Car out of oil? No problem! Buy a new one.

by James R. Stoup Jul 24, 2005

I would like to preface this article with a warning. If you were looking for an unbiased analysis or a piece that didn’t contain “strong language” then I would suggest looking elsewhere. For my next article I have no problem calming down churning out something objective and rational, but not today. And the simple reason is I cannot read this story and not go nuts. I just can’t. I am sorry, but there is no way that I can communicate my feelings on this subject without viciously insulting the morons involved. So, if you are still with me, read on.  Otherwise I will catch you next time.

You can find today’s story (registration required by the way)  here:


Chuck your spyware infested PC


Here is the gist of the story. Some people, apparently, are using Windows PCs until they just roll over and die due to massive infections from some combination of spyware, adware and viruses. Ok, with me so far? Great. So, their machines are toast and they are faced with a serious problem. What do they do you ask? Well, when faced with the enormous task of removing all of the offending programs they choose to (drum roll please) . . . buy a new f*&%ing computer! And another Windows computer at that!

I just. . .
I mean. . .
Of all the stupid. . .
Braindead. . .
Dumbahhhhh. . .

Ok, let me try that again.

They have decided to buy another computer preloaded with XP and just start over. Now, they couldn’t stop or even somewhat slow down the massive flood of crap that was thrown at their old computer but surely this time things will be different. I guess that is where the logic behind this breaks down for me. If you couldn’t defeat the spyware on your old machine what difference will a faster, newer machine make? Aside from the fact that now your computer can be infected that much faster?

I can only compare this mindset to someone who buys a car and drives it till it runs out of oil. Then, faced with the realization that he needs to change the oil decides instead to just buy another car. Doesn’t that just blow your mind?

How can you justify that to yourself? And furthermore how can you go out and just buy another Windows machine? I mean, damn, how many times must it completely crap out on you before the idea crosses your mind that maybe this isn’t the way to go?

And the most glaring part of this insanity is that they will be faced with the same problem in just a few short months. So, I guess they will go out and buy ANOTHER computer. So, at $500 per PC, buying a new computer every lets say four months translates into $1,500 per year for three complete systems. And I don’t think that four months is really that realistic since a Windows box can become infected in 12 minutes is it? Or has it increased to 40 minutes now? Either way that is considerably less than four months.

Why aren’t these people seeking help? Why are they living like this? Why aren’t they giving all of their old computers to me so I can put Linux on them?

So, could someone please explain this behavior to me as I clearly don’t get it.

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Comments

  • it seems to me that they truly lack the education of properly securing a PC.  I use a PC (as well as a mac) and I never had problems like those interviewed in the article.  even if i did, i would just zero my hdd and do a fresh install.

    i wonder what would happen if they just stopped using IE and using P2P programs that are loaded with crap. 

    stop using crap, go getta mac.  that’s what i say.

    “I was losing the battle. It was cheaper and faster to go to the store and buy a low-end PC.”
    —that is just…really dumb.

    deiri87 had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 3

  • The environment-friendly folks just love stuff like this I’ll bet.

    dickrichards2000 had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 112

  • What I don’t understand is why they just don’t “nuke & pave”—completely erase the system & reinstall from scratch—if they want to stay with Windows. It’s a lot cheaper than buying a new one. Perhaps it’s related to the fact that I believe that many of the cheapie (and not so cheapie) Wintel manufacturers don’t even include a system CD with their boxes?

    At least one person in the article had the right idea—she bought a Mac. Unfortunately, she’s being overly paranoid & applying Windows precautions to our more secure platform.

    Tim Binder had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 1

  • What is really amazing is that after buying a brand new PC, some of them may move some of their files from the old PC to the new PC and end up infecting the new PC themselves even before it gets online.

    eeyore had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 2

  • Because 95% of these people don’t even know how to nuke and pave. I work the tech bench at Best Buy and see dozens of these computers every day.

    1. If the computer is more than 3 years old, or it’s not running XP, we recommend a new PC. You can an eMachines or HP for 450.

    2. We basically impose on people not to walk out the door without Norton and Webroot’s Spysweeper, currently the only active-protection adware program.

    3. The Price Breakdown—
    Diagnostics: 60
    Data Backup: 90
    OS wipe/reload: 60
    System Tuneup: 30
    Norton + Install: 60
    Spysweeper + Install: 40
    = $340. Then we recommend a brand new computer three years newer for a hundred bucks more.

    Sorry to be so blunt, but this entire article is silly. Of course people are convinced a new computer will help. No, it doesn’t blow my mind. Would I sell Apple if I could? You betcha. But the only thing tangible we have is the Mac Mini, and it does NOT sell. It’s just kinda… there. As a curiosity.

    What you’re best off doing James, is discovering a better approach to the Apple zealot Libertarian’esque “ha ha we were right all along” peanut gallery marketing. It doesn’t work. People don’t care. We’ve got a long road to go in proving OSX is superior to the point that it actually sells more units to the average Joe.

    That being said, I thought when I started working on all these PCs that I might have more sympathy for the people who use them. Nope. Their ignorance of technology and the troubles they encounter because of it are well deserved.

    Turbo had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 4

  • Sadly I could not read the NYT article despite being registered, it was seemingly moved to paid content. But anyway:

    I am very much with Devon Shaw, people have no understanding for the thing in front of them. Any computer is a incredibly complicated construction. Macs too, Apple is just very good at hiding the fact. In order to understand sth. you also have to be willing to understand it. And people don’t care. Therefore they will not grasp that there is a difference between a computer with its virtual operating environment and a toaster. Broken is broken. Sadly we are approaching times when it will become normal to have to reset your toaster due to unexpected error in the middle of a toast-creation-process. Maybe people will learn then.

    Bad Beaver had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 371

  • I can only compare this mindset to someone who buys a car and drives it till it runs out of oil.

    Here’s the thing about that analogy.  If a guy buys a Chevy Pickup, then never changes the oil, never cleans it, never gets a tune up, never does any sort of maintenence at all, just drives it into the ground until it stops running altogether and simply buys a new car rather than fix the broken one, what difference does it make if he buys a new Chevy Pickup? 

    It’s not the truck’s fault.  It’s the idiot driving it.  And if the guy NEEDS a Chevy pickup, then it doesn’t really do any good to tell him to “go buy a BMW.”  He’ll say, “I can’t use a BMW.  I need a truck.”

    The BETTER alternative to switching platforms is educating these people on BASIC computer operation.  Like someone else pointed out, I don’t have ANY of these problems and I expend almost no energy maintaining my system.  It doesn’t take much, and in terms of energy and expense, it’s more efficient to learn some simple methods of keeping your computer clean than switching over to a whole new system.

    Beeblebrox had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 2220

  • No wonder Windows market share numbers are so high!!!

    vb_baysider had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 243

  • This is a sad indictment on on our disposable society. It’s bad enough that it’s becoming cheaper to buy a new printer than replace your ink cartridges, but disposable PCs that you replace a couple of times a year?!

    Chris Howard had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 1209

  • I agree, Chris.  And the sad thing is that companies build in this disposability by making total replacement a better option than repair.  Apple would rather you buy a new Ipod than replace a worn-out battery, which is why the charge $99.  Panasonic would rather you buy a new DVD player than send a broken one in for repair, which is why they charge $100 just to look at your broken DVD player when a brand new one costs $75.

    The key difference here is that maintaining a PC is relatively easy to do, but so many people don’t do it.  And replacing a PC is so cheap that there’s not much of an incentive to.

    Beeblebrox had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 2220

  • I have an ethical problem with this: the most common things for people to do with their old, unwanted computers are:

    1. Throw them out
    2. Sell them on eBay
    3. Donate them to a charity

    (1) has already been touched on.

    As far as (2) and (3) are concerned, you can bet the people receiving the computer are going to be even less computer-savvy than the person getting rid of it. How are they going to cope?

    I think the person getting rid of the computer has the same obligation to clean it up that, say, a nuclear power plant might have to decontaminate its waste products.

    mrm00 had this to say on Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 1

  • James - You’ve got the right intentions, but all the wrong words.

    Sure we don’t need a society hell bent on destroying the earth as we know it.

    But we also don’t need a society that wants and needs to understand how technology works.

    We need technology just to work so we can be more productive, creative, and happy. If that means throwing out an old Windows computer, then so be it.

    Nathan had this to say on Jul 26, 2005 Posts: 219

  • Nuke and Pave isn’t always as easy as you think…

    A friend of mine was having intermittent problems with her Dell laptop connecting via wireless. After trying to update the driver and several calls to Dell, I decided to nuke and pave.

    It ends up that about a third of the software and drivers required to return her system back to factory were *not* included on the CDs that shipped in the box. I had to make several additional calls to Dell and download about 300MB of software so she could watch DVDs, etc.

    Scott had this to say on Jul 26, 2005 Posts: 144

  • Good point, Scott.

    In my last job, I was responsible for maintaining a number of HP Vectras (one of the reasons I’d never recommend HP PCs to anyone). The “restore disks” were woefully incomplete and made the job hellish.

    And now that OEMs often don’t include Windows install CDs, you’re basically screwed if you want to start fresh.

    vb_baysider had this to say on Jul 27, 2005 Posts: 243

  • I got my Unreal Tournament 2004 server this way!

    “This thing is broken… you want it”!

    I promise the next “broken” machine that comes along I’ll fix it up and donate to charity…...

    caravaggio had this to say on Jul 27, 2005 Posts: 1
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