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JeffGordon

$200 pc's at wal mart

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First off, they say "...attracting novices looking for a way onto the Internet ". Then, they remind you that "There is no modem, floppy disk drive, or monitor".

The conflict here is that you can't get to internet without a modem. An extra $100 and you have to install it on a Lindows operating system.

Next, this is not "Windows" operating system, it is "Lindows", a pain-in-the-butt weaker flavor of Linux. Windows users aren't going to understand how anything works. If you buy a modem, it isn't plug-and-play and there is not instructions on how to install it.

Also, the method of re-installing the software includes a floppy. However, a floppy drive does not come with it. :S What bonehead thought of that?

"When you switch operating systems, millions of programs no longer work. The person next door can't help you," Wise words.

Last, it doesn't come with a monitor.

This is a geek toy, not an average-user computer. It is only a deal if you have a niche for it. Second computer to play with.

Lindows or Linux is not going to do away with the Windows market because Windows makes stuff easy to do. Most users have a job skill, they don't want to learn computer stuff any more than I want to learn how to fix my air conditioner. There is already people who do that.

MicroSoft is in no danger.

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I still say... Get a Mac.:)



ok. Granted, Apple came up with all the GUI stuff first. So why doesn't everyone use Apples? When I was in college, Apple gave $3 million worth of computers to the National Science Foundation. This wasn't a new idea, all computer companies do it. You recommend what you know.

To be a successful computer operating system, you need customers.

Most home users don't know squat about computers. If you have a problem, name 5 friends you can call for an answer. Almost everyone I know has a Windows desktop at work. No Apples.

Second, most business users don't use Apples either. Where is the tech support? The Apple certified techies to help? Who will fix it if it breaks? Businesses are busy with their business, not learning computers. They are not supposed to.

Third, the software has to be easily transportable to the platform. This works for Apple, but not for Linux. In fact, for the PC being sold by Wal-Mart, it even states on their website that you will have to set parameters on the floppy definition to read MS dos data. The Wal-Mart pc can't play with others.

MS markets the products. People write jillions of programs to run on it. It is easy to use. People understand it. They train people to help you use it. Put a disk in, it runs.

MS makes money on its products, so does all business. Apple has a good product. Linux, Lindows, and Unix are not end-user friendly. Nice for networks and big business, but not end-users. They aren't going to replace MS until they can replace 90% of its customer base.

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it's basically a browsing computer. it's not intented to be used for anything else. i think it has a
modem, it's integrated on motherboard. and when was the last time you use floppy to update
software ?

stan.

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it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

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>and when was the last time you use floppy to update
software ?

Today when I used Ghost to clone Hard drives :P



so your hard drive can fit on floppy ? :P

stan.

--
it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

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it's basically a browsing computer. it's not intented to be used for anything else. i think it has a
modem, it's integrated on motherboard. and when was the last time you use floppy to update
software ?

stan.



If you buy the pc, it comes with a floppy, but no floppy drive. It has a CD for most of the install, but the floppy is for the extra software goodies. Kind of funny, you can't re-install the product as distributed. I've seen the Wal-Mart pc.

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>They aren't going to replace MS until they can replace 90% of its
> customer base.

They don't have to. Most consumers don't want to know how to program a computer; does that mean that consumers don't want a microwave oven with a digital display? As long as they can use it, they don't care how the software gets in there.

More and more users need nothing more than a browser. Let's say you sell a $300 PC with a mouse, keyboard, monitor and one of five plug-in modems (802.11b, phone line, DSL, cable or 3G.) You just turn it on and hit the "connect" icon. Mom can use it to check her Yahoo email and download recipies. Dad can use it to check golf scores. Grandma can drop off her pictures at the drugstore and see them on line, even send them to her kids. Junior can use it to do research on his science paper. He can even _write_ his science paper on it, if his school has an HTML-based editor. He can't open any Word documents, but for $299.95, is he really going to care? And if he does, he can buy a PC and MS Office.

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Granted, Apple came up with all the GUI stuff first. So why doesn't everyone use Apples?



It was Xerox that came up with the GUI concept. Apple got a sneak preview in exchange for a large sum of their stock.

IMO people feel good when they figure things out. Sort of feeling sophisticated. Windows being a little complicated satisfies this.

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Second, most business users don't use Apples either. Where is the tech support? The Apple certified techies to help? Who will fix it if it breaks? Businesses are busy with their business, not learning computers. They are not supposed to



When a business has already invested lots of money on a platform, it's going to cost them just as much if not more to migrate. Look at how long it's taken businesses to even upgrade from Win 3.1 to 95. Lots of time is needed to ensure that existing data, logic, ++ can live and work in the new environment. Hence it will be difficult for business to switch to Apples.

Tech support? Techies? It's the same in any platform.

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Third, the software has to be easily transportable to the platform. This works for Apple, but not for Linux.



Only true if you are going to run Mac specific software. The same can be said about MS products that are not available for Mac, *nix like systems. Take an open source project, and you'd be surprised.

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MS markets the products. People write jillions of programs to run on it. It is easy to use. People understand it. They train people to help you use it. Put a disk in, it runs.



So why do businesses that run SQLServer hire a staff to support it?

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Linux, Lindows, and Unix are not end-user friendly. Nice for networks and big business, but not end-users. They aren't going to replace MS until they can replace 90% of its customer base.



I'll have to agree with you to some point. Check out Mandrake. I was shocked when that thing was even able to detect the monitor. (I was helping a buddy on this project)
My other ride is the relative wind.

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It was Xerox that came up with the GUI concept. Apple got a sneak preview in exchange for a large sum of their stock.



I thought apple just stole it... then bitched (and sued) when MS stole it from them. Could be wrong.

And there are mac techies out there... plenty of them. And you'll need them less often than you do a PC techy :D

And no, the harddrive doesn't fit on a floppy, I'm guessing he made a network boot disk and 'ghosted' it to a network drive.
it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

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Actually.....from a security standpoint I might like to use one for browsing the internet while keeping "everything else" on a real computer. *shrug* I think it will carve out a nice low end niche. That's what Wal-Mart does anyway right? They aren't competeing with Rodeo drive for business. ;)

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ok. Granted, Apple came up with all the GUI stuff first.



Wrong. Xerox created a "windows" based GUI before Apple or Microsoft knew what was going on.



Yeah, I know about PARC. I did a college paper on it for a business class. I meant in the context of Apple vs. MS, Apple had it first. We were discussing the two of them.

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We were discussing the two of them.



Apple rules!B|

MS is evil!>:(

Proof that Bill Gates is the offspring of an evil tax overlord.

Son, go extort money from those bastards who can afford technology. I'll tax the shit out of those who can't.
My other ride is the relative wind.

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I still say... Get a Mac.:)



Second, most business users don't use Apples either. Where is the tech support? The Apple certified techies to help? Who will fix it if it breaks?


My first job with my company was an all Apple environment, my Mac never broke, never crashed, never gave me a blue screen. Tech support was more H/W oriented, they installed some more memory for me once...then, in late '94 my life changed forever: Windows 3.1 :|, then Win95 >:(, thousands of blue screens later, I work from a WinNT station [:/], no more blue screens but... My home PC is on WinME...

I've had it. My personal goal is get an Apple next year and dump Windows forever...
So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

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He can't open any Word documents, but for $299.95, is he really going to care? And if he does, he can buy a PC and MS Office.



He can if he uses the free open source program Open Office... it reads most word .doc files quite nicely...

www.openoffice.org

Oh yeah, and for the record, I installed Win2K and Mandrake Linux 9.0 on my pc at home, and only ONE of the installs detected ALL my hardware, and loaded just a few security patches at the end of the install, all without rebooting ONCE. :P

"If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

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Mom can use it to check her Yahoo email and download recipies. Dad can use it to check golf scores. Grandma can drop off her pictures at the drugstore and see them on line, even send them to her kids. Junior can use it to do research on his science paper.



You missed the real important point of the Internet. The ability to HooterSurf:D
My other ride is the relative wind.

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Mom can use it to check her Yahoo email and download recipies. Dad can use it to check golf scores. Grandma can drop off her pictures at the drugstore and see them on line, even send them to her kids. Junior can use it to do research on his science paper.



You missed the real important point of the Internet. The ability to HooterSurf:D


Actually, the Wal-Mart pc for $199 won't surf if you are mom or pop. The integrated ethernet card is only handy if you are at a business or have DSL or some such thing. Mom and pop may have DSL, but will probably have to -1- buy a monitor (it doesn't come with one) and -2- buy a modem for the dial-up line.

This pc is not for the unknowledgable user. If you want to load pics from your digital camera, good luck. You'll need to download the drivers. Any other software that is almost considered default on most systems has to be purchase through a Lindows website deal. You have to pay $99 to be a member.

What if every car came with a radio, a/c, tires, a motor, and windows - and yours didn't? And you had to buy them one at a time. That is the picture. Mom and pop are going to be unhappy. You have to be a sophisticated user to be able use this pc. It is not a "minimum, bare-bones" type pc. It is less than that.

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Actually.....from a security standpoint I might like to use one for browsing the internet while keeping "everything else" on a real computer. *shrug* I think it will carve out a nice low end niche. That's what Wal-Mart does anyway right? They aren't competeing with Rodeo drive for business. ;)



You know what the default user security is? Root.
Ouch.

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ok. Granted, Apple came up with all the GUI stuff first.



Wrong. Xerox created a "windows" based GUI before Apple or Microsoft knew what was going on.



I always thought that the Xerox engineers at Palo Alto stole the GUI idea from Denny's. All the software people go out on Friday night and get really hammered. Then they go to Denny's. They are too drunk to order, so the point to a picture of the food for the waitress.

Seems to me that this was the first Graphical User Interface. "I'd like something like that picture in my face." Make your selection by pointing - the exact concept.

This is only a theory of mine.

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I still say... Get a Mac.:)



Ultimately, the biggest difference between a Mac and a PC is cost. Everything else comes down to preference, but there isn't much that can't be done on either system. I've used both systems for both work and personal use. Currently, we have 3 Macs and a PC at home. However, I don't think I'll be buying Macs in the future unless the prices come down drastically. They're just too damned expensive! I'd buy a Mac if it was a 10% price premium, but 100%+ premium is just not sensible. The only Macs that are slightly reasonable is the 15" iMac G4 and the 12" iBook. Everything else is totally absurd.

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