Re: Mini-ITX PC's a the future of HA

["Hershel Roberson" <hrjunk01@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 17-Jun-2006, "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<snip>
> I'm sorry, but I don't buy into the "dumb human" argument very deeply.  MS
> has created tons of access "holes" into its computer programs that require
> end users to become "hole experts" and very familiar with ways to stop
> data
> from leaking out of or into their PC's.   Mac users don't have to frenzy
> about what patches to add and what add-on software to buy but PC users do.
> The problem is simply that Windows is not designed for robust
> multitasking.
> When you set it up as an appliance, it means you can't really use it for
> anything else.  You can't even risk installing MS blessed and approved
> programs because any one of them is likely to screw things up.

<snip>

I hear the "dumb human" argument more than I care to with respect to
Windows.

Last year, my wife was shopping for of an "upscale" sewing machine. In the
process, she was getting the dog and pony show for a Windows based machine.
In the middle of the demo, the screen froze up, and the machine quit. The
young lady giving the demo informed her that "since it's a computer, it
locks up from time to time, so you just unplug it, then plug it back in". I
think its pretty bad that many people (or maybe even most), think that this
is normal, and expected. I also don't know what kind of a "dumb human" thing
might have caused this. (Maybe somebody installed the wrong video driver ?).

An yes, there is such a machine (I couldn't even make something like this
up) see
http://www.berninausa.com/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441868438&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302025017&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181831&bmUID=1150731503052
.

The PC I'm using right now runs XP Professional. I recently installed an XP
update (actually an auto-update) , and Word quit running, so I had to go to
the MS web site, and spend a hour fixing Word. Perhaps I did something
wrong, when I checked the "install update" checkbox, but I think the problem
is more likely the low quality of the software.

My $0.02.

-Hershel