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Originally Posted by bluevolume
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I have to disagree with this part of your post -- cars and computers are completely different in this realm. A car is a machine with thousands of moving parts, and a very complicated assembly process. If you buy a new car and there is something wrong with it, it is most likely because an error was made during assembly. Computers, and in this case our PDAs, are solid-state devices built almost entirely on automated lines. Each unit is identical for the most part, and if there is a problem with one, there is usually a problem with all of them.
If a car has a problem like that, it prompts a recall, at a huge expense for the manufacturer. Imagine if GM treated its customers like Dell has -- thousands of new cars that won't go faster than 40mph and get 10mpg even though they should get 32, and GM says to just hang out until we figure out why. This would never fly in the automotive industry.
The real problem here is the culture that Microsoft has created. It started with Windows 95 -- people were so amped about seeing this new OS that MS decided to release it even though it was full of bugs. Contrary to traditional business logic, all this did was increase the consumer's appetite for MS products. "What they gave us was crap, but they're saying newer and better things are coming..." We have become so used to software updates on our computers and firmware updates for our other devices, that we've started to give companies like Dell too much slack. There are always going to be problems with software, its just the nature of the beast, but there's a certain level of quality that should be there before its released. Dell obviously didn't follow this principle when they decided to deliver WM5.
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Yes, my analogy is a little "loose" comparing computer products to cars. But to me, thousands of mechanical parts working together is no different than millions of lines of code from various companies, loaded on a machine with multiple boards/diodes/capicitors/etc from various companies - we're not dealing with a single-cell product.
We the consumer have put up with the computer industry and allowed these companies the slack they work with. But NOTHING is perfect. I don't have access to statistics I can trust, but I wonder what % of the X51v's out in the market today are actually defective? I believe the advantages technology has given me far outweighs the difficulties that come along with it. This little X5 I carry with me helps me boatloads. It's my right-hand man, and I know the X51v will be the same. I've had computers since the day of the Commodore VIC-20's and Timex Sinclairs and TRS-80's. I love what these products do for me.
I'm not happy with Dell or Microsoft, but I also don't beleive there are thousands of employees sitting around the water fountain laughing at us consumers. They are all working to marry many things in one little box, so we can take this little thing and put it to good use.