Re: [tlug] HDD Reliability

["Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon" <ronfaxon@example.com>]

>    Josh> Microsoft has very little to do with this. As I am sure
>    Josh> Dr. Turnbull can back up, thinner margins on hardware is in
>    Josh> keeping with the economic Order of Things. The natural
>    Josh> progression of everything, from an historical perspective,
>    Josh> tends towards Ideas replacing Things as the most valuable
>    Josh> commodity.
>
>Nah, while Microsoft has nothing to do with the hardware
>manufacturers' problems, its profits are purely a case of monopoly.
>Has nothing to do with being higher in the value chain.  By IBM's own
>design (yes, it was the IBM 360 that introduced plug compatibility to
>the industry, and it took a lot of nerve for them to go the same route
>with the PC), there's a lot of competition for their products.
>
One question though - does anyone know exactly how much money computer 
manufacturers pay to MS for the MS software in the new computers they 
sell?  That's actually what I had in mind - that, as part of the 
equation, it can't help that a company is overcharging everyone - the 
manufacturers, companies, individuals, etc.  If there is a certain price 
that the computer is to sell for, overcharging by one company hurts the 
profits of the others?  It's a really idiotic analogy, but my one trip 
to Europe was on a very limited budget.  In Rome, I was cheated out of 
some money when I got there, and so when I went to the Coliseum - I 
didn't have the minuscule amount of extra money you have to pay to go up 
inside of it.  So I stood there and woefully looked up to the part of it 
where I wanted to go, but never would - all for a bit of change that was 
wrongfully taken from me.  It's like people who never consider the fact 
that - by being overcharged here and there for things - their lives are 
being pushed down a notch economically?  If you have a surpluss of 
money, all this doesn't matter - but most of us don't.