HP/Compaq Presario and Linux

[Bill Sconce]

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 14:50:50 -0500
Jon maddog Hall <maddog at li.org> wrote:

> It is the old story that to throw a pre-pressed CD into a "consumer grade"
> computer would probably cost less than $.05.  But they are going to make
> 100,000 of those "consumer grade" systems, so it is really a cost of
> $5,000. (probably more like $10K by the time you add the line item to the
> build order, QA, etc.)
> 
> So now they have to create a process to order those CDs, a mail fulfillment
> firm to receive the money and mail them out, etc. etc. on an "exception
> basis" that brings the cost up to $25. per CD....then someone tries to make
> a profit center out of it, and it becomes $50.


Hm.  That sounds familiar.  SO familiar.  Wha?...

Dan Jenkins wrote:

> no method of recovering them unless you paid $25 or $50 just seems
> wrong.  For that matter, many now provide no method to reload the OS,
> just to restore to factory condition.  Of course, this is yet another
> reason to use Linux...

Bingo!  That's it.  Let's see ... ... page 231:

"Most well-run companies migrate unconsciously to the northeast, setting
themselves up to be caught by a change in the basis of competition and
an attack from below by disruptive technology."

-Clayton M. Christensen, The Innovator's Dilemma, HarperCollins, 2000


-Bill