rather than a picture of, sinister, and anti
computer-use-egalitarianism, crooks/felons, roaming around/setting
up shop/ to prey on consumers at computer shows, then laughing behind
their consumer's backs,... I think many counterfeitors and their vendors
are uneducated themselves regarding Activation and feel and still feel
they are doing consumers and the world 'a favor' (as in; modern-day,
well-meaning, "Robin Hoods") by illegally copying software to sell at a
discount...
"dishonest" shops are just trying to stay alive
On Sun, 8 Jul 2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> -Andy--
>
> I don't know what your experience in the computer field is but my
> experience tells me that the first 6 reasons that people use when
> buying a computer are price, price, price... And if you don't think
> that suceeds, look at emachines. I've fixed them, repaired them,
> upgraded them and been forced to go to their website for support.
> Junk, pure and simple, but they sell. No one cares how long they'll
> last, just so they're cheap up front. Look at MSN's $400 rebate on a
> new system if you sign up for internet service-you pay back almost
> $800 over the life of the contract, may times it's structured as a
> personal loan so default carries credit penalties, and you're locked
> into a single service provider at a high rate at a time when the
> options for internet access are getting more numerous and cheaper.
> And how many harddrives did JTS sell? Quite a few judging by our
> scrape heap. But the up-front price is low.
>
> Activation? Most don't know and don't care. That will hit them on
> Wednesday, 2 weeks after the computer show and by then the sale is
> final. I was amazed at the number of people who called us wanting
> Win2K last year, insisting on it. They had no idea what it was, they
> just knew that it was the next number and they had to have the next
> number. People are not doing their homework and not finding out about
> products before they buy them. One man, after I had explained the
> difference between Win2K and Win98, simply didn't believe me. He
> thought I was bs-ing him and wanted to know the REAL reason we didn't
> carry it.
>
> I've watched and listened to people at computer shows walk back and
> forth worried about a dollar or two in the price of an ECS motherboard
> from 2 vendors whose waranties are measured in hours rather than days,
> that is if you can find them at all, and who will happily spend the
> $80 twice rather than buy a good motherboard for $120. Right now in
> our local computer shopper ads Office 2000 standard is selling for
> less than $100.
>
> Where I used to work, our main competition in retail sales was a place
> that had used the same CD to load most of the copies of Win98 they
> sold. That makes their systems $110 cheaper than ours right from the
> start. Not only did I call M$ but I spoke to one of their reps at a
> show and as far as I know, nothing was ever done about it. One night
> when a friend stopped by the shop, we were talking about that other
> shop. As I set the next repair job up on the bench, I told him I
> would check the Prod ID to see if it came from them. Bingo! Same ID
> number. (We had known the ProdID # they were using for some time.)
>
> Most of the customers we'd see for repairs wouldn't have any AV
> software or it would be horribly out of date. When the damage turned
> out to be a virus and we would offer to sell them (and install for
> free) an up-to-date AV package (for $15-20)like Norton or McAfee,
> they'd decline-too expensive they'd say. They'd pay $50 for a repair
> rather than $15 for the software. At one point, one of the nationwide
> chains was selling McAfee for $15 with a $15 rebate and some of the
> people we told said 'Oh yeah, that's great, but I'll have to drive all
> the way over there, and it's Saturday and...' When people won't even
> spend a little time to get something they need, it's a clear sign they
> don't value the computer very highly, so no wonder they shop price
> first.
>
> >From the people who don't know the difference between an OEM processor
> and a boxed unit to the people who don't understand that there is a
> fundamental difference between the copy of Office you buy from some
> guy for $95 and the copy you get from OfficeDepot for $429, most of
> the people buying personal computers and related products are
> concerned with price and they can easily convince themselves that the
> cheap product is JUST like the more expensive one when they're paying
> the cheap price. And the fact that it may be counterfeit is simply
> blocked out of their mind.
>
> I guess some of my frustration comes form trying to educate customers
> and then watching them keep on making the same bad choices over and
> over. Sell a $50 modem but can't sell a $30 surge protector that
> would waranty that modem.
>
> I know; bitch, bitch, bitch...
>
> Again, JMHO
>
> Tom Hunt
>
>
> >
> > so what does this mean? that if I buy a computer loaded with a
> > bootleg/unauth. copy of WinXP at a (possibly fly-by-night) computer
> show
> > or through a (possibly fly-by-night) newspaper ad... that it won't
> be
> > usable unless I knowingly never turn the machine off?? or find out
> > unknowingly I've bought a lemon/with an illegally copied OS that
> must now
> > be repaired/loaded, at my additional cost, with a legitimate copy of
> > WinXP??? would I be, or are average PC buyers, willing to accept
> this
> > risk and additional cost as part of the price of acquiring (maybe
> > attractive hardware or software? at or through such "possibly
> > fly-by-night" venues? rather no,
> >
> > if I'm in the counterfeit business or running a dishonest shop,
> > regarding WinXP, you better believe I'm worried about "activations"
> > because everybody now knows about activations with WinXP... the
> first
> > question, regarding the **WInXP** OS, *ANY* hardware OR software
> reseller
> > *IS* going to hear is: "is this copy\are these copies Legitimate???
> and if
> > so, prove it!!"
> >
> > so from what *I* can see, Microsoft's anti-piracy scheme *WILL
> WORK*! to
> > stop such common criminals; counterfeitors OR "loaders", and yes,
> > unfortunately, maybe also, common users, from making copies.
>
>
>
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