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lord of the mark
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FUKCOV - Former United Kingdom Colony of Virginia
Dec 2000 time: 00:29
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so basically it seems there are two basic reasons folks here buy a new computer.
1. They need to increase the number of PC's they own ( I realize i should have stated option 1 differently - a university student getting their first computer is pretty much equivalent to that, I think)
2. Their existing specs are inadequate for games - especially civ3 (well im not surprised, this is poly, after all)
Only a couple of people here bought new computers cause they were physically breaking down - confirming the general view that obsolence drives replacements, not physical depreciation. And that the principal obsolesence is software obsolesence (though mobility - moving from a desktop to a laptop - is also a consideration) and that games (at least around here) drives software obsolecence.
While i meant to focus on demand considerations, several comments focused on "supply" considerations - if a bargain is available, whether do to low price, ease of building a puter oneself, or other factors, some people here get a new one without any explicit consideration of advantages of a new one over ones they already own. OTOH if your budget is tight you may defer purchase even when the existing computer is inadequate. And of course upgrading is a an important option, with personal computer savvy, the upgradability of the existing box, and the price of parts being the drivers.
I should perhaps have limited the poll to only those who have purchased in the last couple of years, or even to replacements only. Though then I would have lost he sense that new households (including students going to university) is a key driver of purchases.
Thoughts - the new purchases by students is a sign the market is not yet saturated - in many of those cases the parents or other adults in the household had no computer, or less than one per adult, so there is room for expansion in total base of PCs (in developed countries) beyond growth in population. IE new 18 year olds get new PC's. Dying 70 and 80 year olds never had them. So even a steady state population generates demand for new PC's, aside from replacements.
Demand for replacements largely driven by games. (well polys probably not representative in this regard, but still) Which presents major threats to PC manufacturers (and chip makers, and operating system publishers) if PC games stagnate or decline. The console vs PC game issue becomes not just an issue for gamers, but an area of concern to the entire PC industry. Which is good, since they, more than game publishers, can address issues of ease of use and compatibility that tend to handicap PC games.
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