GAry, Man, you are way off base on the way tv prices acted in the past. Once they became commodities, you are correct, that folks paid more for grainy larger screens. But before that, they acted just like the pcs that have now become commodities.
HWP has taken share from the other geeks in servers and workstations, so they are not hopeless. Dell has made money while component prices were dropping rapidly. That game is over. The prices are still dropping, but not as rapidly. They are hanging right below breakeven for the component cos. Also, Dell has emphasized overpriced pcs. That game is over. Gateway hasn't done squat except play with accounting and count as profits today tomorrow's writeoffs.
I buy boxes the same way I buy tvs, when they break. Now that I am no longer running a Compaq, I expect it to be a long time before I buy another one. BTW, I have noticed zero difference in speed between my 120 mhz with 16MB DRAM and my 333 mhz and 64MB DRAM. I know that has more to do with what I do than with what the machine can do. I'm sure that if I was into video games, the faster box would be better. But, since I am an adult, that is a non-event. Lots of boxes are purchased by adults. <G>
Since I watch tv and play with the Internet at the same time, unless I have the stereo on, I can't segment the two. I think I spend more time watching horses on simulcast than either, but I don't know if that counts as tv or videoconfering. <G>
And, once again, Gary, we are talking price. I would like Dell's prospects in the 20s. In the triple digits, it is dead meat. As Cyndi Lauper said, money changes everything. IMHO, it costs far too much money to own overpriced tech stocks today. So, I prefer to make my money putting them at much lower risk.
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