MR GATES, DO YOU EXPECT US HOME USERS TO BUY MORE THAN ONE LICENSE AT $200-BS!

[Alex Nichol]

Explain how a business can make money if it sells it's products for less
then it costs to develop them and the new versions.

Henry Ford made a lot by selling Model Ts for $100 - try selling any car
at a similar price now, even allowing for inflation


It is legitimate to assert that Microsoft's pricing policy is not in all
respects the best for the company - but not that they have to bend it to
provide cheaper systems to customers at a lower final bottom line

 

[Papa]

Your best bet for (new) parts is internet sites such as Newegg. They are
usually sold at significantly lower prices than local stores, and quite
often shipping is free. However, even making your purchases that way still
will not put you at a cost advantage when comparing your cost-to-build vs
your cost to buy a computer pre-assembled. As far as I can see, the only
advantage of building your own these days is that you can select all of the
components yourself - down to the CPU, motherboard, type of RAM, PS, case,
etc.. That's what I have done up to now, but not for much longer.

Ya but what about the newbie? I /can/ build a computer, but I've never
actually gone out and bought the parts.

<snip>

 

[Bud]

What ever happened to Joe?
If I ask for assistance, on say, "The Registry". Would I get this many
responses?

 

[The Horny Goat]

It's like anything else you purchase.
The more copies you purchase, the better deal you can get.
I am sure you would find that if you look around,
You could probably get the same price her company is getting
if you also purchase 1000 copies.
This is nothing new, most companies will offer
discounts for "bulk" purchases.

Tell me something I don't know - my point was that if Microsoft (or
any other company) offers me a "special deal" on "site licences" I
expect a lower price than their product is offered "on the street". If
it is HIGHER then it's not really that "special" or a "deal".

As it was, I thought it was pretty insulting.

 

[Perdita X. Dream]

What ever happened to Joe?
If I ask for assistance, on say, "The Registry". Would I get this
many responses?

Joe is a classic example of a troll. Trolls start an inflammatory thread,
then sit back and watch the show. He won't be back.

 

[Michael Stevens]

And that is why computer hobbyist who build their own PCs are rapidly
disappearing. It's no longer cost effective. You can't possibly buy
the individual parts, plus the OS, for anything close to the price of
a commercially built system with the OS pre-installed. It was fun
while it lasted.

It is still fun and cheaper if you are building high end systems that the
price of a full version of XP is the least of the concerns. You are right
about an entry level system, it is cheaper to purchase a system from Dell,
HP, Sony, etc. than to build a comparable system.
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Richter]

I don't own a business(and the poor and marginal do not own businesses.

Maybe you should start one...

I am paid barely above the Minimum Wage. 25% less would make me eligible for
Food Stamps. Big deal: I would get $60/month(or less, depending on my income)
to buy groceries with(and wouldn't be able to use them to purchase "TP" or
Laundry detergent). The normal Microsoftie probably spends that much money
every week buying Mochas for his friends.

Soo..Get a job with Microsoft

Even 50% less for Microsoft employees would make them have to buy a Chevy
instead of a BMW or Infiniti, all of which are out of the question for the
poor and marginal in the U.S. Instead of having $40Billions in the bank,
Microsoft would only have $20billions. There aren't many, if any, businesses
in the entire world with either of those cash positions.

Maybe you could get a job as a financial consultant...

 

[Papa]

Well, from experience I will have to disagree. If one does a detailed price
comparison of a high end build-your-own system (purchasing the parts as
cheaply as possible) versus a pre-assembled high end system with the OS
installed, the pre-assembled systems are invariably less expensive - and
more often than not, considerably so.

Regards.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

I haven't found this to be the case at all. But then, I also buy
my high-end components in the OEM plain wrappers, through wholesale
channels, rather than the fancy and more expensive retail packaging.

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[SunSpot]

Not what I have been seeing.
I build systems all the time and it costs me a lot less to buy and assemble
them then purchasing them ready made.
For example, I built myself a server that had a comparable list price of
$9,000.00.
It only cost me $2,800.00 to build.
My workstation would have cost $4,500.00 easily, but I built it for less
then $3,000.00

 

[David]

Just buy it from there and get it shipped to you ;-)

I don't speak or read Thai. So, it would do me no good.

David

 

[Guest]

Spam.

Not what I have been seeing.
I build systems all the time and it costs me a lot less to buy and assemble
them then purchasing them ready made.
For example, I built myself a server that had a comparable list price of
$9,000.00.
It only cost me $2,800.00 to build.
My workstation would have cost $4,500.00 easily, but I built it for less
then $3,000.00

 

[SunSpot]

What are you talking about?
Where am I selling anything or offering any services?
Do you even know what spam is?
I suggest you read up on the subject before you make
un-founded accusations and make a complete a$$ out of yourself.

 

[Lorne Smith]

You built a workstation for just under $3k?? Hmmm... remind me NOT to shop
from you!! Curious... what on earth was in it to cost that much???

 

[SunSpot]

P4 3.0Ghz
2 Gigs ram
4 120GB IDE Drives.
2 Seagate 60GB IDE drives
Maxtor IDE controller
5 Seagate 18GB 10,000 RPM SCSI drives in RAID 5
SCSI HotSwap Backplane.
Floppy drive with 6 integrated memory card readers.
Adaptec Raid controller.
650 watt power supply
Sony DVD
Sony DVD Burner
Iomega Zip 100
12 80mm fans
1 120mm fan
DigiDoc 5 LCD controller
4 cold cathode lights.
SuperMicro SC760-a chassis

OS:
DOS 6.22
Windows XP Pro
Windows 98
Mandrake Linux 8
SCO OpenServer 5.6

This is just off the top of my head, there are
a lot of other "extras" that have been added, like round IDE cable
and such but I can't think of all of them off hand (not with it at the
moment)
If you purchased everything at retail, starting with a PC and adding
everything that
you could not get from the dealer, it actually comes to far more then
$4,000.00.
The SCSI drives alone where retailing for over $350.00 apiece.

 

[Lorne Smith]

All that in a workstation? Sheesh!! That'd make a pretty meaty server!