Rhetorical question..

[draggar]

Why the hell do people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a high end piece of equipment that:

• They have no idea how to use
• They never plan on learning how to use
• They expect everyone else to set up everything for them
• They expect everyone else to solve all of their problems with it
• They never plan on opening up the manual
• They don't plan on using the features that an identical item that costs a fraction as much doesn't have
• They refuse to take responsibility for completely f-ing up the product due to their own ignorance

Come on people, if you're going to spend the money, take the time to learn it, don't come crying back to me because you completely screwed up something you bought. Just because it is expensive doesn't mean it's resistant to your own stupidity.

[CancelMyService]

From someone who went from selling TVs to working with the pretty pictures that come across them, I can tell you there's a real "keeping up with the Jones" mentality at play. People hear about HDTV, plasma, LCD, and suddenly decide they HAFTA HAFTA HAFTA have it. They couldn't tell you *why* they needed it if you had a gun to their heads, and woe be to the salesman that tries to suggest a lesser model would do the trick (it's an insult, they think you're saying they are poor and/or stupid).

Hell, when I bought my new TV, I got a 30" widescreen HD TV (tube, not LCD) because I wanted HD and didn't want to spend a bazillion dollars for it. I have a little 15" LCD TV in my bedroom if I want to feel all new-fangled and such.

[JustADude]

Hell, when I bought my new TV, I got a 30" widescreen HD TV (tube, not LCD) because I wanted HD and didn't want to spend a bazillion dollars for it. I have a little 15" LCD TV in my bedroom if I want to feel all new-fangled and such.

I've got a massive (55" IIRC) rear-projection LCD because it was a clearance item, a floor model, and subject to a store wide sale. They all stacked up so that that ONE item, out of a whole store full of merchandise, was like 80% off. The end result was that I got a television of epic proportions for significantly less than the price of the common, every-day HD TV I'd been looking at before.

It's well worth it, and I used the cash I saved () to buy a surround-sound system to go with it and, to be honest, I haven't touched more than 1/10th of the settings on either. I have it set up, figured out the inputs and equalizer, and haven't fiddled with it since. Complicated remotes scare me in a way that I guess many non-techies feel about computers.

[Talonetc]

Why the hell do people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a high end piece of equipment that:

• They have no idea how to use
• They never plan on learning how to use
• They expect everyone else to set up everything for them
• They expect everyone else to solve all of their problems with it
• They never plan on opening up the manual
• They don't plan on using the features that an identical item that costs a fraction as much doesn't have
• They refuse to take responsibility for completely f-ing up the product due to their own ignorance

Come on people, if you're going to spend the money, take the time to learn it, don't come crying back to me because you completely screwed up something you bought. Just because it is expensive doesn't mean it's resistant to your own stupidity.

High-end phones are status symbols, people that come in can't pay their $150 bill every month but want to spend $500 on a PDA. You just want to ask them why they would spend the money when they clearly can't afford it... the answer is they want the look. They wan't people to THINK they can afford it. Just take the RAZR, when it first came out it was actually a bit expensive, and the wealthy had it. Now its dirt cheap (seeing as its a piece of shit) and EVERYONE wants it, thinking its still the same status symbol.

The same with TVs. People can tell their guests they have an HDTV, but if another guest asks what they pay for their HD programming, they look at you like you're speaking a made-up space language.

People don't like it when you question their status, so when you suggest they get something that actually fits their needs they do take it as an insult, when really you're just trying to help them out.

[earl colby pottinger]

Same for me

Had a co-worker who just got a new PowerBook trying to put down my old Dell 233 PII laptop.

First, because I use a lite-weight OS called BeOS I can do the video editing he thinks my machine can't do. More important, I have been a computer tech and programmer over a 35 year span. I write my own code. I can make my machine do things that his multi-giga hertz machine was never programmed for.

But most important of all, I am using it to read SF books and write fan-fiction. All the super abilities he claims for his machine will just sit there unused period. Worse, I don't think he has a DV camera to create videos in the first place.

[Shabo]

Had a co-worker who just got a new PowerBook trying to put down my old Dell 233 PII laptop.

Weeeeellllll.... it is a PII. What did you expect? Kudos to you for having the patience to deal with that though.

I think, that in some respect, that this situation applies to motor vehicles too. Not everyone knows how to fix them, but everyone learns how to drive them. Granted, you aren't necessarily going to kill anyone by using your computer, but still. We have laws about learning how to operate a car, and they cost thousands of dollars. We should have mandatory classes on how to use a computer for first time buyers. By now, it wouldn't cost too much since most families have computers already. However, who are we going to get to teach these classes? I can't imagine that too many of those people are going to be catching on to the computer quickly, which means job burnout for the instructor is going to be really high.

[earl colby pottinger]

I think you missed the part

Weeeeellllll.... it is a PII. What did you expect? Kudos to you for having the patience to deal with that though.

I think you missed the part where I said I use BeOS. I have no MS software on this machine.

I boot in 5 seconds. My word processor takes 2 seconds to load period.

I am editing text. I am reading text. How much CPU power does that take? I have used 1 MHz machines that could keep up with my typing/reading in the past, the point is he is claiming (falsely at that) that my machine can not do high end stuff, when what I need to do with it is all low end in the first place. A Power-Book would just be a waste of money for what I need a laptop for. And that is what he refuses to see.

If I want computer power I use my home computer with dual CPUs (yes two separate CPUs), dual 19' LCD displays and lots of ram.

[RichS]

Weeeeellllll.... it is a PII. What did you expect? Kudos to you for having the patience to deal with that though.

Well, as I've told customers before, if the machine does what you want/need to do, and it still works, then you're fine, you don't need the latest & greatest.

Now, I need to :

There are plenty of usable machines that both Microsoft and Apple have abandoned OS/software support on - what is the average user supposed to do?

Both companies want users to trash these old, but still working machines and get new ones that can run their latest OS. Doesn't anyone else think that's a bit wasteful? I mean, we know how to either reuse old equipment, put a version of Linux or other alternative OS on them, or spend a little to get it properly disposed of and recycled, but the average user probably leaves it out on the curb with the regular trash.

I don't expect a company to support an OS forever, but it needs to go a bit further.

Just a little pet peeve of mine - I even got my G3 iMac because I rescued it from a person that was going to put it in the dumpster. Still functions well, but I can guess putting a PowerPC-compatible version of OS10 would be akin to putting XP on a Compaq PII with 64MB RAM (which I had to work on, by the way...ugh).

[Gurndigarn]

There are plenty of usable machines that both Microsoft and Apple have abandoned OS/software support on - what is the average user supposed to do?

If you don't need the latest and greatest software, keep using your old machine.

If you do need the latest and greatest for some reason, buy a new machine, and use the old one for email, surfing, word processing, old games, whatever.

(Five computers in the house at the moment. Granted, one is from work and one is from my kid's school, but still....)

[Geek King]

If you don't need the latest and greatest software, keep using your old machine.

If you do need the latest and greatest for some reason, buy a new machine, and use the old one for email, surfing, word processing, old games, whatever.

(Five computers in the house at the moment. Granted, one is from work and one is from my kid's school, but still....)

I always amaze people when I reveal that they can get a good computer in the $200-$400 range when all they want to do is type and surf the net. People seem to have this deep-seated need to spend $1500+ on a PC. That's only for the real geeks that need a graphic-processing powerhouse for their games. And don't know how to shop the Internet shops.

Not that I know anyone like that.

[Shabo]

I think you missed the part where I said I use BeOS. I have no MS software on this machine.

Nope, I caught that. Frankly, I'm surprised that machine is still running. It's how old now?

I boot in 5 seconds. My word processor takes 2 seconds to load period.

Wow, that's a lot faster than I would expect. I guess that's not so bad at all.

the point is he is claiming (falsely at that) that my machine can not do high end stuff, when what I need to do with it is all low end in the first place. A Power-Book would just be a waste of money for what I need a laptop for. And that is what he refuses to see.

Technically, he is correct in saying that your machine can't do high end stuff. I wouldn't expect you to do video editing with that laptop, nor would I expect you to want to try. However, he is wrong in thinking that you *have* to have the latest and greatest to get anything done.

If I want computer power I use my home computer with dual CPUs (yes two separate CPUs), dual 19' LCD displays and lots of ram.

As long as the PII isn't your only computer... That would be a little crazy, IMO. Sounds like you have a nice PC though.

[JustADude]

I always amaze people when I reveal that they can get a good computer in the $200-$400 range when all they want to do is type and surf the net. People seem to have this deep-seated need to spend $1500+ on a PC. That's only for the real geeks that need a graphic-processing powerhouse for their games. And don't know how to shop the Internet shops.

Not that I know anyone like that.

Quoted for truth, and to add that my new dream-tower is a hair under $US 4,000 all told (including shipping), but building a comparable machine on any of the services like AlienWare would put it over $10k, without nearly as much actual drive-space.

Home-brew for the win!

[Gurndigarn]

People seem to have this deep-seated need to spend $1500+ on a PC. That's only for the real geeks that need a graphic-processing powerhouse for their games.

Or people who's wives regularly run 3-D modeling programs. If we get a new computer, I, the gamer*, get the cast-off old model.

*Computer gamer, that is. She's more than willing to join me for tabletop-type games.

[draggar]

I always amaze people when I reveal that they can get a good computer in the $200-$400 range when all they want to do is type and surf the net. People seem to have this deep-seated need to spend $1500+ on a PC. That's only for the real geeks that need a graphic-processing powerhouse for their games. And don't know how to shop the Internet shops.

I just bought my PC a few months ago for $350, it does everything I need and is a lot better than what I had. It was a "scratch and dent" model, but I cannot find a scratch or dent (Dell Outlet).

Pentium Dual Core 1.8GHz, 2GB Ram, 512MB Video, 160GB HDD (OK, that's a little low so I later bought a 500GB WD external HDD). The software in it is worth a lot more than the PC itself.

I'm just sick of the schmucks who come in yelling that their phone doesn't work, they like to spurt out how much they spend each month (usually exaggerated exponentially). I can tell who bought iut as a status symbol and who bought it to use it. The people who bought it to use it are usually the ones who have it backed up, will listen to you about installing applications, and actually have notes from tech support describing their issue.

Guess what people, I am not going to exchange your phone anymore because YOU f-ed it up. Learn to take responsibility of your actions and to live with the consequences.

[draggar]

Nope, I caught that. Frankly, I'm surprised that machine is still running. It's how old now?

I have a laptop, Toshiba Satellite Pro 180, Pentium 200 w/ MMX etc..

I use it for real bare applications (web, email). It runs great w/ Win98SE. I can even play Ultima 4 on it.