Comments on: Technological progress: lost on the masses

By: Dusan

Dusan — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:18:09 +0000

80% of people are totaly unaware how much they can improve their PC’s, just by looking into the cheapest 20% of todays modern hardware.

Intel needs (must?) to make people aware about the leap that the cheapest dual core CPU makes vs a single core one. Not an easy task at all.

By: Chris Wininger

Chris Wininger — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:30:03 +0000

I’m not surprised by this. I used to be a gamer back when I lived with my parents and I could afford to be. Now I am three years out of College with a Computer Science degree and I can barely afford to pay rent let alone upgrade my computer. The technological advances of the past 8 years are not lost to me (My computer is literally about 8 years old), but I have no money. I read magazines like Pc-Pro and CPU Power and my mouth waters. I have tried many times to save up funding but every time I get close to filling that wish list on Newegg my car breaks down, I need new glasses, or I get sick. I do not think that I am alone. I know that many in the PC industry are afraid that catering to the markets demand for low cost stripped down computers like the e-machine will stifle technological innovation. I share their concern, but right now if I can get my computer to run Visual Studio and some productivity apps for work that’s good enough for me. High end games and costly diversions are not in the budget. Most of friends many of whom in high school always had the latest and greatest now settle for the nostalgia of an old Sega Genesis from the thrift store. Just look at what has happened with the new console systems. Play Station 3 and Xbox 360 clearly have the technological edge but Wii is cheep and enjoyable. It’s mopping the floor. No one I know can afford Play Station 3 or the latest Nvidia card for their system and most of my friends have college degrees.

By: nicomo

nicomo — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:08:41 +0000

I’m surprised anyone’s using vista (pronounced waster in some parts of europe).

Ok, my last upgrade was a much larger monitor 24″ with a FullHD resolution.
I suppose I will eventually move to multi-core technology but I don’t really need it as yet, Though if the prices fall down I might be in the market for one – but then when I do – I’ll need the works, new mobo & memory and no doubt while I’m at it I’ll fit in a new graphcs card too.

But I’m not in any hurry and don’t see myself rushing into buying anything in the next 3-4 months.

By: David Wright

David Wright — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:52:17 +0000

Hardly a big surprise, that only 20% use Vista…

Given that 40% only have single core and/or <2GB RAM, it isn’t surprising that their userbase isn’t exactly at the cutting edge when it comes to OS either.