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Microsoft gets into PC hardware business
The Inquirer ^
| 07-04-2002
| Mike Magee
Posted on 07/04/2002 4:10:51 PM PDT by JameRetief
Microsoft gets into PC hardware business
Launches "Dream Machine" with FIC
By Mike Magee: Thursday 04 July 2002, 08:49
INTEL IS NOT GOING TO LIKE this one little bit if it's true. A report in the Economic News claims that Microsoft and FIC will jointly launch a socalled "Dream PC" which doesn't even use an Intel chip, but instead makes use of a Via C3.
The report claims that the first jointly developed "Dream PC" will be introduced towards the end of this month and that Microsoft will also show quite a few so called "baseline" or cheap machines which run with Via C3 600MHz chips and Windows XP. FIC, like Via, is a subsidiary of mammoth Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics. The report adds that each complete machine will cost between $300 to $400 and are aimed at the low end of the market which doesn't necessarily need processors running at 2GHz and above. The "Dream Machine" could spell curtains for the traditional Wintel alliance, if the reports are true. And what with the AMD-Microsoft operating system announcements which we revealed earlier this year, we wonder how Chipzilla will react. The giant behemoth has been known to go stomping around furiously when firms really get its goat much like Via did last year by point blank refusing to licence Pentium 4 technology. µ
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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: competition; hardware; intel; lowqualitycrap; microsoft; techindex; via
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To: *Microsoft; *tech_index
.
To: dr_who
"I see this move by Microsoft as an attempt to keep the market going. As for Lindows, if they actually have a product at this point, much less something that could compete with GEOs, OS/2 Warp, BeOS, AmigaOS, or all those freeware Unix clones, I'd be surprised.
"
Wal-Mart already is selling quantities of machines running Lindows....
To: Willie Green
Oh man. Am I ever glad I did spent all that money on those Computer Shopper magazines. When I was shopping for my first computer, in 1995, I looked at Packard Bell's line (not knowing their reputation). Needless to say, I didn't get one. I knew someone who did though. They had to send their monitor back three times and I believe they had other problems with it.
To: dr_who
What?
"The fact that anyone would go to a Walmart to buy a computer takes some getting used to. But I like the concept of cheap computers."
WalMart was where many of the vast unwashed masses bought their Packard Bell 386 SXs.
"Cheap" does not equate to "a good bargain".
To: Willie Green
"Cheap" does not equate to "a good bargain".
That's true.
25
posted on
07/04/2002 5:46:09 PM PDT
by
dr_who
To: Paul Atreides
They had to send their monitor back three times and I believe they had other problems with it.I've tinkered on several -- trying to help out "friends in need".
In all honesty, there was nothing "wrong" with Packard Bell -- as originally packaged.
They were simply a pain in the @$$ if you wanted to crack open the box for any kind of simple little upgrade. No room, insufficient slots, non-standard chips... heck, I think they even saved a few pennies manufacturing costs by soldering the CMOS battery in place rather than use a socket. Made battery replacement a pain.
Didn't have to be that way.
But it was obvious that their penny-pinching design made them agonizing to tinker with compared to any other "clone".
To: Willie Green
What finally happened to Packard Bell?
To: Paul Atreides
They're still around (
Packard Bell - A Brand of NEC Computers International), they just no longer sell in the U.S.
I believe they were subjected to class action lawsuits alleging selling "used" components in "new" computers.
I don't know if there was actually any validity in this charge.
Competing at that absolute, el-stinko dirt-cheap rock botton of the market, it would not be unreasonable to expect that they would salvage usable components from either their own unsold units, or surplus from other manufacturers. Does that make the computer "used"???
Heck, I dunno. It definetly was a crapola machine, but it also sold at a crapola price. Ya get what you pay for, but the stinking lawyers expected more.
To: Willie Green
This thread got me to thinking about that idiotic claim by the left of the "digital divide" between higher and lower income persons. Computers are dirt-cheap now. I saw an HP computer in Wal Mart for $600. My internet service is $21 per month. I don't believe for a second that there are people out there who are being shut out of the advantages of the digital age.
To: Paul Atreides
Computers are dirt-cheap now. I saw an HP computer in Wal Mart for $600.The market is saturated. Most people have what they need.
For instance, I'm getting by on an "antiquated" 233 MHz MMX Pentium, 64 Mb Ram, 8 Mb video, 2 Mb hard drive, 17" monitor, cable modem. Although much "bigger, better, faster" systems are available and affordable, I see no reason to upgrade until something I already have actually disintegrates. Then, when I'm forced to buy something new, whatever is available that's cheap will be more powerful than whatever is cheap right now.
To: Paul Atreides
It would only take a couple of hours' searching on the public library's computer to find out how to build a cheap machine. For an ISP, NetZero charges less than 10 bucks a month for internet access. (Unfortunately, the poor people who choose to use an extra phone line have to pay the Al Gore tax for being rich enough to afford network access.)
I still have to hear a bunch of liberal BS from some guy at work about the poor people who don't know how to use computers. If they can't learn how to type relevant words into a search engine, why are we paying so much money for their education in the first place?
To: TheBattman
If Wal-mart is really selling mass quantities of Linows, I really feel sorry for the idiot who bought them.
It's just like the packard hell computers. People don't know what they are getting. A mom may buy it for her son thinking hey this computer's only $400. Then when they open it and try running programs they realize "Oops, I guess that's why it was only $400".
I have no problem with Lindows trying to compete. But by using Wal-mart as their selling vehicle, I have to say they are taking advantage of naive consumers. Sure, buyer-beware, but that doesn't make what wal-mart and Lindows doing ethically right. It just means they can legally scam some money from poor uneducated consumers.
Comment #33 Removed by Moderator
To: for-q-clinton
I don't see any ethical problems with Walmart selling computers with Lindows included. If Walmart wanted to sell the computers without an OS, they could do that as well and there would still be no ethical problem. In fact, I would prefer it this way as it would allow for more competitiveness in the OS market.
Bundled or not, it's up to the consumer to decide whether or not the computer and/or the OS fulfill their needs. For many, a simple email program, browser and word processor will be all that they will need and use. Lindows will provide those just fine. Those that want more can choose to buy a different OS (including Windows), which Walmart also sells, or even download linux for free.
To: TN Republican
Wal-Mart actually offers internet service for 9.95 a month. I used it for a couple days and it was surprisingly fast for a dial-up.
To: Willie Green
Hmmmmmm.... you must be too young to remember Packard Bell 386 SX machines. I had a Pack' Bell SX. It was last PC I owned. I actually felt sorry for the poor software I put on that P.O.S.
To: avg_freeper
I actually felt sorry for the poor software I put on that P.O.S.I usually have more empathy for hardware that gets overburdened with MS bloatwere.
To: Willie Green
I always had real good luck with Packard Bells. Owned a couple of them. Still have a 75MHZ Pentium PB that works fine after about 5-6 years. But then again, I still have my Tandy 1000TX and it probably works fine too. Sitting int he storeroom now. But my Compaq Presario (8570???), whatever, the volume controls on the monitor don't work. And the Sleepy-Bye Button with Mr. Moon on it goes into "coma-mode" sometimes. But man, on the inside, it (the Compaq) is hell for stout. Has roll bars, protective cages, and air bags. parsy the pack-rat.
38
posted on
07/10/2002 9:16:28 AM PDT
by
parsifal
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