Blog Dis
Peace be with Hell
2024-11-12
My next lover, I've decided, will be a computer genius on top of being artistic, in order that I may blend the best of both worlds - - computer hassle-free living with artistic expression flowing freely. Then Hell will be removed from the equation of Peace and I can go about my day and just bloody well get on with it.
There should be an easy recourse to all of this...
But wait, an issue was uncovered with my computer this past weekend. Currently I'm running Windows 10, which is the non-Cloud based version, prior to the deployment of Windows 11 that is Cloud-based, which is to say that you cannot purchase and download a full version of the supposedly latest and greatest version to your computer. Rather, you pay for the subscription for the year which entitles you to utilize the full Microsoft Suite of applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and then you'll be expected to pay again, and again and again. My current configuration cannot utilize Windows 11 because there's a missing component in my hardware tower, and this cannot be resolved with a patch. It means I need to update my computer with new hardware, before I can download the software update, courtesy of Microsoft having determined that while I need the Windows 11 version, I'm not able to actually use it.
Here is where I want to rip out every single strand of hair out of the head of Microsoft's owner. There was nothing wrong with Windows 10 which operated smoothly, and which didn't require an upgrade. But in this age of progression, where technology pushes out something newer, supposedly better, it means that even more money will land in the pockets of the manufacturer's only because they're in the position to control the latest release.
I've read online about how Apple had deployed a version of their operating software that purposely slowed down its functionality, in order that it would force (or inspire) users to purchase the latest version of iPhone, rather than to continue to use their current phone. When did obsolescence become a quick turnaround that barely lasts one year, rather than to produce a quality product that would entitle the purchaser to utilize the technology for a longer period of time?
To buy a new laptop or to buy the essential hardware bits and pieces, utilizing the same computer tower? This is is the question.
I've spoken w/ geeks working in computer stores who refurbish older computers, and re-sell them. These companies will buy in bulk discarded laptops from our Federal Government, and geeks are straightforward to admit that they regard laptops as 'throwaways' which is to say they don't have expectations that they'll continue to run smoothly beyond one year. Maybe, just maybe you might get two years out of them. Whereas, the last time I upgraded my entire computer, I went with a powerful gaming tower, individual hard drives, memory cards, etc., because these are built to last for aggressive use by gamers, and their parts will function well past the five-year mark. Even business computers are not as powerful as gaming towers. You retain the same tower and merely swap out one hard drive for a new one. A tower takes up more space by your computer desk, of course, and is less portable as a laptop, but if you have a laptop, tablet, clever phone, there are a number of ways that one can approach their computer needs.
I write my novels staring at a large monitor, so that I can view two pages at once in a large font vs the small screen size of a laptop. So, the question remains: Do I buy a laptop fully loaded as well as a new monitor, and the hub to connect my phone ear-piece, power cable, and my external printer? Or, do I run with my current tower, and hire a technician to come on-site to ensure that my scads of writing material on multiple hard-drives is properly migrated to the new system? Either way, a new computer means I will be shelling out more money, for the technicians time and expertise, to ensure that everything is functioning.
If you believe, foolishly, that you are in control as a purchaser of goods and services, you are not. The manufacturers with the power to force you to upgrade are laughing all the way to the bank, rest assured. I don't know how to live without a computer, nor could I perform my job without a computer or computer skills. I could, of course, buy a clunker manual typewriter and write my newest novel the old-fashioned away, using paper and punched ink letters being splayed across the page. The sound too of the keys striking the page is far more soothing that my fingers dashing across the keyboard. However, I've been writing for decades now using a processing system, which is another way of saying that not being able to correct my errors as I go along would surely send me back to a version of Hell that knows not one shred of peace.
And so it goes...
There should be an easy recourse to all of this...
But wait, an issue was uncovered with my computer this past weekend. Currently I'm running Windows 10, which is the non-Cloud based version, prior to the deployment of Windows 11 that is Cloud-based, which is to say that you cannot purchase and download a full version of the supposedly latest and greatest version to your computer. Rather, you pay for the subscription for the year which entitles you to utilize the full Microsoft Suite of applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and then you'll be expected to pay again, and again and again. My current configuration cannot utilize Windows 11 because there's a missing component in my hardware tower, and this cannot be resolved with a patch. It means I need to update my computer with new hardware, before I can download the software update, courtesy of Microsoft having determined that while I need the Windows 11 version, I'm not able to actually use it.
Here is where I want to rip out every single strand of hair out of the head of Microsoft's owner. There was nothing wrong with Windows 10 which operated smoothly, and which didn't require an upgrade. But in this age of progression, where technology pushes out something newer, supposedly better, it means that even more money will land in the pockets of the manufacturer's only because they're in the position to control the latest release.
I've read online about how Apple had deployed a version of their operating software that purposely slowed down its functionality, in order that it would force (or inspire) users to purchase the latest version of iPhone, rather than to continue to use their current phone. When did obsolescence become a quick turnaround that barely lasts one year, rather than to produce a quality product that would entitle the purchaser to utilize the technology for a longer period of time?
To buy a new laptop or to buy the essential hardware bits and pieces, utilizing the same computer tower? This is is the question.
I've spoken w/ geeks working in computer stores who refurbish older computers, and re-sell them. These companies will buy in bulk discarded laptops from our Federal Government, and geeks are straightforward to admit that they regard laptops as 'throwaways' which is to say they don't have expectations that they'll continue to run smoothly beyond one year. Maybe, just maybe you might get two years out of them. Whereas, the last time I upgraded my entire computer, I went with a powerful gaming tower, individual hard drives, memory cards, etc., because these are built to last for aggressive use by gamers, and their parts will function well past the five-year mark. Even business computers are not as powerful as gaming towers. You retain the same tower and merely swap out one hard drive for a new one. A tower takes up more space by your computer desk, of course, and is less portable as a laptop, but if you have a laptop, tablet, clever phone, there are a number of ways that one can approach their computer needs.
I write my novels staring at a large monitor, so that I can view two pages at once in a large font vs the small screen size of a laptop. So, the question remains: Do I buy a laptop fully loaded as well as a new monitor, and the hub to connect my phone ear-piece, power cable, and my external printer? Or, do I run with my current tower, and hire a technician to come on-site to ensure that my scads of writing material on multiple hard-drives is properly migrated to the new system? Either way, a new computer means I will be shelling out more money, for the technicians time and expertise, to ensure that everything is functioning.
If you believe, foolishly, that you are in control as a purchaser of goods and services, you are not. The manufacturers with the power to force you to upgrade are laughing all the way to the bank, rest assured. I don't know how to live without a computer, nor could I perform my job without a computer or computer skills. I could, of course, buy a clunker manual typewriter and write my newest novel the old-fashioned away, using paper and punched ink letters being splayed across the page. The sound too of the keys striking the page is far more soothing that my fingers dashing across the keyboard. However, I've been writing for decades now using a processing system, which is another way of saying that not being able to correct my errors as I go along would surely send me back to a version of Hell that knows not one shred of peace.
And so it goes...
