[BC] Non Sheep are Whiners. Shut Up and Don't Complain

[Robert Orban]

At 04:28 AM 10/23/2007, you wrote:
>------ At 09:33 PM 10/22/2007, Robert Orban wrote: -------
>
>>If you don't like it, don't buy the industry's product (and don't 
>>steal it either). It's as simple as that. Keep your wallet in your 
>>pocket if you want to "send a message" that the industry will 
>>understand. Use Linux and read a good book instead. Whining on a 
>>listserv will get you exactly nowhere.
>
>Actually, that's not completely true. I'm in the market for a new 
>laptop. None of the models I want are available with XP Pro. I will 
>not buy anything with Vista. I've been told that third party 
>developers are writing drivers to allow machines created after Vista 
>to run XP. Without those drivers the pointing surfaces, audio 
>sections and other features of the machine won't work.
>
>There's been enough "whining" in lists to prompt third parties and 
>linux-like development of workarounds. I have thousands of dollars 
>worth of software that'll be useless under Vista. If I'm going to 
>have to trash it I might as well start over and switch to a MAC. I 
>don't like MACs. I like the open architecture of the PC. I'd have to 
>trash much of my peripheral hardware.
>
>It may not bother you but some of us dislike being deceived. We 
>dislike being deceived by IBUZ and by Microsoft. The "security" 
>we're told about in Vista isn't the consumer's security. It's 
>security for record companies and movie studios. I'm amazed by the 
>sluggishness of Vista on very powerful machines. I can only imagine 
>how XP Pro would scream on such a device.

I very much dislike being deceived. However, if I am deceived, I will 
as far as possible complain directly to the entities whom I think are 
deceiving me. (Wasn't it John Dillinger who, when asked why he robbed 
banks, said "because that's where the money is"?) Of course, there 
are some discussion boards (like the TiVo community board) that it 
known to be monitored by factory personnel. I would post on one of 
those boards if I couldn't get satisfaction directly from the entity 
guilty of deception. Sometimes I will post to enthusiasts' boards if 
the company deceiving me appears to have no interest in correcting 
the situation.

>Your suggestion amounts to rolling over and playing dead.

No. But there is a difference between blowhard flaming/trolling 
(which has largely destroyed the USENET text newsgroups) and making 
complaints that get the attention of the people who can resolve those 
complaints.

>  It appears that there was enough "whining" to cause Dell to offer 
> a few machines with XP.

I think it's highly probable that Dell found out about customer 
resistance to Vista through Dell's service and sales order 
departments, not because someone from Dell happened to be subscribed 
to the Broadcast mailing list.

>  The latest issue of PC World has ads for small sellers emphasizing 
> that their machines still can run XP. I remember the days when 
> price fixing was illegal and forcing retailers not to modify the 
> products they sell was illegal. Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples and 
> others are forbidden by Microsoft to offer anything but Vista on 
> new machines. Each one has told me "we have a deal with Microsoft" 
> that prevents us from offering XP.

And I have the right to buy my computers elsewhere. (In fact, I 
bought three Dell XP PCs after Vista was available.)

>I really don't want to pay a couple hundred dollars for an operating 
>system that sees me as a criminal and prevents me from doing things 
>that the courts have ruled are perfectly legal.

Fortunate you...you don't have to pay a dime if you don't want to. 
Pass on Vista and use another OS. Bill Gates is not holding a gun to your head.


>I'm in the process of researching what I'll need to get a Dell 1720 
>laptop to run XP Pro. I haven't had time to check it out but I'm 
>told that supergeek.com will lead me to what I need.
>
>I had a friend in Boston who was the brother of the first Prime 
>Minister of Bangladesh. The one who was assassinated. He was amazed 
>that the apathy of the American people. While it might not be my 
>preference, he noted that his countrymen riot when the trains don't 
>run on time. I was with him in the Boston subway and the train was 
>late. He expected violence and was amazed when we all just stood 
>there and waited. Our sheep-like response seems to make politicians, 
>manufacturers and service providers feel substandard products and 
>treatment is "good enough for government work."

Fortunately, our political process offers an alternative to rioting: 
via elections, we can still "throw the rascals out," so we get the 
government we deserve.

As long as we have free markets, we can punish unsatisfactory vendors 
by not buying their products. The market for computers is wonderfully 
free right now. In fact, Microsoft is being punished. Apple just 
released its last quarter results, which revealed a new record in 
Macintosh shipments. Apple's stock price jumped. Dell is offering 
Ubuntu Linux preinstalled on certain machines. Many vendors are still 
offering XP installs. Within reason, people can purchase exactly the 
computers they want.

>I hope your customer service department doesn't consider customers 
>to be whiners.

Cheap shot. Our customer service department strives to give the best 
service possible to those who contact us through the customer service 
channels we have set up, including phone and email. Our web site 
spells these out. We cannot and do not monitor every listserv and 
discussion board, nor should we be expected to.

Bob Orban