Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (
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Certain batches of hdd's have extremely higher failure rates than do
others, and all major OEMs know this. They are unwilling to publicize
this for several reasons:
1. American product liaility law actually protects "three monkey
policy" corporate behavior. This is as true of Quantum Fireball HDDs
as of the dry vacuum pumps that killed Missouri Gov. Carnahan.
2. They are afraid if they let out that some batches had higher
failure rates, everyone with those drives would want replacements.
They're right.
3.They are afraid that if 2) happened people would sabotage or crank
call for different hdd's or refuse the troublesome batch units as rpl
parts.
4. They figure that if they as major OEMs "spanked" a hdd vendor for
a bad batch, they and other OEMs would jack the price in the future to
that major OEM. This would, in an industry as cutthroat as the PC
industry is with its "R.C.H." margins, make them uncompetitive.
This is speculation on my part but it is backed up by observation.
You, the consumer, want a cheap PC is the real bottom line. Bill puts
it to Ted, and Ted puts it to the Gateway staff, and they put it to
you, and you get the least amount of vaseline. Sorry to put it
crudely, but that's how it works.
If the PC Buyer had beeen willing to pay for the quality path-SCSI
rather than IDE, UART instead of Winmodems, hefty power
supplies,well-made keyboards, PostScript instead of PCL laser
printers, and a cornucopia of other little cheaper-over-better
choices, things might be different.
Sorry to rant...
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