or, as you said, "a cultural phemonenon". Not that its usefull--doesn't have to be--its just there. There was even one a while back that had me laughing. It was close to: (sigh). ..just can't help myself. ..First Post! Sure its silly, but Slashdot isn't our jobs.
crashes are only a tiny part of the picture. . . [all you together people who edit TEXT and hardly ever print, realize that you ARE alone]
if people were using computers to prepare documents the same way they did on the selectric, well, yeah, there would be some gain. but almost no one does. instead each little memo is layed-out like a page from wired. any benefits of editing e-lectronically are wiped out by the extra formatting, etc.
also, there is the "'cause i can" syndrome. Have you ever seen a co-worker spend 4 hours getting a label for a folder printed out on the laser instead of using a marker?
then there is the Myth of Paperless. someone prepares a 20 page doc. ..no one is going to read that on the screen...they're gonna print it. ..but they send it out as an attachment. ..so instead of paying some temp $6/hr to run that sucker off double-sided on the copier for far less than a penny a page you wind up with all your $30..? employees each printing the thing out single-sided. ..lordy
factor in that for a lot (a lot!) of people doing anything on the computer--anything--is (in their mind) part of their resume. It gets them (in their mind) on the train and, yeah, lots of time goes down the drain. . .
if you happen to work in a really for true geek shop you might wonder, but if you have ever worked in the garden variety office, you know what I mean
(and this could be continued, example after example, for many, many pages)
Slashdot Mirror
Due to an extremely silly incident involving a support contract a server running an Oracle instance, I've avoided DeLL for years--which isn't easy since my Uni is ALL ABOUT Teh DeLL.
But I thought this was interesting enough to give another try.
Uni acct. rep wouldn't sell
Got bounced all over the place
Kept trying to sell me the same notebook with Vista (no matter what I explained)
Finally decided to let us buy--but not as Uni, only as a person
Which meant no P.O. and further hassles
Just wasn't worth it. . .
I agree with you. People seem to (at times) get really, really upset about the First Post! but it just doesn't bother me. And, the longer it goes on, it has just become a part of the landscape for me, or, as you said, "a cultural phemonenon". Not that its usefull--doesn't have to be--its just there. There was even one a while back that had me laughing. It was close to: (sigh). . .just can't help myself. . .First Post! Sure its silly, but Slashdot isn't our jobs.
crashes are only a tiny part of the picture. . .
.no one is going to read that on the screen. ..they're gonna print it. . .but they send it out as an attachment. . .so instead of paying some temp $6/hr to run that sucker off double-sided on the copier for far less than a penny a page you wind up with all your $30. .? employees each printing the thing out single-sided. . .lordy
[all you together people who edit TEXT and hardly ever print, realize that you ARE alone]
if people were using computers to prepare documents the same way they did on the selectric, well, yeah, there would be some gain. but almost no one does. instead each little memo is layed-out like a page from wired. any benefits of editing e-lectronically are wiped out by the extra formatting, etc.
also, there is the "'cause i can" syndrome. Have you ever seen a co-worker spend 4 hours getting a label for a folder printed out on the laser instead of using a marker?
then there is the Myth of Paperless. someone prepares a 20 page doc. .
factor in that for a lot (a lot!) of people doing anything on the computer--anything--is (in their mind) part of their resume. It gets them (in their mind) on the train and, yeah, lots of time goes down the drain. . .
if you happen to work in a really for true geek shop you might wonder, but if you have ever worked in the garden variety office, you know what I mean
(and this could be continued, example after example, for many, many pages)