“... it’s all just 1’s and 0’s in a really big, sophisticated register.” This. AND...
...the hole left in my cash stash. Most of what takes place in the average home today is involvement in social media and streaming media or online games. IMHO I require a laptop or desktop which will address the basic functions of word processing and spreadsheet use, and as long as the 0s and 1s translate to legible type on the screen, the cheaper the better. Beyond that is gravy on the potatoes. Usually in the $250 to $300 range and good for two to seven years depending on hardware dependability. That leaves Windows based machines as a first consideration. Privacy is an issue and Microsoft is losing in that regard far more than Apple. Google? Fuggetaboutit! Service based programs are bunk and as long as Office 2007 continues to function I will avoid moving in total to Open Office or Softmaker.
Make it as inexpensively to acquire and serve my purposes and I’ll buy it. The only reason I haven’t turned to Apple yet. I have no loyalty to brand names and it will be a cold day in... ...well that place when I’ll argue any brand before price.
Oh. Thanks to all for keeping it interesting as well as educational.
Make it as inexpensively to acquire and serve my purposes and I’ll buy it. The only reason I haven’t turned to Apple yet. I have no loyalty to brand names and it will be a cold day in... ...well that place when I’ll argue any brand before price...
If social media, videos and games are all you want, then you can make do with anything, and the cheaper the better.
In our household we do more and look at both price and cost which can be significantly different than price. DW runs her consulting business on a computer. I manage our investments, manage rental properties and do technical sketches/drawings for construction projects. Even though we are both "retired", the real truth is that we are busy.
Up until 12 or so years ago DW was a diehard Windows fan, and I was a Mac person. Then she had a chance for a day of Mac training and she tried one. All of a sudden, her computer just worked, instead of requiring constant care and frequent replacements.
For a long time, I suffered through the issue that most financial sites were Windows-centric, but now they are useable on Macs also. Unfortunately, my favorite technical drawing program went Windows-only and I have not yet found a suitable replacement, but I make do as best I can.
Our real-world experience is that we spent over an hour each and every week dealing with Windows issues, which has fallen to less than an hour per month with Macs. This is just part of the cost of using Windows.
Sure, the price of a Windows computer is lower, but the time necessary to keep it going, plus the virus issues, make Windows much more expensive if you do anything other than just play games and entertain yourself on it.
We actually do real work on our computers and the extra time demanded by the Windows platform can not be justified by the lower equipment price.