25 Oct
1999
25 Oct
'99
5:24 a.m.
This is dead-wrong. You assume that "the
job" remains static. But the
fact of the matter is, unless your computer is embedded in your microwave
or toaster, you'll want to run new and interesting s/w on it. And, in
general, that implies that you'll want a faster computer in 18 months.
I am so glad this isn't true. This endless appetite for pain is NOT
universal. Many people don't give a rodents hind parts about new
applications, they really really really just want email and word processing.
Have you seen what a VooDoo3 card will do in an old P166? That is NOT
suffering, that is decent speed to play most games.
OS releases and a few games, with fewer still applications have exploded
into outrageous bloatware, and I hope it bites them in the rear but good
now that ram prices are making people pay twice for their upgrades. Windows
2k from all the reports I am reading is "hoping" for a 30% upgrade rate in
the first year. That is leading to a royally sucking situation, developers
need to be compatible with W2k, 98, 95 (and its two or three versions),
with a sprinkle of a couple NT releases, maybe W3.1, leaving only DOS out
in past. Dropping support for an existing application in windows 95 will be
a curious point for some time I think. All sorts of questions rise up about
tech support costs, erosion of user base, to staff continuity (non of the
original software people are still around to make OS specifc changes in 95
etc.).