> My company won't upgrade computers, much less software. Getting a new copy of Windows even is like pulling teeth. Our interns work on one P266 (two people). I wish there was an upgrade for CEOs.
Maybe it's because Windows' purchase price and licensing terms are so much less tolerable than they once were? I have put the brakes on new Microsoft purchases at my company because of this. Windows Product Activation, Licensing 6.0 (a.k.a. Software Assurance), and a 100% price increase in 4 years doesn't exactly give me warm fuzzies about buying more of their products. Is it any wonder that people are reluctant to spend money on computers and software? Consider: 1) Anything you buy WILL become obsolete in less than 3 years 2) Any software you buy WILL have flaws (bugs) and there is no warranty 3) Support is practically non-existent 4) Probability of failure is very high (hardware failure, data corruption, etc.) 5) Each new model/version requires some degree of re-learning on the user's part 6) Integration with other existing systems is always a concern, and sometimes a big problem 7) The resale/salvage value is nearly zero. In fact, it costs to dispose of old equipment. Pretty bad deal, eh? I can relate to your interns' plight. While getting my BSEE, I was working part-time for a local (Tallahassee) traffic products company in the late 80's. They started me out in the repair shop. I had to share a scope and soldering iron with another tech. But I got creative. There was a filing cabinet drawer full of old Weller soldering iron parts. From a pile of old soldering irons, I was able to salvage enough parts to build a fully functional iron. I had to modify the case (you know, those blue plastic Weller cases) by sawing a larger rectangular hole to fit a switch and indicator from a different model unit. I got out my trusty Swiss army knife saw blade and went to it. Shortly thereafter, I had a working iron as good as any of the other techs. Still had to share the scope, until I bought a u sed NLS mini-scope from a friend in physics class. I had always wanted one of those NLS mini-scopes for my own use, anyway. I took my mini-scope to work with me every day, and back home at night. The scope wasn't that great, but it was adequate for troubleshooting work. Now, maybe your CEO is a cheapskate and perhaps numerous other expletives. But tell your interns to get creative. Maybe you have some old PCs laying around that can be salvaged for their use? If you can't get new Microsoft licenses, maybe a Linux distro could be used? It depends on what work the interns are doing, of course. If they are doing spreadsheet grunt work or something like that, OpenOffice (free) can do just about everything Excel can. If they are doing PCB design, they gotta have Windows to run Protel on. The best way to get rid of your boss is to make him look good so he will be promoted away from you... Best regards, Ivan Baggett Bagotronix Inc. website: www.bagotronix.com ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Protel EDA Forum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 9:29 AM Subject: Re: [PEDA] P99SE has Altzheimers' ? > My company won't upgrade computers, much less software. Getting a new copy of Windows even is like pulling teeth. Our interns work on one P266 (two people). I wish there was an upgrade for CEOs. > > We've had 99 SE for maybe four months, but we bought it new--two copies in fact. So I guess that means they still make it. > > Michael Badillo > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
