J
Julian
Gary VanderMolen said:
Loss leaders, as they are called in some trades, are a widely used marketing
ploy.
For instance supermarket are heavy users of the tactic.
They make a big noise by offering a limited range of products at low
prices, often a below cost price, to entice customers into the shop
where in actuality many other prices have been raised.
Software suppliers are willing, neigh keen enough to pay, to
give away software to capture eyeballs (market share) knowing
that most people are loathe, or not technically savvy enough, to
shop around once they are familiar with something.
You can't blame them for that but it takes an extremely cynical
pc manufacturer who takes their pieces of silver and in fact
makes more profit from supporting the products the worse they are.
The first step anyone should take on receiving a new computers
is to wipe the hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
Then only install software on an as needed basis.
If people followed that simple routine
their computers would be fit for purpose far longer
as they haven't bee bloated and nobbled with crap.
Another free benefit of that approach is that the user gets to know
far more about their machine and can use and maintain it far
more effectively and such skills accumulate and last a lifetime.