Why is it that knowledgable people can be so blind?

[wyvrn]

<rant>

Have you ever run into someone in IT that refused to use anything other than Intel - Microsoft - GeForce ? This really bugs me. It seems like people who work in the industry every day would be able to see the value of products other than those that spend the most advertising dollars. I mean, AMD offers the best bang for buck and is really close to outpacing Intel in every segment of the processor market. Plus their chipsets are just as sound as Intel's, there just aren't as many of them (**** Via). Microsoft makes the most popular OS, but yes there are viable alternatives, especially for those people that don't spend 80% of their time on a computer to game. And why is it that people cannot see alternatives to the Geforce? They offer the best cards, for a price. But their value line of cards really isn't when you consider offerings by ATI and soon Kyro. I understand most people being ignorant about computers, but not IT professionals.

</rant>

[This message has been edited by wyvrn (edited 04-05-2001).]

[Steve R Jones]

IT professionals are human beings. Nothing more, nothing less. They can be a narrow minded as the next guy/gal.

[jansson_markus]

Good question.

I have personally told my schools computer nerds what leaks and bugs they have in their system. Guess what? They havent fixed them. Not even I have again and again pointed them out!

Same goes with many onlinebanks here Finland: I have sented email and visited their offices because some of them have SERIOUS security problems with their www-banks. Guess again has something been done about them?

I even wrote to our national newspaper about it and another national newspaper decided to make an article about it. Guess once again has anything happened?

Thats right. Im paranoid enought to make a good ISP or system manager, but unfortunally thats way beyond my expertise and future...


Markus

[BBA]

It's about what is commercially available and supported.

If Compaq starts selling servers with AMD chips, my company will buy them.

I agree that Intel is making serious mistakes that will lead to their fall...but MS is still in the lime light for the OS choice of business. Unix just does not have much application support, other than server use...then it's HP-UX because it is certified and backed by a major player with deep pockets.

Just accept that this is not a perfect world...you will be much happier that way.

[wyvrn]

BBA,

I see your point. But I guess I was speaking on more of a personal computing level. Many of the guys around me choose whatever is most popular regardless of price or performance considerations. And it bugs me when one guy in particular always recommends the most expensive components when it is obviously not the best choice for the other person (she has a small computer budget, has to work hard to raise her kids, yada yada). And if it is not the leading brand name, he and others will not even entertain a discussion comparing that brand to any other. Simple close-mindedness that I did not expect from those who work in the industry.

I know that most large corperations always buy name brand instead of investigating alterntives, something about the glitz of a name that dumbfounds business people.

[club_med]

I agree with you all, i would also like to add that many of us are lazy, we rely on other peoples opinions, same goes for IT pros, who, as was stated before, are only humans, since such a huge fuss is made about certain brands they will stick to those, simply because we assume that they are 'more' known, if i put it in very simple terms.

cm.

P.s. Id go with AMD http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif.

[vintron]

this is my opinion on the subject and i don't care if u like it or not:

People (not just IT professinals) go for "famous" and "advertised" brands even when far better alternatives are available for lower costs, because..... inspite of whatever they say (on don't), they still have that feeling in their minds, which forces them to "go with the flow". They don't want to appear stupid in front of others by saying that the "common brand" in not the best. They are afraid that people will not like what they say. They care about "what others think of them". One other small factor is a lack of positive feedbacks (opinions or whatever) for the less advertised or not-so-common substitute.

------- It's all in the mind -------

[Maxwell T]

Ordinarily I try not to get sucked into these conversations, but… being an IT guy for a small to medium size company (250+ PC’s in active use), I felt I had to say something. 1) It’s not that we’re blind to what’s available out there – but there are other considerations of equal importance when buying a corporate level PC. We need a proven commodity. The PC’s we buy must work out the box and every day of it’s useful life (or as close to that as we can get). Machines from Dell, Compaq etc that use the WinTel duo are that, if nothing else. I’m not suggesting for second that they’re perfect, but for the most part, they perform as expected. 2) New OS’s and new Chips mean new learning curves – I’m sure most of you will agree that learning a new OS is time consuming – Add onto that the learning curve of getting your network apps to play nice with your new OS. After that, you still have to train the user community. This is simply not an option for some companies. 3) Because we buy very similarly equipped machines – support becomes very simplified – when emergency repairs are needed – we always seem to have another machine lying around just like it we can strip parts from (in most cases we don’t even have to install new drivers). And because we buy “Big Name” machines – the chances are much better that if offsite service is needed – it’s not going to become a finger pointing session each time (there’s generally a service contract provided because you are a “corporate” customer).

Keep in mind that most companies only rely on their computer equipment – it’s not what they do for a living. For example, my company makes fitness equipment (not computers). Yes, we use computers every day to run our business – but we should be focused on selling and servicing our fitness equipment – not which OS we’re going toupgrade our computers to.

Ok – I’ve rambled enough – that’s just my opinion….

Thanks for reading.

For the record, I agree that there are much better available machines than you will find as the “corporate standard”, but much more goes into buying these corporate machines than you might think.

Also for the record, I own 2 AMD’s K6-300’s (an HP Pavilion and a Home Built), 1 Intel PIII-500 (from a Gateway but I swapped out the mobo) and none have ever given me any real trouble…

[randy48]

Maxwell T brings up some excellent points! The main being training users! Could you imagine taking a Windows user that only knows computers from their job and trying to show them how to do the same thing in Linux? Times the 250+ he says he has! Could you see trying to convince "Robert K. Bigbucks" CEO that you want to replace all 250 Intel based machines with AMD machines as you glance down on his desk and see his portfolio laying open and right on top says he owns 200K shares of Intel?

Mmmmm... 250+ machines http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif Hey Max, have you checked out the Sysopt RC5 Team? We'd be happy to have you join! Here's a link for more info: http://www.sysopt.com/rc5team.html

[BBA]

For the most...thes answers here are all correct.

I would not think of recommending an Abit motherboard with a 1.2G T-Bird to any of my business partners...unless it came with the HP computer we have contracts with. These corporate contracts mean a lot...when 2 and 3/4 years down the road the motherboard dies...they send a new one no cost.

When you have over 3000 PC's ( like we do ) that means a whole lot.

You have to sell to the big muanfacturing companies before the corporate buys into it.
( I wouldn't mind that 1.2G baby on my desk though. )

[Emc2]

as for wyvrn's question about personal computers, I believe that IT professionals spend too much time being IT professionals and not human beings. I know exactly what you're talking about wyvrn, and those guys really **** me off. My ex-girlfriend's dad was one, and my god, any conversation about AMD would jeopardize my date that night. It turns out that he was a jerk (for lack of better word) to his daughter and to his wife.

To all you IT pros who think this way:
I hope you're happy in your own little dreamworld, because that's where you and you alone are going to stay!

[wyvrn]

as for wyvrn's question about personal computers, I believe that IT professionals spend too much time being IT professionals and not human beings

Thank you for addressing my question http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

I know exactly what you're talking about wyvrn, and those guys really **** me off. My ex-girlfriend's dad was one, and my god, any conversation about AMD would jeopardize my date that night

Me too! Some people, despite having a wealth of knowledge, are too cowardly to break trends and try something new that just might be better! I guess the "I have an Intel Ghz machine and you don't" mentality still persists, even in intelligent people. Just strikes me as odd, thats all http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif