Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips,comp.sys.intel (More info?)
On Mon, 24 May 2004 10:20:44 -0700, Neil Maxwell <neil.maxwell@intel.com>
wrote:
>On Fri, 21 May 2004 01:56:01 -0400, George Macdonald
><fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 20 May 2004 08:23:20 -0700, Neil Maxwell <neil.maxwell@intel.com>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On Thu, 20 May 2004 05:47:15 -0400, George Macdonald
>>><fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>As I've tried to get across, a large part of the consumer market is now
>>>>"upgrade"... == wiser. The consumer market is becoming increasingly
>>>>sophisticated in its appreciation... and demands. Digital cameras,
>>>>digi-videocams, home media centers/networks, etc will do that.
>>>
>>>I work with a lot of families through high/middle school connections,
>>>here in Silicon Valley, and it's my experience that the bulk of
>>>computer users really don't have a clue what's in their box. They
>>>know the brand name (HP, Dell, whatever) and (generally) the OS, but
>>>don't have any idea the CPU speed, AMD or Intel, even how much RAM or
>>>how big a HD they have. They get advice from a salesman at Best Buy
>>>or a friend who reads PC Mag, buy it, and that's it until it quits
>>>working right and they call someone to help.
>>>
>>>Sure, the techies know that stuff, but there are so many more people
>>>who still have all the vendor-installed icons on their desktop (Free
>>>AOL Trial!) a year after they bought it because they don't know what
>>>they can delete or not, or even that they *can* delete it. IME, the
>>>bulk of PC consumers today have no more idea what's inside their PC
>>>than they do what's inside their TV.
>>
>>Like I said, there's difference between first-timers, which you seem to be
>>talking about (high/middle school) and the 2nd-time-arounders. Go look at
>>some of the forums on digital cameras, video processing etc. Then there's
>>the kids who are into network parties and the likes - I see them getting up
>>to speed pretty quickly. The difference here is that where the motivation
>>for owning a computer is to do something useful with it, rather than just
>>because the want to have a computer, people learn quite quickly and know
>>what they want.
>
>Actually, I'm talking about the parents. Some of the kids know some
>of this stuff, but the parents actually buy the gear and have to fix
>the more serious problems. It's a pretty easy thing to check out,
>particularly if you've got kids in school and/or interact with
>parents.
>
>In any middle-class and above neighborhood, virtually everyone with
>kids has one or more computers. If you go up to them and ask them
>what kind and how fast their CPU is and how much RAM they've got, I'd
>bet you'd get 9 out of 10 blank stares or garbled answers. At least,
>that's how it is around here, despite being in one of the technology
>hotbeds in the USA. Maybe it's because I help people with their PCs
>and only get the clueless ones, giving me a skewed perspective.
Maybe something to do with the high lawyer count in Silicon Valley
population??🙂
Rgds, George Macdonald
"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??
On Mon, 24 May 2004 10:20:44 -0700, Neil Maxwell <neil.maxwell@intel.com>
wrote:
>On Fri, 21 May 2004 01:56:01 -0400, George Macdonald
><fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 20 May 2004 08:23:20 -0700, Neil Maxwell <neil.maxwell@intel.com>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On Thu, 20 May 2004 05:47:15 -0400, George Macdonald
>>><fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>As I've tried to get across, a large part of the consumer market is now
>>>>"upgrade"... == wiser. The consumer market is becoming increasingly
>>>>sophisticated in its appreciation... and demands. Digital cameras,
>>>>digi-videocams, home media centers/networks, etc will do that.
>>>
>>>I work with a lot of families through high/middle school connections,
>>>here in Silicon Valley, and it's my experience that the bulk of
>>>computer users really don't have a clue what's in their box. They
>>>know the brand name (HP, Dell, whatever) and (generally) the OS, but
>>>don't have any idea the CPU speed, AMD or Intel, even how much RAM or
>>>how big a HD they have. They get advice from a salesman at Best Buy
>>>or a friend who reads PC Mag, buy it, and that's it until it quits
>>>working right and they call someone to help.
>>>
>>>Sure, the techies know that stuff, but there are so many more people
>>>who still have all the vendor-installed icons on their desktop (Free
>>>AOL Trial!) a year after they bought it because they don't know what
>>>they can delete or not, or even that they *can* delete it. IME, the
>>>bulk of PC consumers today have no more idea what's inside their PC
>>>than they do what's inside their TV.
>>
>>Like I said, there's difference between first-timers, which you seem to be
>>talking about (high/middle school) and the 2nd-time-arounders. Go look at
>>some of the forums on digital cameras, video processing etc. Then there's
>>the kids who are into network parties and the likes - I see them getting up
>>to speed pretty quickly. The difference here is that where the motivation
>>for owning a computer is to do something useful with it, rather than just
>>because the want to have a computer, people learn quite quickly and know
>>what they want.
>
>Actually, I'm talking about the parents. Some of the kids know some
>of this stuff, but the parents actually buy the gear and have to fix
>the more serious problems. It's a pretty easy thing to check out,
>particularly if you've got kids in school and/or interact with
>parents.
>
>In any middle-class and above neighborhood, virtually everyone with
>kids has one or more computers. If you go up to them and ask them
>what kind and how fast their CPU is and how much RAM they've got, I'd
>bet you'd get 9 out of 10 blank stares or garbled answers. At least,
>that's how it is around here, despite being in one of the technology
>hotbeds in the USA. Maybe it's because I help people with their PCs
>and only get the clueless ones, giving me a skewed perspective.
Maybe something to do with the high lawyer count in Silicon Valley
population??🙂
Rgds, George Macdonald
"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??
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