I agree with your assertion. I think the high-quality packaging is slick but
limiting. With the pace at which obsolescence has been creeping up on
everybody, I'd say upgradeability is of no consequence at all any more.
Systems bought three years ago don't use the same drives, the same RAM, the
same CPU, the same PSU as the ones sold today. NEW 1 GHz monitorless systems
with 15 GB HDD's (WAY too small to be of interest to anyone nowadays) and a
DVD + FDD, a modest (64MB ??) of RAM, and the usual stuff including mouse and
keyboard, sporting a 4MB on-board video expandable to 16 MB, on-board sound,
and 4 USB ports along with a V.92 modem and all the other usual bells and
whistles are advertised on the local late-night TV for under $300. At prices
like that one can't afford to upgrade. By the time the warranty runs out,
they'll be obsolete again.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Glen Goodwin" <acme_ent_at_bellsouth.net>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 10:15 PM
Subject: Re: APPLEVISION Monitor
> > From: Richard Erlacher <edick_at_idcomm.com>
>
> > The problem is that the popular U.S. vendors expend entirely too much of
> their
> > resources on packaging, thinking, perahaps correctly, that it will help
> sales,
> > but they forget, oir perhaps not, that the individualized packaging will
> make
> > their systems difficult to upgrade over time, thereby making the
> long-term
> > usefulness of considerably less value.
>
> Dick, I believe they do this deliberately, to inhibit upgrades and repairs.
> I make a lot on upgrades and repairs of systems I originally built and
> sold, but the big names only make money when they sell a machine, so
> naturally they prefer that people replace their PCs instead of fixing them
> or beefing them up.
>
> When people come into my shop and I can get them to understand "total cost
> of ownership," they buy from me every time.
>
> Glen
> 0/0
>
>
Received on Sat May 04 2002 - 21:53:37 BST