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Re: [OM] Longevity of computing devices, was More Memory (OT)

Subject: Re: [OM] Longevity of computing devices, was More Memory (OT)
From: Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:32:41 -0400
I suspect that the average for Winders machines is over 3 years since 3
years is a typical amortization schedule for businesses running
Winders (which is most of them).

Looking back on my own computer ownership running IBM PC-DOS, OS/2 and
Windows, since 1982 I have owned one each of machines running 8088, 286,
386, 486, two machines with AMD processors whose model numbers I can't
recall (K6 & K7 I think) and two Intel Core-2 Duo machines both
presently still in use.  Since one of these two was an additional
machine rather than a replacement I have owned 7 different DOS, OS/2 and
Windows machines in the past 28 years with upgrades always spurred by
performance improvements or the technology requirements of different
software.  That's an average life of four years.  No machine has ever
been completely replaced because of failure although I did upgrade one
of the AMD powered motherboards due to a disk controller failure on one
channel (not the boot drive channel).  I also upgraded one of the AMD 
processors once for a speed increase but not due to failure.  I have 
never had a hard drive failure although I thought I did before 
discovering that it was the controller.

I think I replace hard drives for improved capacity (every 2-3 years) 
which is likely faster than they can fail.  I had one video card failure 
which was due to dust accumulation in the cooling fan which stopped the 
fan and allowed the card to overheat.  I have also added lots of memory 
modules over the years but never needed to replace a bad one.  I can't 
recall any other hardware failures although, over 28 years, I might have 
forgotten something.  But I think I'd remember anything traumatic.

So I don't accept that well built PCs have inherently inferior longevity 
to Macs.  Any machine I have replaced was done because there was 
something much better available at an affordable price.  I suspect that 
many low cost PCs get replaced when minor problems crop up because its 
often cheaper to just replace the machine for something better than to 
pay the service costs for someone to diagnose and repair the problem 
(which is often virus related for folks who don't know how to protect 
themselves).  They're the ones that should be running Macs or Linux. 
But they find Macs too expensive and Linux a mystery and unavailable to 
the uninitiated.

As to bottlenecks between CPU and storage devices between IBM compatible 
machines and Macs that might have been true for early Macs running 
Motorola 68000 processors.  As a cost saving measure, very early PCs 
depended on direct CPU involvement for all I/O operations.  But that's 
been gone for a long, long time.  Macs have for many years now used the 
same bus architectures (and processors) used by PCs.  If you can't beat 
'em on price and performance you might as well join 'em.

Chuck Norcutt


On 9/30/2010 1:11 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
> No proof, Chuck, all aprocryphal, except that:
>
> - Most people with Macs keep their machines around 5 years (gleaned
> from the fora and from 2 Mac lists as well as discussions on
> LinkedIn).  I understand the average for Winders machine is 2-3
> years.
>
> - The architecture differences between "IBM compatible" machines and
> Macs seemed to be that there were fewer bottlenecks between CPU and
> storage devices.
>
> - There might well be malware for the Mac some time in the future but
> they are less vulnerable, as I understand it because Unix is easier
> to secure.  But the main reason that there are so many viruses for
> Winders is because it was simple to pass with the way Outlook Express
> worked.
>
> We'll have to wait and see, though; I will keep a watch.  You might
> be the first to know if I have been over-confident (or reckless)
> :-).
>
> Chris
>
> On 29 Sep 2010, at 21:09, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>
>> Got any proof of that?  I thought not.  :-)
>>
>>
>
-- 
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