Letters to the Editor
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Here we go again
Another Salon writer who has no talent or skill for talking head video blogging.
OK, Salon, we get it. None of your writers should be seen, only read.
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So THAT's what Farhad looks and sounds like
I guess he's pretty much how I expected he'd be -- the classic techie guy. Too bad nobody in Hollywood is producing "Wargames 2: Joshua Called Me, Breathed Heavily, and Hung Up," because I'd recommend Farhad to a casting agent.
I think we're all a little confused about where we're supposed to comment. This video has a Salon comments area. But then Farhad says ya gotta go to Currents.com/Salon. I guess Salon has a new partnership! Congratulations, Salon! Where is your registry? Would you like a nice tea-kettle?
So, did all the Salon columnists have their arms twisted to contribute to these videos for the happy marriage with Currents.com? If so, I feel bad for razzing Stephanie Zacharek so overbearingly in a previous video-comments section. Sorry, Stephanie.
As for the content of Farhad's video, I think his argument has so many caveats, and is so low on a list of a person's priorities when buying a computer, it doesn't merit a lot of conversation.
But I will say this: If you're a person who expects to purchase a new computer every couple years, having a high resale value on your old computer might be nice, but you'll also have to factor in that you'll need to buy ANOTHER expensive Mac to replace the one you sold. So the added resale value doesn't help much.
Yeah, I know, I should be posting this on Currents.com/Salon. I probably would except I *like* posting on Salon, and it feels weird to have to off-site just to join a discussion that I was already perfectly happy to engage in on Salon. It's also a little weird that Salon is trying to get its audience to comment on articles that were already commented on once before (when the original columns appeared). It's sorta like double-dipping.
When are you going to get Cary Tennis involved in all this? That will be, for lack of a better word, interesting.
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Who sells their hardware?
I disagree with Farhad on a few levels, but the most salient is that no one I know ever sells their equipment. After a purchase, there's a learning curve to be surmounted only after which is full productivity realized. There would have to be a very good reason to set yourself back on the toe of that curve, and *fashion* is not one of them, especially for someone who makes their living using the appliance. For that reason, the people I know upgrade their systems and software, but try to hang on to the core for as long as possible. Resale is not a consideration.
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Resale Value
I've been using Macs since the "Fat Mac" came out back in 1985, but I do have to say that this is one of the lamest arguments I've ever heard. Most people don't sell their computers. They keep using them until they become utterly worthless.
There is also a reason why used PCs lose their value so quickly: New PCs prices keep falling. Let's take that neat HP notebook I bought two years ago for $900. Now, I want to sell it on Ebay. Well, a new compatible HP notebook now sells for $600. Right off the bat, my old HP has lost 1/3 of its value because I certainly can't sell it for more than a brand new one.
Now, that new one has a faster processor, better display, and (most importantly) a warranty. Now how much would you buy my obsolete, used, banged up, HP laptop for? Could I sell it for half price ($450) when an extra $150 would get you a better one? Maybe, I could get $350 for it.
Consider Macs. Apple keeps the Mac prices up by offering more and better computers at the same price. I bought my iMac for about $1200 two years ago, and there's a new iMac selling for the same $1200! Why, I could sell my old iMac for $800 and get some serious bites.
Now, what you should have argued is that Macs tend to last a lot longer and remain relevant a lot longer than PCs. I had a Mac Cube which I bought back in 2000. This cube had been sitting on my desk for seven years until last August. Seven years. Not only that, but it was running Tiger, the most recent Mac OS X until Leopard came out this October. How many PCs can make that type of claim?
Where is this Mac Cube now? My son has taken it from me. He didn't upgrade it to Leopard (a 400 Mhz processor and a 500Mg of memory might be a bit too slow for Leopard), but he now uses it as his desktop machine. This despite the fact he has a brand new HP laptop that came with Vista. He prefers using the seven year old Mac to his 2 month old laptop.
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The Argument Holds No More Water On Video Than In Print
C'mon Farhad, what are you thinking? That seeing your earnest visage will somehow alter the illogic of your original argument? You put too much faith in television, so to speak.