Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: Sandman on February 12, 2011, 08:44:52 PM
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Just finished my first visit to a Mac Store. Boy, what a snob-a-torium. Definitely a elitist attitude at that place. However, I like the new local Microsoft Store, some may hate their software but the people there were really nice and friendly with no pressure to buy.
I contrast this with the local Amiga stores that I used to visit back in the day. One place in particular was just a fun, layed-back place for computer lovers to congregate. I remember Saturday afternoons the place would be filled with Amiga enthusiast exchanging stories, dicussing software, trying out the new games and checking out the latest Fred Fish disks for goodies. Good times.
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Just finished my first visit to a Mac Store. Boy, what a snob-a-torium. Definitely a elitist attitude at that place. However, I like the new local Microsoft Store, some may hate their software but the people there were really nice and friendly with no pressure to buy.
I contrast this with the local Amiga stores that I used to visit back in the day. One place in particular was just a fun, layed-back place for computer lovers to congregate. I remember Saturday afternoons the place would be filled with Amiga enthusiast exchanging stories, dicussing software, trying out the new games and checking out the latest Fred Fish disks for goodies. Good times.
Yeah I miss those times too.
Here in the Netherlands we had some good shops, always took the time to tell just about everything when you wanted to buy something.
Usually you end up with a bit more than you were planning.
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I haven't been into a "computer store" in a long time.
My only visit into a Mac store wasn't too good. It was in the late 90's and I was doing some phone system work and needed a serial cable. The store was close so I stopped in and asked the salesman if they had a DB25 cable? I still remember what he said:
"We don't use that terminology in here. Do you mean Mac to Modem or Mac to Printer?"
I just asked to see the cables, grabbed one (Yes, they did have one; I didn't ask "what they called it") and left.
I liked the Amiga store; which really wasn't. It was a computer store. They sold Atari, Amiga and PC clones. They had them all set up and you could almost always test what they had for sale. He sold a lot of Amiga's, but I remember he was also happy with a "new" Nec Laptop that was selling very well.
(Funny, the things you remember...)
desiv
(Note: I am NOT saying all Mac stores are like that. Just the one I went to..)
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Gotta agree on the Apple shops, "come in sir, sit down for a mere £25 per half our one of our stuck up staff will advice you on just what we think you need and how much we're going to fleece you for"... :lol:
On he other hand PCworld staff "can I help you mate... no ta just looking... well if you need any help just give me a shout"... :)
Compare that to Princes Street in Edinburgh circa 1980's. John Menzies, WHSmiths, Dixons, Boots, Laskys, HMV, Virgin, Woolworths not mention all those neat little specialist shops the sprang up every where off the side streets & beaten track... :)
Saturday mornings & afternoons were spent touring all these great places in ever growing crowds, checking out this weeks releases and comparing prices and thoroughly testing them all before deciding which to buy that week.... :)
It was a time when you made many new and even lifelong friends & acquaintances and where many user groups sprang up from, all because we had one thing in common, our fascination and love for all these new fangled home computer thingies... :)
It even got so popular that some of the guys who owned the small but equally well stocked independent stores had to arrange times for the ever growing groups to arrive and leave at certain times cos there were just too many to fit into all at once these magic little treasure caves stuffed full of all the latest goodies... :)
Then if you were old enough (or even if you weren't) it was off to the nearest pub to discuss & compare each others haul this week before setting of to invade whomevers bedroom who lived nearest to try out all the latest goodies... :)
Often wondered what some of the bemused mums thought when wee Johny arrived back home on those Saturday afternoons and announced "mum I've brought a few friends back, just going upstairs now to my room", then anything up to about 15 or 16 of us would trail into wee Johny's mums house with a cheery " hello Johny's Mum, look at what we bought this week"... :)
Wonder if such things still happen these days, highly doubt it but to be honest it was an experience and pleasure that I'm glad to say I didn't miss out on and remember most fondly... :)
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I haven't been into a "computer store" in a long time.
My only visit into a Mac store wasn't too good. It was in the late 90's and I was doing some phone system work and needed a serial cable. The store was close so I stopped in and asked the salesman if they had a DB25 cable? I still remember what he said:
"We don't use that terminology in here. Do you mean Mac to Modem or Mac to Printer?"
I just asked to see the cables, grabbed one (Yes, they did have one; I didn't ask "what they called it") and left.
I liked the Amiga store; which really wasn't. It was a computer store. They sold Atari, Amiga and PC clones. They had them all set up and you could almost always test what they had for sale. He sold a lot of Amiga's, but I remember he was also happy with a "new" Nec Laptop that was selling very well.
(Funny, the things you remember...)
desiv
(Note: I am NOT saying all Mac stores are like that. Just the one I went to..)
Oh come on! You know Mac users can be rabid fanatics and their so called "experts" aren't much better than the Geek Squad (and apple experts don't make house calls).
They've always criminally over priced their hardware. And they insist on controlling all aspect of their market (and, no, this doesn't lead to good things).
I'll use my cast off PPC Mac proudly, knowing that my OS is significantly more efficient than OSX.
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I'll use my cast off PPC Mac proudly, knowing that my OS is significantly more efficient than OSX.
I also get a sly grin when I boot up OSX on my hackintoshed HP Tablet too. :)
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On he other hand PCworld staff "can I help you mate... no ta just looking... well if you need any help just give me a shout"... :)
Which is just as well, because the only help they would be is if you had trouble reading the label on the shelf edge, they could read it to you. That and pointing out the most expensive item in the line they have while saying "This is what you need sir!" seems to be all they're good for.
Apple staff tend to be elitist alright, but at least they know the products they're trying to sell you.
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Which is just as well, because the only help they would be is if you had trouble reading the label on the shelf edge, they could read it to you. That and pointing out the most expensive item in the line they have while saying "This is what you need sir!" seems to be all they're good for.
Apple staff tend to be elitist alright, but at least they know the products they're trying to sell you.
All very true that's why in PCWorld I just say "no ta, just looking" cos I can read the display tag or box myself... :)
Apple shop staff knowing what they're talking about, no quite true apart from their 25 quid per half hour "Consulting fee" they love to try and get you to pay, ask to test out the machine you're actually going to buy and not the display model and it's "sorry we can't do that", believe me I've tried... :)
Even a question about how many "dead pixels" are allowed on a screen before it can be classed as either needing replaced or your money refunded is met by a totally wrong answer as they don't have a clue about what by trading laws in the UK is considered acceptable or not... :)
I'd rather take my chances on ebay or buying second hand when it comes to anything Apple... :)
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So i walk into an apple store and start fiddling around when one of their people comes up to me and we exchange the following:
Me: "what's so special about apples?"
Apple guy: "" telling me why apple really are the best computers around.
So i ask: "how can apple computers be better than other brands like dell and acer when they all use the same generic parts like intel"?
Apple guy replies with mumbles of "gee, errr, ummm" until eventually all he can muster is "because it's apple!".
I just don't understand :(
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The Amiga store we had near us was interesting. A guy that ran a local user group managed it, but a PC business type guy owned the place. The user group guy was a pleasure to talk to about all things micro related, but owner knew nothing about Amiga or PC's. Just fancied himself as this entrepreneur that could care less about computers, but loved to talk about himself. What he had done with his life. Where all he had been, etc. This is the place that used an AtariST for their POS cash duties.
Bought an A1200 from them and lots of software. Was always nice perusing all the Amiga goods. They had a fair amount too, but I remember it dwindled big time by the mid 90's until finally - the user group guy and the Amiga disappeared :(
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Hehe, well they do some nice engineering on their machines you have to admit. Yes it's Intel, but you can't overheat it by putting it on your lap like the equivalent Dell, for example...
@Franko
Yeah, never actually tried anything like that in an Apple store so never even got to the stage of needing a "consultancy" - the only thing I ever bought new from Apple was an Airport Express - which is a bloody excellent piece of kit! But I bought that from Amazon IIRC...
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One of the worst things about visiting any type of electrical shop, whether it's a computer, TV or even a washing machine is the never ending sales push to get you to purchase the extra 3 or 5 year Warranty that cost half the price or more of the item your buying, that really pees me off but the best answer I've found to that is to reply with...
"So the piece of kit your trying to sell me is so unreliable that I need to purchase this extra warranty for it for when IT DOES BREAK DOWN within the first few years... In that case I'll not even bother buying such a piece of crap..."
Never fails as they either just shut up or mumble something under their breath as they waddle of knowing that they won't be getting a cut from selling you this scam... :)
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One of the worst things about visiting any type of electrical shop, whether it's a computer, TV or even a washing machine is the never ending sales push to get you to purchase the extra 3 or 5 year Warranty that cost half the price or more of the item your buying, that really pees me off but the best answer I've found to that is to reply with...
"So the piece of kit your trying to sell me is so unreliable that I need to purchase this extra warranty for it for when IT DOES BREAK DOWN within the first few years... In that case I'll not even bother buying such a piece of crap..."
Never fails as they either just shut up or mumble something under their breath as they waddle of knowing that they won't be getting a cut from selling you this scam... :)
That's not the worst thing. The worst thing is when you spend extra on top of an initial purchase for extended warranty and then they don't honour it. I bought a new Acer laptop and was so proud of it i spend $150 extra for extended warranty. Then about a month later the harddrive broke. Acer refused to fix it out right because i didn't fill out the piece of cardboard that came somewhere in the box. So why did i spend $150 for extra warranty? :madashell:
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A government sponsored report a number of years ago in the UK about these "extended warranties" showed that this money making scam (and that's all it is) that almost 78% of these purchased warranties are never used or needed during the warranties lifetime by the buyer and the small remainder that do require it when something does break down, will more often than not find that the company claims the broken part is not covered by the warranty... :(
If you know a friend who is a shop manager that tries to sell such warranties ask them to tell you just how much the "warranty provider" (ie: insurance company) actually pays the company/shop a share of the revenue from selling these things and just how much the shop actually pays the staff a bonus/fee for each one they sell, reckon you might be surprised when you find out the truth... :)
Never buy one... it's not worth the money and in most cases the paper it's written on... :)
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Franko, can you imagine the looks on their faces if you took in your A1200T to be repaired under warranty in 1992? :D
You take in a heavily modified Amiga and they would go "What the f**k"? :eek:
We should all take our 2011 miggys back in time just to freak them out. But not just the warranty guys but community groups too. *sighs* the joys of time travel :rolleyes:
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The local mac store here are pretty nice all in all. They never give a fuss about fixing my wife's laptop or taking a look at it.
I usually grab random gadgets from the Best Buy across the street, who are polite but generally clueless, or I buy from specialized places online.
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I'll use my cast off PPC Mac proudly, knowing that my OS is significantly more efficient than OSX.
I feel like that too when I fire up my old ZX Spectrum and compare how efficient it is to the bloat of the Amiga. Who needs an OS on 3+ disks that you have to wait to load?!
:laughing:
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I feel like that too when I fire up my old ZX Spectrum and compare how efficient it is to the bloat of the Amiga. Who needs an OS on 3+ disks that you have to wait to load?!
:laughing:
I have a pencil and paper that never runs out of memory, and no colour bleed either ;)
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A government sponsored report a number of years ago in the UK about these "extended warranties" showed that this money making scam (and that's all it is) that almost 78% of these purchased warranties are never used or needed during the warranties lifetime by the buyer and the small remainder that do require it when something does break down, will more often than not find that the company claims the broken part is not covered by the warranty... :(
If you know a friend who is a shop manager that tries to sell such warranties ask them to tell you just how much the "warranty provider" (ie: insurance company) actually pays the company/shop a share of the revenue from selling these things and just how much the shop actually pays the staff a bonus/fee for each one they sell, reckon you might be surprised when you find out the truth... :)
Never buy one... it's not worth the money and in most cases the paper it's written on... :)
If there's one thing getting an amiga again has convinced me of, it is that if a computer still runs a month after you bought it, it'll probably still run in 10 years :)
Hard drives and monitors of course tend to crap out sooner.
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For a while I lived in Byron Bay, yeah, I fit in too. Anyway there was this Apple shop run by a guy with no last name, something like Sagaro or something. ABsolute rip off artist, charged 3x as much for memory as anywhere else. But he was part of the local scene and people loved him anyway.
Bit of a b****** once you got to know him too.
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Bit of a b****** once you got to know him too.
Well come on then, tell us all about it... :hammer:
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yeah, you can't just toss out a story like that and then leave it hanging
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Off topic but i have a question. What percentage of the Earths water is held within cows :confused:
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There was a place called MBV? Computer Supplies in Dorset rd Croydon. It was always so busy, basically had to serve yourself and then line up. But if you were willing to wait they'd look after you.
Another was Pacific Micro Labs in Elizabeth St City which was a grab the box and pay place, and the third was in Nicholson St in Abbotsford, but cant remember its name. I bought my A2000 there in 1989 and quite a bit of software at different times. Always a great help. I remember one guy spending half an hour showing me how to use both samples and midi in Dr T's Tiger Cub.
I see the same kind of "spirit" in Mac shops. But the detail in the conversations is missing.
0% Appearently they are made up totally of methane.
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My area used to have all sorts of awesome computer stores. All we have now is a Best Buy.
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@ Kesa
Just woke up for a pee & a quick fag...
Cows aren't real you know, there just a figroll of your imagination and therefore don't hold any water... off to sleep again... night, night... :)
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So i ask: "how can apple computers be better than other brands like dell and acer when they all use the same generic parts like intel"?
Funny he could´t answer this one. Apples are the masters of packaging. Seriously: No other brand has as many people just opening the boxes on YouTube. Furthermore they really know which parts work together nicely. But we are digressing.
I really enjoyed two Amiga shops in the past. One of them was selling hard- and software for gamers and pros. The other one was a cozy little shop where you could get free coffe while you were waiting for your fish disks to be copied. I enjoyed to go there by bike - even when the first frost of winter was on the streets on a saturday morning. (It was about 4km away.)
I never got the same feeling from any Apple or PC store - but then again this also seems to hold true for book stores and grocery stores.
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I guess I have a different point of view because I worked in an Amiga/PC shop for years and years.
And that point of view was AWESOME!!!:afro:
Most Amiga customers were the coolest. There is always going to be that guy who orders a PAR card ($1000) and then decide he doesn't want it :madashell:, but by and large, it was the others who would come in and try the latest game, talk tech., explain their latest prog. and/or music project or play in a turny that made it so much fun. Those guys I still talk to every now and then...
It wasn't as much as a shop as it was a gathering place that happened to also make money.;)
On the Mac thing, in our last location, the mini-mall's owner also owned a Mac shop elswhere and specificly put it into the contract that we couldn't sell anything Mac...:lol:
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That's not the worst thing. The worst thing is when you spend extra on top of an initial purchase for extended warranty and then they don't honour it. I bought a new Acer laptop and was so proud of it i spend $150 extra for extended warranty. Then about a month later the harddrive broke. Acer refused to fix it out right because i didn't fill out the piece of cardboard that came somewhere in the box. So why did i spend $150 for extra warranty? :madashell:
That's weird. I bought a second-hand Acer laptop on eBay which sold cheap because the touchpad didn't work. It arrived in the mail, I filled in the repairs form online, they picked it up and fitted a whole new top case and touchpad, and returned it to me. No charge. I was never asked where I got it or asked for a receipt or anything else. That said, I am reselling it now and would never touch Acer again, I think their computers are awful.
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Never had a really great experience with any computer shop.
I bought my first Amiga 500 with 1084S monitor and 2400 baud modem at the 1988 World of Commodore in Toronto from a dealer who had a booth there. Since I was either 17 or 18 years old, and had never purchased anything that expensive before (about $1000 CAD) I asked my Dad to do the transaction for me, and I would reimburse him with the cash I had saved up. One of the enticements to the sale was that we could visit the dealer's real store anytime and copy public domain software from his library.
Well I guess that he liked credit card bearing adults better than teenagers, because when I showed up at his real store and explained that we were here to copy the PD software as promised, he was a lot more gruff and limited the number of PD disks I could copy to something like six.
Then in the mid-1990s I would sometimes visit one of the only Amiga stores left in the Toronto area. It was in the west end beside one of the westernmost subway stops. One week I purchased a used Amiga multi-sync monitor from them for around $300. The next week I purchased a high-density floppy drive (Amtek?) from them that cost nearly $200. I told the saleperson that I had experienced problems getting HD drives to work with my A2000 in the past, and I asked if it would be a problem to return the drive if I could not get it to work. He told me it was no problem.
Well, the drive just wouldn't work as a HD drive in my A2000 despite trying EVERYTHING (jumpers, cable swapped wires...all the jazz). So I brought it back within 24 hours. The owner refused to give me a refund at first, and when he finally did he said he was deducting $30 from the refund as a 24 hour "rental fee". I argued that was unfair, especially since I had just purchased an expensive monitor from them. Since he had my money and there was no other way to get it back I had to accept the $30 "fee". If I had more wits about me I should have called VISA or the Better Business Bureau and complained. But I was younger at the time and didn't have experience with these sorts of things. I never went back there and eventually they went out of business.
But I haven't had great experience with PC shops either. My wife was looking for something to get me that I could "actually use" this past Christmas and I suggested I could use some RAM for my slightly older PC (needed two 1GB memory modules). I did my research and looked up the exact type of memory modules that my motherboard needed from the manufacturer's website and manual. I wrote down the specs (an exact quote from the manual) on a piece paper for my wife. Since these were going to be used parts, I directed her to the local "mom and pop" computer store which I normally liked to support instead of the "big box" stores.
She went in one day after work and explained that she would like to buy some older RAM modules and that she didn't know much about much about "computer jargon" but that (her husband) had written down what he needed. The fellow took the paper and said something like "well it looks like he doesn't know much about computer jargon either" as if what I had written down was jibberish. He then tried to tell her that it wouldn't be compatible but that she could buy such and such a new part (this was the owner of the store who had run it for over 10 years).
I was pretty frustrated with this arrogant response. I took the specs, went personally to ANOTHER computer store (I won't be going back to that first store again) and within 20 minutes had returned with exactly the RAM modules I needed and had my PC's memory upgraded. As a bonus, it was cheaper at the second store.
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Ral-Clan was that store "Computers and U" by chance? At Various Time I worked at a few Cumputer Stores in the Toronto area but not in the west end although I knew most of thre Techies.
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We used to catch the train to the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt Germany, across the street was this software store that sold Fred Fish and other PD programs. The thing is you placed your order and had to wait a few hours for them to copy the disk. Right behind the store was the Red light district. We would place our order, eat at Burger King ( a big deal for Americans then stationed in Europe) and cruise the whore houses, It was a fun thing to do, in one house up the stairs usually 5 floors with small rooms, each one had a different thing that was offered, we would go up and down each one, killing several hours waiting for our fish disk. Somehow going to Best Buy cannot capture the magic of a trip to the PD store in Franfurt.
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We were really lucky in this area. There were more than a few Amiga stores way back when, BUT we had a place called Buried Treasure out towards Rockville. They carried most of the Commodore Line - but specialized in the Amiga. They would help user groups and individual users. As good as most Amiga shops were, this one stood above most of them.
Friendly, helpful, with a huge stock and a great technical staff.
This was a great place!
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Ral-Clan was that store "Computers and U" by chance? At Various Time I worked at a few Cumputer Stores in the Toronto area but not in the west end although I knew most of thre Techies.
Yeah, It might have been. Hard to recall now. It was in a strip mall (but weren't they all) and had an A600 in the window for the longest time in the mid to late 1990s. When you went in the cash was on the left hand side and the tech part was in the right-back area (probably most stores were laid out this way too).
I might have bought the A600 too if they hadn't treated me this way.
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But I haven't had great experience with PC shops either. My wife was looking for something to get me that I could "actually use" this past Christmas and I suggested I could use some RAM for my slightly older PC (needed two 1GB memory modules). I did my research and looked up the exact type of memory modules that my motherboard needed from the manufacturer's website and manual. I wrote down the specs (an exact quote from the manual) on a piece paper for my wife. Since these were going to be used parts, I directed her to the local "mom and pop" computer store which I normally liked to support instead of the "big box" stores.
She went in one day after work and explained that she would like to buy some older RAM modules and that she didn't know much about much about "computer jargon" but that (her husband) had written down what he needed. The fellow took the paper and said something like "well it looks like he doesn't know much about computer jargon either" as if what I had written down was jibberish. He then tried to tell her that it wouldn't be compatible but that she could buy such and such a new part (this was the owner of the store who had run it for over 10 years).
I was pretty frustrated with this arrogant response. I took the specs, went personally to ANOTHER computer store (I won't be going back to that first store again) and within 20 minutes had returned with exactly the RAM modules I needed and had my PC's memory upgraded. As a bonus, it was cheaper at the second store.
I had a similar experience but not with my computer but with my mountain bike at a bike shop. I've had my mountain bike for over 13 years and have really looked after it. Most people are surprised when i tell them how old it is. She's my pride and joy. One day i took it into my local bike shop after i had an accident. I bought new handlebars, brake levers and some other things and also paid the service for them to put them on for me. When i picked up the bike and paid the money for their work i went outside so i could ride it home and it didn't take long to realise they did a dodgy job on it. Even a 10 year old could have done a better job than what they did. When i took the bike in and complained they refused to fix it making up some excuse why they didn't have to :madashell:
My point is never let strangers mess with your pride and joy. If you want something done right do it yourself :)
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I work in a PC shop and I can tell you from experience that not all RAM of the same specs will work in the same board. Often its a matter of going back and trying a different brand or batch of memory. We once had two friends buying identical machines except for the memory, neither board would post. Swapped memory between the two boards, both came up perfect and are still running today.
The first shop sounds like they didn't have that memory in stock and really wanted to sell her a new machine. If it was RDRAM I would probably told her that a newer used machine would be the cheaper option.
But I haven't had great experience with PC shops either. My wife was looking for something to get me that I could "actually use" this past Christmas and I suggested I could use some RAM for my slightly older PC (needed two 1GB memory modules). I did my research and looked up the exact type of memory modules that my motherboard needed from the manufacturer's website and manual. I wrote down the specs (an exact quote from the manual) on a piece paper for my wife. Since these were going to be used parts, I directed her to the local "mom and pop" computer store which I normally liked to support instead of the "big box" stores.
She went in one day after work and explained that she would like to buy some older RAM modules and that she didn't know much about much about "computer jargon" but that (her husband) had written down what he needed. The fellow took the paper and said something like "well it looks like he doesn't know much about computer jargon either" as if what I had written down was jibberish. He then tried to tell her that it wouldn't be compatible but that she could buy such and such a new part (this was the owner of the store who had run it for over 10 years).
I was pretty frustrated with this arrogant response. I took the specs, went personally to ANOTHER computer store (I won't be going back to that first store again) and within 20 minutes had returned with exactly the RAM modules I needed and had my PC's memory upgraded. As a bonus, it was cheaper at the second store.
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I miss those little computer shops, there were two good Amiga shops near me one of them had a tech who built and sold adapters; RGB to VGA ect...
On the plus side, the modern big computer shops staffed by people with zero computer knowledge sometimes make happy mistakes.
Like the time a friend went to buy a stick of RAM and the cashier thought the whole box was one unit, so sold him a box of 50 sticks for the price of one! He shuffled out of there real quick. ;)
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Which is just as well, because the only help they would be is if you had trouble reading the label on the shelf edge, they could read it to you. That and pointing out the most expensive item in the line they have while saying "This is what you need sir!" seems to be all they're good for.
Apple staff tend to be elitist alright, but at least they know the products they're trying to sell you.
I was refused a job at PC World because I am MORE qualified than the area manager, in both management AND IT skill based degrees :roflmao:
But you are right, because PC World expect people to work ludicrous late shifts and weekends for minimum legally allowed national wage I don't actually expect staff at PC World to ever improve anyway.
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I remember the first time I saw a Amiga on display and the graphics were AMAZING (this was back in the mid-80's). All the stores also sold PC's and I remember thinking "why would anyone buy that POS, the graphics are horrid?".
Never been in a Apple store and never been in a Microsoft store and I plan to keep it that way. Just because I've been forced into using Microsoft/PC junk due to lack of competition doesn't mean I have to have any appreciation for their garbage what-so-ever. :lol:
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Never been in a Apple store and never been in a Microsoft store and I plan to keep it that way.
Never heard of a brick and mortar Microsoft store before this thread. Wow. Are there no boundaries to what they'll try to copy? According to Wiki, at least they only have 7 of the God forsaken places. :lol:
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Actually, I believe that the main Microsoft store is nearby in Bellevue, WA. It is a really nice place... maybe they copied the Apple Store idea but I believe that they did it better. Layed back, friendly people with no pressure... seem fairly knowledgable too.
For all the crap that gets layed out on Microsoft they have made some great products too or else they wouldn't still be around.
Apple on the other hand, for their often being praised as the savior for the individual thinking computer user sure like to trap you in their little box and force you to do it their way.
Just my opinion........
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Apple on the other hand, for their often being praised as the savior for the individual thinking computer user sure like to trap you in their little box and force you to do it their way.
Just my opinion........
Its not like Microsoft are a shining beacon of openness. Same shit, different colours
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Unless you write all of your software yourself, you're going to be doing it someone else's way.
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There was this Amiga shop in Massachusetts midway between Boston and New Bedford off the 24 back in the 1990's. The owner was a cool guy, his store was well maintained, the displays were nice, and it was cool to just go in and drool over the equipment. Always got a cover disk at least while my friend looked over what he wanted. He even had a shop in the back for repairing Amigas.
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"For all the crap that gets layed out on Microsoft they have made some great products too"
Age of Empires and the expansions/later versions; I'll give them credit for that one (unless they stole this idea from someone like they do all their stuff). Had way too many LAN party weekends playing that one.
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"For all the crap that gets layed out on Microsoft they have made some great products too"
Age of Empires and the expansions/later versions; I'll give them credit for that one (unless they stole this idea from someone like they do all their stuff). Had way too many LAN party weekends playing that one.
Their infrared mice, original non rumble Sidewinders, MechCommander 2 (FASA really I guess) are also notably good. I don't think any recent hardware or software has caught my eye although I guess XBox 360 and controllers for some people would class as great products.
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Actually, I believe that the main Microsoft store is nearby in Bellevue, WA. It is a really nice place... maybe they copied the Apple Store idea but I believe that they did it better. Layed back, friendly people with no pressure... seem fairly knowledgable too.
For all the crap that gets layed out on Microsoft they have made some great products too or else they wouldn't still be around.
Apple on the other hand, for their often being praised as the savior for the individual thinking computer user sure like to trap you in their little box and force you to do it their way.
Just my opinion........
Going into an apple store is like going into a Scientology "center".
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Their infrared mice, original non rumble Sidewinders,
From what I remember it's Logitech that make the Microsoft-branded peripherals.
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Going into an apple store is like going into a Scientology "center".
I went into a Scientology center once. They had an office in town on one the main streets. A friend and I thought it would be a hoot to go in and take the "Free Personality Test" that they had posted on a sign in front of their office for years.
After taking their test, they took me into a separate office to score it and discuss it. The guy scored it, explained that I was a highly dyanetic person, and that I was doing fine. He thanked me for coming in, and showed me the way out.
I'm not sure whether that should please or disturb me....
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I went into a Scientology center once. They had an office in town on one the main streets. A friend and I thought it would be a hoot to go in and take the "Free Personality Test" that they had posted on a sign in front of their office for years.
After taking their test, they took me into a separate office to score it and discuss it. The guy scored it, explained that I was a highly dyanetic person, and that I was doing fine. He thanked me for coming in, and showed me the way out.
I'm not sure whether that should please or disturb me....
I don't get it. Are you using a metaphor in that you are really describing your experience of actually going into an Apple store? :confused:
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Nope. I actually went into a Scientology center. I suppose that means that if I went into an Apple store, I should expect them to tell me that my UI is already highly 'intuative', and that none of their products will improve my experience.
Actually, the one time I did go into an Apple store, I went in, told them what I was looking for, and asked to see the models that fit that. The employee took me over to the two models, I picked the cheeper one as it fit my needs, and the employee rang me up there at the counter. He got me a bag, and thanked me for the business. So, I guess the experience WAS a bit like going into a Scientology center...
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What I miss about Amiga shops..... ..... is their existance. ;-)
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What I miss about Amiga shops..... ..... is their existance. ;-)
Nice one... :)
+1 ;)
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I went into a Scientology center once. They had an office in town on one the main streets. A friend and I thought it would be a hoot to go in and take the "Free Personality Test" that they had posted on a sign in front of their office for years.
After taking their test, they took me into a separate office to score it and discuss it. The guy scored it, explained that I was a highly dyanetic person, and that I was doing fine. He thanked me for coming in, and showed me the way out.
I'm not sure whether that should please or disturb me....
What that means is they couldn't find a weakness or emotional/psychological vulnerability which could be used to extract all your worldly possessions from you.
Any heads up on the types of questions asked?
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From what I remember it's Logitech that make the Microsoft-branded peripherals.
Microsoft probably don't manufacture anything, although logitech probably don't either. They used to have competing standards for mice.
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It has been a lot of years since then so I am a little fuzzy on the specific questions on the 'test', but if I remember correctly, they were a lot like the questions asked by the Gypsy at the beginning of Ultima IV only updated to modern times. Basically questions without correct answers. I think it also had a section where it made a statement like "You see a man starving on the street. How does that make you feel." and you would select on a scale from bad to indifferent to good.
I presume that being consistent is the key to 'passing' the test. Most people tend to be inconsistent on their views of the world, it seemed the test might have been looking for those inconsistencies.
Yes, they probably didn't see any vulnerabilities, but it is funnier to say that even the cults don't want me. ;)
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I'm lucky enough to live about 20 minutes away from Amigakit so it's quite convenient to pop down there if I'm making any Amiga purchases.
If you're ever in the vicinity of Cardiff make sure to get in contact with them, I'm sure you'll be welcome to come and check out the latest products.
Matt and the other staff are knowledgable, friendly, enthuisastic and always happy to chat about the lastest developments.