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Buy Windows: Its Cheap

Entry 982, on 2009-04-05 at 18:52:11 (Rating 3, Computers)

Microsoft seem to have had very limited success with advertising Windows by pretending its fast, reliable, pleasant to use, secure, or anything else useful. Now they seem to be taking a more credible direction: by saying its cheap! Yes, its cheap in every sense of the word. Well actually, Windows itself isn't very cheap (usually) but most Windows PCs seem to be.

When I said "every sense of the word" above this is what I meant. Here's the dictionary (New Oxford American) definition of the word "cheap"...
low in price [yes, I guess that's usually true, compared to a Mac]
charging low prices [OK, the same as above I guess]
(of prices or other charges) low [Yes, yes, the same again]
inexpensive because of inferior quality [ah, now we get to the truth]
(informal) miserly; stingy [agreed]
of little worth because achieved in a discreditable way requiring little effort [agreed]
deserving of contempt: a cheap trick [now that's the best one yet]

So Microsoft seem to be saying that Windows is low in price, inexpensive because its of inferior quality, miserly, stingy, of little worth because its achieved in a discreditable way requiring little effort, and deserving of contempt, and a cheap trick. I won't argue with that!

OK, I know that Microsoft didn't actually use the word "cheap" but that's what they are really saying and can anyone deny that Windows PCs are cheap? No, I don't think so. The thing about cheap stuff is that when you look at the big picture such as TCO (total cost of ownership) the cheap stuff isn't really cheap any more - at least not in the sense of inexpensive. In the sense of inferior, miserly, of little worth, and being worthy of contempt the idea of cheap lasts forever!

Comment 12 (2032) by OJB on 2009-05-24 at 22:22:21: (view earlier comments)

You seem to have the idea that Macs are more suitable for power users when, in some ways, the opposite is true. Macs require a lot less maintenance than PCs. People with no tech skills can usually do everything. That's not possible with a PC. On the other hand, geeks like myself enjoy the power of Unix which is "behind the scenes".

I accept the problem of the expense of replacing software. That is a genuine reason to stick with an existing system, but not a great long term strategy in my opinion.

Comment 13 (2037) by SBFL on 2009-05-28 at 07:24:21:

"You seem to have the idea that Macs are more suitable for power users when, in some ways, the opposite is true."
...so Windows-powered computers are better for power users?...;-)

Comment 14 (2053) by OJB on 2009-05-28 at 21:45:13:

No, Macs are suitable for users who don't want to spend half their life installing bug fixes, removing viruses, and generally tinkering with the system to keep it going. Of course, there is plenty of opportunity to do that on a Mac if you want to (we have the Unix command line - I love it) but you don't have to do that sort of thing if you don't want to.

Comment 15 (2061) by SBFL on 2009-06-04 at 07:57:10:

I knew what you meant. I think you missed the sarcastic tone of my previous comment.

I actually learnt a bit of AIX admin in my day. Good ol "$ ls". Long forgotten now.

Comment 16 (2072) by OJB on 2009-06-04 at 21:15:49:

Its amazing how long various forms of Unix have been useful for. How many other high tech products invented in the 60s are still in use today?

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