[TriLUG] even more interesting

[Jonathan Magid]

On Thu, 8 Nov 2001, Matt Jezorek wrote:

> Bill has make the average pc
> reasonably priced. Maybe not
> now but back when computers where a large object that no one understood he
> helped simplify usage

You're going to have to explain this to me. IMHO, those responsible for
making the pc affordable was mostly IBM, who "open sourced" all the
hardware schematics and BIOS code for the original PC, creating the clone
market, which has given us commodity PC hardware. It's this intense
competition in the hardware market that's really made things cheap.
Intel's invention of the micro-processor and discovery of "Moore's Law" is
the frosting on the cake

When MS started, the OS was always included for free with a computer.
Microsoft has pioneered the OS as main profit center. Their constant
increase in cost of the OS (how much is XP now) along with continuous
mandatory upgrades seems to me to have driven up the price of a PC, not
reduced it.

Of course, the bundling of the OS and Office by OEM's seems free to
consumers, and that give the impression of cheaper computing, but there
ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You certainly are paying for this "PC
tax".

cheers,
jem.
 --
Global Village Idiot
Email: jem at sunsite^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hmetalab^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hibiblio.org