On Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:14:45 +0100, Mike Perkins
wrote:

A decade ago, the rate of improvement in computing speed was such that
you had to buy a new PCs every year to keep up.

That's because every improvement in hardware performance has been
negated by software bloat, software speed, and software complexity. In
effect, overall usability has been stable since about 2002. Sure, the
new software looks more artistic, and probably has some improvements,
but neither art nor obscure features get my attention.

Software also tends to grow faster than the bugs get fixed. That's
because features and functions sell upgrades, while bug fixes are
expected to be free. Eventually, the software grows bloated and is
still full of bugs.

Sign in the window of a local computer sto
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/drivel/slides/Win7-downgrade.html

In the past few years I haven't seen quite the same change. One
consequence it is now worth investing in a good PC which might
realistically maintain its market position for a few years rather than
months!

I have never considered a PC an investment, and don't believe that it
ever will become one. The price attrition on PC's is just too
radical. In general, for the money I save by purchasing a used PC, I
can later use to purchase it's replacement. A decent high end laptop
is about $1000, but a 5 year old dual core used laptop does for about
$350. In addition, there are changes on the horizon, such as bigger
better and faster SSD drives.

Incidentally, most of my working machines run XP. My various weather
stations run Windoze 2000 and Linux. My customers run Windoze 7 and
8, but I don't have any of those to fight with.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558