Stonewall sent me 86 Mac Plus Vs. 07 AMD DualCore. You Won't Believe Who Wins. It's an interesting read and the core (excuse the almost pun) issue is experience and expectation. The amount of hardware and software necessary to meet today's user's expectation is astronomically larger than they were when personal computers first appeared in the 1980's, or hobbyist computers in the 1970's.
My question is, is consumer expectation astronomically larger than it was then? This is a subtle question. I really want to know, is the degree to which we expect our personal computers to help us greater than it was 20-30 years ago?
I don't think it is. Back when I started using "personal" computers (Apple IIs and Kaypro IIs) they did incredible things -- in their day. And I never remember having to reboot those computers or having them freeze up on me. They were as reliable as...well, as dirt. They were always there and always ready to go to bat for us. I have a friend who still has his Kaypro II in the attic. I envy him. My Kaypro II and Kaypro 10 are long gone. I was talking with a business associate earlier today and he excused himself for a moment; he had to reboot his computer. I asked if he was using Vista. He laughed (a sign he knew the problems doing so entailed) and said no, it was just that every time he used Office 2007, specifically PowerPoint, and closed a file his computer crashed.
Now there's a selling point, don't you think?
I don't think our expectations of our personal computers have increased. We believe they're capable of doing more, yes, but I don't think we expect more of them. I think less. People are finding the internet the number one computer application, worldwide.
Now think of that for a moment and think of it in terms of the family car. Ask people what they use their computer for and it basically comes down to "internet". They may say "email" or "browsing" or "surfing" or "IMming" or something similar and it all comes down to internet access. The operating system and other applications are secondary in the minds of consumers. Heck, sometimes they're so secondary you have to ask, "Do you use a word processor or spreadsheet or anything else?" and often they'll answer "I thought my email was a word processor" or "I use Quicken, that's a spreadsheet, isn't it?".
Much as the family car has become a means of "getting there", so has the personal computer with "getting there" meaning "getting online".
Please contact NextStage for information regarding presentations and trainings on this and other topics.
Links for this post:
- XChange on 20-21 Sept 07
- DC Emetrics Summit on 14-17 Oct '07
- Society for New Communications Research Annual Research Symposium & Awards Gala on 5-6 Dec 07 in Boston.
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