[olug] Happy Jaunty Day!

[T. J. Brumfield]

You could buy a 286/386 for around $2000 when they were both released.
 For the longest time I assumed $2000 would remain the PC threshold,
that when better hardware kept coming out, the overall cost of a
decent modern computer would hover at that $2000 barrier.

We've now hit a point where computers are more powerful than people
need.  The gigahertz race seems to have slowed down and we're more
concerned with processors using less power, and underclocking
themselves.  We're selling netbooks with slower processors.  I think
the race right now is to approach zero in both power and cost.  AT&T
is already testing the waters with subsidizing netbook costs with
cellular internet contracts.  I think free, low-power computers are
very much in our future.

Will Microsoft continue to cut costs and sell Windows licenses for $15
on netbooks to chase that market, or will the no-cost license of Linux
make inroads back?  Microsoft has proven that they are willing to take
a loss to control market share (see XBox, IE, etc) but will they do it
with the Windows flagship if it seems like netbooks aren't merely a
niche, but possibly the dominant market in the future?  (Notebooks
already outsell desktops for instance).

I think as hardware prices drop, the Microsoft tax becomes more
apparent, and Linux becomes more attractive.

To shift back on topic a little, while I loathe Ubuntu and Gnome, I am
curious to look at their Netbook remix project, and how they handle a
low resolution UI.  The KDE devs say they are working on it, but I
haven't even seen concepts or ideas, and they are saying a release is
probably a year out.  I'm installing openSUSE on an Acer Aspire One
right this moment, and I wish there were more low resolution options
available today.  You have to respect Shuttleworth for jumping on that
trend before anyone else.

-- T. J.

On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 1:25 PM, Will Langford <unfies at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Heck I even appreciate the fact that Bill Gates/Microsoft made cheap
>> hardware a reality.  I remember spending $5K+ for my first machines in
>> the pre win95 days.
>>
>
>
> Errr -- you bought big :). I was able to stay under/around $1500-$2000 for
> the most part, starting around... '92ish ?
> _______________________________________________
> OLUG mailing list
> OLUG at olug.org
> https://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug