Hi Rudedog.
I would very much like to know which laptop that is, that can resume from harddisk in two seconds - that's how I read your post.
Most people don't have a laptop. Most people I know shut down their computer when they go home, and if they have their computer at home, they shut it down too, in order to save energy. Europe is much more focused on energy savings than the US. I don't think I ever experienced anyone using hibernation or sleep mode on a desktop PC.
Besides applications from big vendors like Corel, Adobe, Oracle etc., most applications are done with pretty simple tools by simple people. For instance, Stone's webwriter is written by a guy who doesn't know much about dll's (I talked to him personally), but is nevertheless one of the most widely used HTML editors around. There are tons of applications out there, and companies really depend on them. Just imagine all those programmers in companies that create tools for internal use. In 1999, Brüel & Kjærs $150,000 a piece measurement kit was still based on Windows 3.11 and Word Perfect 5.1/DOS for reporting, and was still selling well. Those people who bought that equipment in 1999 were happy about it, and it just works. It didn't sell well in the U.S., but it sold well in Europe and Japan.
I never forget the time when some customer called me and asked about a problem with some kind of embedded box he believed was a PC. It didn't start up, and he paid $15,000 for the equipment. After removing the rear plate we found a VGA connector. When we put a monitor on that connector, the screen said "This beta version f Windows 95 has expired. Please upgrade....". Since it was DOS based, all we needed to do was "sys a:" and it worked again and he was happy.
Broaden your mind and think of those who are not amongst the most clever 50% of the population, that use PCs, or even program them.
Lars. |
