Our View: Computer
conspiracy causes consumer crisis
Americans love new crap — commodities like flashy sports cars, surround-sound
stereo systems, LCD TVs, power tools — the list goes on. We expect our
little luxuries to be state of the art, tip-top — the next new thing to
beat the Joneses.
For that matter, we also expect our computers to be pretty darn good. After all,
America and Bill Gates revolutionized the world’s personal computing industry.
But many times they do not work as well as we’d like. Computer problems
are as common as college keggers, Starbucks locations and Los Angeles traffic.
This harsh reality is due to two factors. One is many computer users are not
familiar with how to effectively use a PC. This is understandable because advanced
computing techniques are complicated, though the industry does its best to make
things user-friendly.
The second factor is the juicy one, involving what is quite possibly a massive
anti-consumer, pro-cash conspiracy. Behind corporate computer CEO doors, “the
man” and his cronies have devised a near-perfect scheme to keep you and
your PC continually at odds.
Nearly all of the aforementioned computer companies are selling consumers a laptop
or desktop that is destined never to function well because it is loaded with
a pre-paid ticket to tension town, taking the train straight to your nerves.
Brand-new computers are comparable to garage sales; both have a whole lot of
junk once you check them out. A PC pre-loaded with the Windows operating system
comes with mounds of useless programs most users never need.
Examples include bulky printer software with various additional add-ons most
users will never take advantage of, touch pad options, video card and display
options, colossally slow media players, weather meters, company support links
and trial software. Each company incorporates its own items, all largely the
same and equally useless.
Most of this technological trash is configured to run every time the computer
starts. Consequently, it makes boot-ups slow while users unknowingly wait to
pre-load programs they may not even want.
When computer boot-ups are slow, it begins the inevitable downward spiral of
the computer’s functional decline. It will run slowly, taking considerable
time to even do trivial tasks. It is like a kind of software bureaucracy.
It loads dozens of unwanted programs because the manufacturers set it to do so,
making it eventually crash, either temporarily or permanently. A good analogy
for this prickly phenomenon is that the computer is simply juggling too many
digital balls at once. Eventually, it is going to drop them into some cybernetic
chasm.
But why have companies done such a terrible thing to our computers? Why do they
pre-set them to run slowly and potentially stop working?
Our theory is that they do it to make a pretty penny selling warranties, more
useless software and computer repair, of course.
Consumers usually do not know about this dirty little secret before purchasing
that shiny new marvel. We put too much blind trust in computer companies. Perhaps
it is the result of clever advertising touting a high percent of customer satisfaction
or generic perfect service awards that cause us to do so.
Meanwhile, as you suffer from faulty products, computer repair personnel are
cashing in on easy fixes — removing the pre-installed software on your
computer that led to its collapse in the first place.
This is not the only reason your computer runs slow or breaks down. There are
many other possibilities, including excessive amounts of malicious spyware or
viruses. But the pre-installed junk software is many times the original culprit.
To the computer cronies’ credit, the vicious cycle is profitable—for
them, at least. Ultimately, that revenue causes the consumer unnecessary stress
and emptier wallets. Something must be done about it.
Getting rid of the troublesome odds and ends on your computer is not very difficult
to do yourself or with the help of a computer-savvy friend. There is no need
to call the Geek Squad or Dell support for such simple fixes at your expense.
Our recommendation is to delete much of what comes on a brand-new computer. Much
of the software given to you as a so-called “bonus” does not need
to run at startup. In most cases, and with most computer users, it does not need
to run at all.
With a little help, you can remove the programs to both help your computer run
faster and to prevent a potential Windows breakdown. You can also remove programs
you do not use through the control panel. Chances are, you will not miss them.
In case you do, your computer probably came with backup CDs.
All that pre-loaded stuff is crap and the companies know it. Some of the software
given to you is the result of a real sweetheart corporate deal that benefits
them and not you. If asked, they would probably deny that fact, rebutting using
swift and smooth rhetoric.
But such rhetoric is as empty as, to quote Mark Twain, “a beer closet in
premises where painters have been at work.”
Do not let the computer work you. You work the computer.
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