Re: Computer

Robert Sneddon wrote:

In message <45F38EE8.ABDCE3FB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, John Turco
<jtur@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes

Hello, Robert:

While I applaud your sincere Mac-bashing efforts,

Macs are not bad pieces of kit, and the OS and software they run isn't
bad either. They are not Holy Objects though despite the protestations
of the members of the Church of Jobs who endlessly denigrate Windows PCs
and exalt the spawn of Cupertino. I don't think the extra cost Apple
charges for their kit justifies the benefits, if any, but personally
I've not bought a computer as such for over six years, preferring to
roll my own desktops and keep my herd of older laptops running. I'll
probably be buying a new laptop sometime this summer in preparation for
a trip to Japan, but it won't be an Apple. It also won't run Vista. In
fact it might not even run XP; I'm a fan of old-school Windows 2000 Pro
myself.

Hello, Robert:

I like to build my own PC's, too, and I get lots of "mileage" out of
my
hardware. Been using the same AT mainboard (Tyan S1830S Tsunami),
since
May of 2000, and only upgraded to Windows XP Home, last month.

the above paragraph
is simply wrong. Over 80% of all current notebook computers (regardless
of brand) are made in Taiwan, not in mainland China.

And Taiwan is not China? In fact I meant "China" as shorthand for the
current source of cheap labour and heavy automation in the Far East. The
PRC is rapidly picking up more and more of the world's market for
assembly of higher-end electronics including desktops, servers and
laptops. There are only a few makers of notebooks who actually run their
own production lines at home -- Panasonic is one of them, but they have
a niche market for semi-ruggedised portables.

I was fully aware that Taiwan (formerly Formosa) is "Free China," so
to
speak. Yet, the word, "China," itself, usually refers to the communist
version of the country.

Apple gets their machines made on the same production lines as Dell,
Toshiba and all the others, using the same components more or less.
Apart from the case design and the motherboard they're pretty much
identical inside. Some parts which could be of higher quality to enhance
the machine's reliability, like the keyboard, are not particularly
better than PC hardware -- an author I know was destroying an Apple
laptop keyboard every six months or so while writing for a living.
Eventually he switched to an external keyboard as it was easier to keep
a spare keyboard on hand rather than suffer the loss of his laptop for a
week while it was repaired.
--
To reply, my gmail address is nojay1 Robert Sneddon

Computer keyboards, in general, tend to be sheer junk. I suppose this
is what often happens, with such "commodity" items.


Cordially,
John Turco <jtur@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

.

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