low-end octane2? (was: Re: [rescue] octane question)

[David Passmore]

On Mon, Jan 21, 2002 at 07:02:04PM -0600, Amy wrote:

> imo, ie ended up in the same boat as netscape. i finally (and it took awhile)
> dumped netscape in favor of ie when i had no other option due to netscape
> constantly crashing. maybe a year ago, time-wise. well, now ie is crashing
> 7-8 times (if not more) daily.

IE rarely crashes on me these days. I just installed the HP Officejet
printer driver on a Windows box, and it takes down Win2k every time I try to
print, tho.

> as we all know, microsoft makes mediocre products for a mediocre populace
> because they know we're ignorant enough to not complain too much. consumers
> are too polite and MS takes advantage of it--its a very odd but profitable
> business strategy when the guys down in marketing figure out that their
> software doesnt have to be anywhere near close to being perfect (or usable)
> to sell. it saves a lot of money and time (especially when it comes to
> releasing a new product).

I've found consumers to be just the opposite; they have no brand loyalty,
they yell, they scream, they generally complain a lot. Just look at
broadband users. :) The fact that Microsoft has held them in its sway for so
long is either a testament to their business skill, or the lack thereof of
their competitors. I'm more inclined to say the latter, but it is a mixture
of both.

> their products werent superior..they were just more easy to get and more
> visible. consumers are lazy, remember?

Easy to get, yes. That's how marketing should work. I'm amazed at the number
of technical folks who think 'marketing, feh'. Marketing sells a product.
Nothing else does. Technology does not sell itself. 

As to the inferiority or superiority of Windows products, I can say that in
terms of an office suite, it's better than anything that came before it,
with the possible exception of Wordperfect. I've used Excel quite a bit to
prepare capital budgets and do calculations for capacity planning, and I've
been forced to use Powerpoint to do presentations.

> > They have never played by the rules; they stretch the system as much as
> > they can before it breaks.
> 
> whose rules are these?

My rules, your rules, whatever guidelines there are. Take the recent spate
of security problems. That kind of exposure couldn't go on forever, and
Microsoft knew it. They had to react-- and they did. It's like the kid in
class who knew how to get away with anything, to stretch his teacher's
patience to the limit without breaking it. That's what I meant. 

David