Ethan Benson wrote: > > On Tue, Oct 23, 2001 at 10:22:53PM -0400, Colin Walters wrote: > > Andrew Sharp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > > > Remember that these computers *come* with MacOS, which you paid for, > > > and DVDs play fine with that. > > and 99.9% of all x86 computers *come* with Windows, which you paid > for, so why should be we bother with anything at all? </sarcasm>
Actually, I don't get the joke, but I'm dense like that sometimes. However, I will relate an unrelated story. I was representing a company that spent large amounts of money with the best known PC supplier in this country. Every computer was immediately wiped of windows upon delivery and Linux installed. In a meeting with the manufacturer, I broached the unthinkable: I asked them to sell us computers with no operating system installed on the hard drives. I explained our situation to them and the answer was, sure, they could do that, if we signed a letter of intent for $50k/quarter of business (which we were already doing), and then they would do it for an additional $50/machine. I said, well, no, I wanted $150/machine LESS, because we were no longer buying the Windows license, and Dell^H^H^H^H unnamed manufacturer would no longer have to go to the expense of installing the software. They treated this concept as a joke. I responded appropriately. After, the marketing veep said, 'Dude, you really reamed him. Was that necessary?' I said 'we still have choices.' Let's hope we continue to have choices. > > > Andrew, this is not a solution. > > Thank you. Guys, guys, we're all on the same side here, remember? The question was should [someone] buy an iBook2 if maybe it can't play a DVD. I proposed this *interim* solution so that person could, with a clear mind, purchase that desired iBook2 knowing that s/he could watch a DVD, one day easily with a Linux application, but until then there is an interim solution that would allow the purchase. Can I be allowed back in now? 'Cuz it's cold out here. Sheesh. Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. Or clever. Btw, I availed myself of this solution only once, but now I feel sullied. A large amount of hair grew on the back of my hands right after. I apologize to the list. I won't do it again until I do it again. a
