Comment The Danger of PC Commoditization (Score 2) 209
I don't believe I have seen anyone mention what I think is the ultimate danger in the commoditization of computing - the marginalization of the tech computer user vis-a-vis the loss of market share.
Some of you have said, "These designs suck. I'll still keep buying plain old beige towers and config them my way" or "I sure hate the loss of slots in these new machines. But I will still keep on using machines with them so I can upgrade". Assuming, of course, that add-on hardware like we are used-to today is still on the market, e.g., you can still buy an after-market motherboard, video card, modem or hard drive.
How much after market add-on, user-installable hardware do you think will be made once Intel has converted the industry over to Legacy-Free computing. Now, legacy-style computer sales are 100% ( - Imac sales ). If Intel has its way, in a few years there won't be any computers with slots or traditional ports being sold. And, everyone in the industry believes/hopes that the volume of systems shipped will greatly increase as these new computers finally attract the vast-majority of people that don't own a computer now. So systems assembled using legacy components will present an ever diminishing market share.
I am afraid that, then, our kind of expandable computer will vanish into economic insignificance. The marketing/business geniuses that run companies will say that, "While our $50 million/year legacy SCSI/IDE business was profitable and supported an active community of legacy users, we have decided to pursue the greater opportunities offered by the new Intel PC2005 NanoDrive standard. We see a potential for great growth and increased stock value in this $225 billion global market." Businesses are in business to make money. When there are 10 million users like us and a billion users of non-legacy hardware, whom do you think they will service?
I don't have an MBA, but I am sure I read this in some business text:
"You don't try to sell to all customers - just the right customers."
where "right" == the ones that produce the greatest revenues with the least marketing/support expenditure.
I don't imagine all manufactures will abandon the add-on market - you can still buy parts for classic automobiles. But, you don't get commodity prices once the mass market has moved on. If new add-on legacy hardware is still made, it will probably have premium prices.
One can only hope that when this day comes, the machines will truly be cheap enough to throw away when you want that new Voodoo12 4D VR chipset-based system. Or like one person said here - just have a shelf full of these machines each doing some one thing.
hws
This is my first post - so please be gentle.
Some of you have said, "These designs suck. I'll still keep buying plain old beige towers and config them my way" or "I sure hate the loss of slots in these new machines. But I will still keep on using machines with them so I can upgrade". Assuming, of course, that add-on hardware like we are used-to today is still on the market, e.g., you can still buy an after-market motherboard, video card, modem or hard drive.
How much after market add-on, user-installable hardware do you think will be made once Intel has converted the industry over to Legacy-Free computing. Now, legacy-style computer sales are 100% ( - Imac sales ). If Intel has its way, in a few years there won't be any computers with slots or traditional ports being sold. And, everyone in the industry believes/hopes that the volume of systems shipped will greatly increase as these new computers finally attract the vast-majority of people that don't own a computer now. So systems assembled using legacy components will present an ever diminishing market share.
I am afraid that, then, our kind of expandable computer will vanish into economic insignificance. The marketing/business geniuses that run companies will say that, "While our $50 million/year legacy SCSI/IDE business was profitable and supported an active community of legacy users, we have decided to pursue the greater opportunities offered by the new Intel PC2005 NanoDrive standard. We see a potential for great growth and increased stock value in this $225 billion global market." Businesses are in business to make money. When there are 10 million users like us and a billion users of non-legacy hardware, whom do you think they will service?
I don't have an MBA, but I am sure I read this in some business text:
"You don't try to sell to all customers - just the right customers."
where "right" == the ones that produce the greatest revenues with the least marketing/support expenditure.
I don't imagine all manufactures will abandon the add-on market - you can still buy parts for classic automobiles. But, you don't get commodity prices once the mass market has moved on. If new add-on legacy hardware is still made, it will probably have premium prices.
One can only hope that when this day comes, the machines will truly be cheap enough to throw away when you want that new Voodoo12 4D VR chipset-based system. Or like one person said here - just have a shelf full of these machines each doing some one thing.
hws
This is my first post - so please be gentle.
