One task pcs fail to simplify: adding gadgets to your pc
Article Abstract:
The computer industry likes to advertise that upgrading or expanding a microcomputer is easy, but the reality is quite different. Adding a modem, disk drive or networking equipment can be aggravating, a matter of trial and error. Privately, industry officials admit that the dated IBM PC architecture is not suited for handling today's plethora of devices. PCs require that add-on devices be assigned a 'COM Port;' there are only four such designations per computer. That posed only a small problem in 1981, when the first PC came out; today, however, all the extra devices threaten to overload a machine. Circumventing the COM port problem requires fiddling with jumpers, tiny switches and other minutia; the possibility of a mishap is great. One solution is to buy a computer explicitly designed to be easily upgraded.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1992
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Computer companies shy from making PCs into child's play
Article Abstract:
A modestly priced true plug-and-play IBM PC-compatible computer is not yet on the market. Apple Computer's Macintosh offers true plug-and-play capability, but costs too much in comparison to PCs. The problem is with the hardware. Today's PCs require too much technical knowledge to expand. Some manufacturers offer features required for plug-and-play capability as options, but none makes them standard, a move that would probably add less than $500 to the base price of a machine. Users are often unwilling to pay for features they may not need until later; besides, manufacturers worry about losing customers in today's price-driven market. But there is probably a huge market for PC compatibles that one could tie into other computers in the future without having to rely on high-priced technical support.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1992
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Apple introduces innovative machine, but misses target
Article Abstract:
Apple has introduced the $800 eMate 300, a laptop style computer that has some of the best features of the Newton hand-held computer. The machine is not available at retail, as Apple has only been selling it to schools. Recently Apple has begun to allow college students and parents to purchase it through a toll free sales number. The eMate weights four pounds and has a six by four inch black-and-white backlit screen. The keyboard is a typical Mac layout with clearly marked special-function keys. The laptop comes with a modem slot, built-in speaker and headphone jack, as well as a pen for drawing on the screen. The eMate ships with a built-in word processor, spreadsheet, drawing program, a calculator that does graphs and an address book and calendar.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1997
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