Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 06:50:48 -0700 From: richard childers <fscked@pacbell.net> To: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Subject: Tales From The City Message-ID: <3AD5B2B8.56008CF7@pacbell.net>
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Funny story in connection with laptops and FreeBSD. When I transported into Manhattan last Saturday, one of the things on my list of to-dos was to stop by a computer store in Grand Central Station that I had noticed was offering laptops for low, low prices, and see what they offered.- the business card that I was initially offered, when I had stopped by on my way into town, and had negotiated this offer with the salesman and his immediate boss, says "Grand Central Cameras". We're talking @ $649 for a Toshiba or maybe a Compaq, 400-500 mHz, 32 MB, 5-6 GB. Says as much right in front of the store. I liked the idea of buying two or three very inexpensive laptops and having one or more spares rather than investing in a very high-end system that would be obsolete in a year or less, anyway. The gotcha was that the laptop I was interested in, the Toshiba, umm, 2105, maybe?, came with that same old hokey 800x600 resolution, with an option for "virtual" resolutions higher than 800x600, where the physical window could slide around over a larger window maintained in memory. X-Windows did it better over ten years ago; why would I want this sort of crap? I didn't say so, of course, but while I was trying to decide if I wanted this and was waiting for the three Toshibas - 500 mHz, 64 MB, 5.2 GB disk, negotiated for an order of 3 laptops, at $700 per - that I had just ordered to be brought from wherever they were, the salesman told me that the higher resolution screen was available but that it was about $286; who knows, maybe more for the actual installation. A faster CPU was also available. While I was weighing this in my mind, I started telling the salesman that I actually had a Toshiba with a 200 mHz CPU, 32 MB of memory, running FreeBSD, X Windows, eight virtual screens, a relational database server, and a slew of network monitoring software, and still had cycles to spare (an exaggeration, that, by the way, but we *are* in bargaining mode, here ... really, the one thing I *didn't* have was CPU cycles to spare, so the system, as offered, was just about what I needed) ... and then, an older salesman interrupted to say that they would not be able to sell the laptops I'd ordered, that they would take several days to acquire, that they were not available. I hadn't made up my mind until then; but I began to wonder, suddenly. Was I the subject of what are called 'bait and switch' tactics? Or was this merely bigotry against people whom did not use Windows? You'll have to decide for yourself. My perception was that the older salesman (not the one whom had initially approved the sale, as proposed, that morning, but a third one, older and balding and lacking only a cigar to fulfill stereotypical images of a hard-bitten salesman) interpreted my questioning of whether I needed more than 800x600 resolution as a rejection of the add-ons, altogether. How hasty. How typically New York. Who knows; maybe he thought I was a Hacker(tm). God forbid. It seemed to me that the sale of these laptops was strictly contingent upon the purchase of additional elements which drove the price up to close to $1000, when all was said and done; a rather high price for last year's laptops. They tried offering me another laptop that was closer to $1000. I told them I wasn't interested. Perhaps it was not illegal conduct but it was certainly perceived as unethical by me and would be regarded by almost anybody, as questionable ... insofar as it gives rise to questions, of a generally unfavorable nature. It's not clear to me if I am Constitutionally required to conceal questionable business practices of public vendors making public offers which are privately withdrawn for unknown reasons. Until then, I thought I'd pass the word. I suppose this is widespread; if you're in the market for a laptop, beware this practice. -- richard -- Richard A. Childers Senor UNIX Administrator fscked@pacbell.net (email) # Providing administrative expertise (not 'damage control') since 1986. # PGP fingerprint: 7EFF 164A E878 7B04 8E9F 32B6 72C2 D8A2 582C 4AFA To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-mobile" in the body of the message
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