Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Expanding Computer Ownership to the Masses

Paq · 08-12-2004, 10:23 PM

I used to be an advocate for a few things back when i worked tech support

1. license for computer use...I mean, seirously, woman calls in with a $4,000 computer and didn't know that the mouse had 2 buttons...she kept asking why it was hard to control the cursor, so i asked her what it was doing and she said everything was backwards..turns out, she had her palm over the buttons to click and had the mouse backwards.

2. I wanted a little red buzzer button on my phone...this button would send a 10,000 volt shock through the phone to the other end to hit the person in the ear when they said or did something totally stupid...for instance: "Ok, i opened the disk...what do i see in there? a spring and a black little flimsy circle of film..." that deserves a shock..not lethal, just an attention getter

As for the $299 computer...i think it's a cool idea, just funny that emachines has a $399 version w/out the aol attachments..

Also, i think it would be hard to get the cost down to $100 or so. Namely, Winxp is $99, 17" monitor is $100 or so, and just random parts are going to run that much...now, a manufacturer could easily put together one cheaper than $300, but as far as a DIY computer goes, if you're doing it legally and with new parts, i don't think you could get much cheaper than $299...now, factor in the $23.50/month for 12 months and yeah, you could work within those bounds.

08-12-2004, 10:23 PM	#17 (permalink)
Paq Junkie Location: South Carolina	I used to be an advocate for a few things back when i worked tech support 1. license for computer use...I mean, seirously, woman calls in with a $4,000 computer and didn't know that the mouse had 2 buttons...she kept asking why it was hard to control the cursor, so i asked her what it was doing and she said everything was backwards..turns out, she had her palm over the buttons to click and had the mouse backwards. 2. I wanted a little red buzzer button on my phone...this button would send a 10,000 volt shock through the phone to the other end to hit the person in the ear when they said or did something totally stupid...for instance: "Ok, i opened the disk...what do i see in there? a spring and a black little flimsy circle of film..." that deserves a shock..not lethal, just an attention getter As for the $299 computer...i think it's a cool idea, just funny that emachines has a $399 version w/out the aol attachments.. Also, i think it would be hard to get the cost down to $100 or so. Namely, Winxp is $99, 17" monitor is $100 or so, and just random parts are going to run that much...now, a manufacturer could easily put together one cheaper than $300, but as far as a DIY computer goes, if you're doing it legally and with new parts, i don't think you could get much cheaper than $299...now, factor in the $23.50/month for 12 months and yeah, you could work within those bounds. __________________ Live. Chris