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Author Topic:   Continuing Car vs Computer Thread

Utrecht posted 03-11-99 11:54 PM ET
At Brother Greg's Request to let the thread die....
Yin, there are several problems with coparing the state of the car industry of the 70's 80's with the computer industry of today.
1) The Big three were recieving subsidies\favorable legislation from the government. In addition, related insustries like steel were recieving the same sort of protection.
The computer industry does not recieve this.
2) Until the Oil embargo the automotive industry was supply driven not demand driven.
Today's computer industry is extremely demand driven.
yin26 posted 03-12-99 01:07 AM ET
Utrecht,
Points well taken. I'm only making a comparison between what it took the car industry to change and what it will take the computer industry to change.
I do think, supply driven or no, the car industry in the States took huge hits once it became "acceptable" for a red-blooded American to buy a Japanese car. That acceptance was long in coming and justified after years of horrific cars.
Now, I see the very interesting difference with the computer industry that customers seem to want the latest and greatest without giving much thought to the larger picture. But I think this is a dying sentiment, as it simply takes nobody nowhere to put all this show together and not have the lights come on so we can watch.
Am I overstating the problem? Yes. Are computers blowing up like cars once did? No--but a few are being thrown out the window and killing innocent people.
Mac's lack of foresight sent us all into a parallel, evil universe with the likes of Bill Gates promoting software that even crashes on him in front of thousands of people who could do nothing but laugh and write a check.
I want a silver bullet, a shining knight to come slay the dragon. And I don't think it will take much more than getting back to the basics of customer service and satisfaction. Of course, that's everything, isn't it?
Lazarus posted 03-12-99 09:47 AM ET
The big difference between cars and computers is that cars have a narrow usage: they get you from point A to point B. (Back-seat or other activities are simply a bonus.) Computers, OTOH, can be used for anything computational. It's a much more general, and thus more challenging, engineering problem.
The result, IMO, is going to be that the yin26's of the world will eventually start buying 'computational appliances' rather than computers. A computational appliance will be a device with a simple interface and probably proprietary design, cheaper than a general computer and also less capable. But they won't crash much. Think PlayStation and WebTV rolled into one box.
Meanwhile, those of us who want the hassle will keep using general computers, with all the open standards chaos and tweaking.
426hemi posted 03-16-99 11:06 AM ET
Well, not only that, but for the computer industry to change, people would have to stop buying their products. Eiter that, or the government would need to regulate it (shudder.. more governent involvement). Plus, the situation with cars was caused by 2 main factors, one of which was completely an outside force and therefore unpreventable. The American automotive industry suffered because the companies had become complacent; they could make really crappy vehicles, and people would still buy them (this happened to the Japanese in the late 80's, leading to a reasurgence in the American marker). However, the deciding factor in the car market was the fact that OPEC got angry about the 6 Day War, and raised oil prices disgustingly high, thus creating a fuel shortage and a demand for more efficient vehicles. The computer industry really is not subject to such outside forces (Strikes in California lead to shrinkwrapped package shortage!), so therefore it is unlikely that the computer industry will change (Remember Outpost anyone???).
Will J
Plasmoid posted 03-16-99 11:30 AM ET
But poeple are making choices. Remeber Windows Refund Day? Those were people who didn't want the crap that is Windows.
But now with all the computer inept price frives the market not performance(except for the techno savy). Witness the rise of Packard Hell. Their system are crap. They're only still in buisness because their systems are cheaper.
The open source mouvement will take a huge toll out of proprietary software vendors(ie M$...). Game companies will survive fairly intact(people will still pay for software).
So remeber people go out and buy/install a copy of Linux. Then petition EA to make a Linux port of SMAC
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Author	Topic: Continuing Car vs Computer Thread
Utrecht	posted 03-11-99 11:54 PM ET At Brother Greg's Request to let the thread die.... Yin, there are several problems with coparing the state of the car industry of the 70's 80's with the computer industry of today. 1) The Big three were recieving subsidies\favorable legislation from the government. In addition, related insustries like steel were recieving the same sort of protection. The computer industry does not recieve this. 2) Until the Oil embargo the automotive industry was supply driven not demand driven. Today's computer industry is extremely demand driven.
yin26	posted 03-12-99 01:07 AM ET Utrecht, Points well taken. I'm only making a comparison between what it took the car industry to change and what it will take the computer industry to change. I do think, supply driven or no, the car industry in the States took huge hits once it became "acceptable" for a red-blooded American to buy a Japanese car. That acceptance was long in coming and justified after years of horrific cars. Now, I see the very interesting difference with the computer industry that customers seem to want the latest and greatest without giving much thought to the larger picture. But I think this is a dying sentiment, as it simply takes nobody nowhere to put all this show together and not have the lights come on so we can watch. Am I overstating the problem? Yes. Are computers blowing up like cars once did? No--but a few are being thrown out the window and killing innocent people. Mac's lack of foresight sent us all into a parallel, evil universe with the likes of Bill Gates promoting software that even crashes on him in front of thousands of people who could do nothing but laugh and write a check. I want a silver bullet, a shining knight to come slay the dragon. And I don't think it will take much more than getting back to the basics of customer service and satisfaction. Of course, that's everything, isn't it?
Lazarus	posted 03-12-99 09:47 AM ET The big difference between cars and computers is that cars have a narrow usage: they get you from point A to point B. (Back-seat or other activities are simply a bonus.) Computers, OTOH, can be used for anything computational. It's a much more general, and thus more challenging, engineering problem. The result, IMO, is going to be that the yin26's of the world will eventually start buying 'computational appliances' rather than computers. A computational appliance will be a device with a simple interface and probably proprietary design, cheaper than a general computer and also less capable. But they won't crash much. Think PlayStation and WebTV rolled into one box. Meanwhile, those of us who want the hassle will keep using general computers, with all the open standards chaos and tweaking.
426hemi	posted 03-16-99 11:06 AM ET Well, not only that, but for the computer industry to change, people would have to stop buying their products. Eiter that, or the government would need to regulate it (shudder.. more governent involvement). Plus, the situation with cars was caused by 2 main factors, one of which was completely an outside force and therefore unpreventable. The American automotive industry suffered because the companies had become complacent; they could make really crappy vehicles, and people would still buy them (this happened to the Japanese in the late 80's, leading to a reasurgence in the American marker). However, the deciding factor in the car market was the fact that OPEC got angry about the 6 Day War, and raised oil prices disgustingly high, thus creating a fuel shortage and a demand for more efficient vehicles. The computer industry really is not subject to such outside forces (Strikes in California lead to shrinkwrapped package shortage!), so therefore it is unlikely that the computer industry will change (Remember Outpost anyone???). Will J
Plasmoid	posted 03-16-99 11:30 AM ET But poeple are making choices. Remeber Windows Refund Day? Those were people who didn't want the crap that is Windows. But now with all the computer inept price frives the market not performance(except for the techno savy). Witness the rise of Packard Hell. Their system are crap. They're only still in buisness because their systems are cheaper. The open source mouvement will take a huge toll out of proprietary software vendors(ie M$...). Game companies will survive fairly intact(people will still pay for software). So remeber people go out and buy/install a copy of Linux. Then petition EA to make a Linux port of SMAC