Subject:	Breaking chips
To:	djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu (DJ's GPP mailing list)
Date:	Fri, 5 Feb 93 13:48:43 EST
From:	Stephen Turnbull <turnbull AT ecolan DOT sbs DOT ohio-state DOT edu>

Fixing things that aren't broke is a classic ploy in price
discrimination by a monopolist.  This is exactly what the airlines do
by requiring 30 days advance purchase on a Supersaver fare.
    Those of us who know better are not going to buy an "entry-level"
486SX system; we will pay cost plus monopoly profit to Intel to get a
machine that is (after all) worth it to us.
    Pseudo-power-users (and some others who get trapped by the fact
that some software demands the FPU, although their application does
not) will try to save $$$ by buying the 486SX at a low price.  Intel
gets a normal (or slightly better) profit on that chip (since its a
very competitive, low-margin market).  Then, in the best of both
worlds for Intel, the 486SX buyer tries to put up GO32 and fails, or
decides to do some CAD or Maple, and gets a 487.  Two (or maybe three,
if the user gets disgusted and decides after a couple of months to
upgrade from the 486SX/25 to a 486DX2/66) chips sold where only one
was needed.
    Unfortunately, there's not much we can do about this except root
for Cyrix, AMD, Fujitsu, NEC, Motorola, DEC Alpha, et al.  Getting the
Federal Trade Commission or the Antitrust Division of the Justice
Department involved just screws things up worse in the medium and long
terms.  (NB:  IBM is getting theirs, now, despite beating the Justice
Department in the '69--'81 antitrust action.)
    The moral of the story is: buy twice the hardware you think you
need, it's money well spent---you'll be lucky if it's half your actual
requirement.  This is especially true if you can't afford it.  More
seriously, do the research or find a trustworthy local vendor/systems
integrator.  
--
 
Stephen Turnbull
The Ohio State University, Department of Economics
410 Arps Hall, 1945 N. High St., Columbus, OH  43210-1172  USA
Phone: (614) 292-0654  Fax: ...-3906  Email: turnbull DOT 1 AT osu DOT edu

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