Hello fellow classmates. My name is Chris and I am a senior completing my Informatics degree in Computer Networking and Telecommunications. A little more about me other than what is posted at the bottom of my blog. I have owned my own computer and networking repair business for over the last twenty two years and have dealt with almost everything one can imagine with PC construction and repairs. My expectations of this class are to keep an open mind and learn as much as I can. This being primarily a class centered on research, I though I may use it to reflect on the direction I wish to continue my career in the technology field. Lately I have been focusing more on networking for small to medium sized businesses, since having machines be able to talk to each other is of absolute importance in business these days. That said, for many years I have made a good living at constructing and repairing computers, though things seem to be changing as we move into the future.
A pressing concern of mine over the recent years has been whether or not there is a future for the continued constructions and repair of personal computers. I propose to focus my research on a study to see whether or not people are still interested in personal computer systems and whether or not there is still a continuing market for their repair and upgrade. While it is very much possible to have a well built custom computer built by the hands of a technology artisan, people may be moving solely in the direction of cheap, planned obsolescence machines, or other devices such as smart phones, tablets, and netbook machines. While it is a definite given that technology changes all the time year by year, I would like to focus on this one aspect of technology as it pertains directly to my business’ future.
It’s an interesting question. I’ve been building my own computers for 20 years, and I still find the costs of upgrading to be less than the cost of buying a pre-built system, as well as it allowing me more flexibility on what specification I want to be met. One thing I have noticed is that as a non-gamer the period of time in which I found a need to upgrade my system has been increasing. It used to be every other year, but I’m currently on a setup I made over 5 years ago and there is nothing that I see any reason to upgrade. While there is a great deal of better equipment than what I have, it’s all equipment that would make little if any difference to my day to day use. The only time I managed to bog this machine down was when I attempted to download an excel table from the CDC that had over 1.6 million rows of information. I felt like I was back in the days of a 7.2k modem.
While I do agree with you completely, the trend I have been seeing in my business in the last five years or so is that people are more prone to cheap and instant gratification. At one time I had a soaring business with custom builds and system upgrades, but now that people can go down to Walmart and buy a POS for a few hundred dollars that will get them online, check email, write a paper, etc., they just don’t recognize the value of a good custom built machine anymore. I agree with your point on not needing to upgrade machines as often now with the more robust hardware and software that is now available. As I write you this reply, I am using a repurposed Windows 2008 Server with dual Opteron Processors and ECC server memory and it makes one heck of a good everyday Windows 10 Pro PC. Oh, I changed a few things when I got it (a better video card, extra USB ports, etc.), but it had the capability to allow me to do that because of the robust server motherboard in it. Most of these cheap machines in the discount stores are very much “what you see is what you get”. Yet, try as I may to explain that to my clients, they just brush me off and take the cheap route out. The most common comment I get is, “Ah, if it cr@ps out, I’ll get another one, then I will have a one year warranty on the whole enchilada again”.
Very interesting topic for sure. I know several people who no longer own a PC or Laptop because they have everything they need with their smart phone. I think its for sure changed the last 10 years and who knows where we will be in the next 10 years.
You’ve posed two interesting questions: are PCs worth fixing for consumers and are computers being replaced with tablet and phone use. I can say that in general, much of what we buy is easier to repurchase than to repair. I think most consumers will weigh the cost of repair, the age of their device and the cost of purchasing a new computer. I considered the popularity of phone repairs when people crack screens or damage their phones. Screen replacements on phones is likely much easier than repairing computer issues.
Tablets are becoming more capable. Apple has begun putting their mobile processors in MacBooks and Mac minis. This may further bridge the gap between their computers and mobile devices. Will they begin to run the same OS and only have different form factors? I think tablets are sufficient for much of what people do.