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It's a bit dumb, but I have some sympathy
It is a bit off that he would never have even picked a shred of a clue off the ton of TV adverts for things that IBM do that are plainly business computer stuff... more so not knowing HP who still do a strong line in PCs and printers. But they're neither household names like they may have been even in the late 90s (when my dad owned an IBM Thinkpad and I printed my schoolwork on a HP Deskjet 870). Not even that much printing goes on any more... and Lenovo have been making Thinkpads not for very long, but probably long enough that they've been the only ones since he started paying attention to any of that stuff.

Things change, man, don't worry about it. Who here still expects anyone to know who DEC are? Or that the youth of today would know Atari as anything except a bargain-basement label for a succession of pretty poor budget videogames, rather than an industry leader and hardware maker? (Or remember Commodore AT ALL)

And of course, Creative - who made a huge slice of the computing world's audio hardware, and a nice line in MP3 players, before Apple decided that they didn't like the idea of following Atari and Commodore into hardware oblivion and promptly stole all of their ideas (and that of Compaq - re, iMac) in order to market themselves into the public conciousness as the de-facto "creator" of portable digital audio (like too many think Ford invented the car). Creative still make a damn fine mp3 player, but they're definitely second fiddle and proabably don't even pop up on John and Joanne Q. Random's radar when they go shopping for "an iPod".

I found an AWE64 when dissembling an obsolete (2000-ish) PC here the other day - obviously a relic carried forward from a previous generation because it was better than that machine's woeful integrated sound hardware. Made me almost dewey eyed - there was no way I could ever have afforded one of those when it was current... but the same shop attendant would have NO idea. Nor would they have the first clue if I went in looking for "a Voodoo card", ie a 3D accelerator. Not even 100% sure if he'd understand if I wanted a GeForce... are they still top dog?

Did you at any point say to him, "we INVENTED the PC"? (A bit of a white lie in itself, but more truthful than Apple having the iPod concept all on its lonesome)
Posted by: tahrey   Posted on: 11/07/08  (Edited: 11/07/2008 @ 12:22) You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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I. B. Amazed  ShadowGIATL | 09/30/08
Not just that its mainstream or flooded...  jahcriado | 10/01/08
Don't be surprised...  betelgeuse68 | 09/30/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  Symbioxys | 09/30/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  davidr555 | 09/30/08
Read the blog description from the ZDNet "blog roll" page  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 10/01/08
You know, if you're going to insult someone ...  Ludovit | 10/01/08
In defense  davidr555 | 10/03/08
In Defense  ShadowGIATL | 10/03/08
So i was lunching with  TedKraan | 10/01/08
It used to be...  Henrik Moller | 10/01/08
IBMer  jcschweitzer | 10/01/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  blu_z | 10/01/08
IBM? Oh yeah, they used to make cash registers back when I was kid.  Letophoro | 10/01/08
They still do...  Henrik Moller | 10/01/08
I'm sure they do.  Letophoro | 10/01/08
The real message of this article  frgough | 10/01/08
No, I think the real message ...  Ludovit | 10/01/08
If Jason  frgough | 10/01/08
IBM, MS, and Apple should be taught in history classes  T1Oracle | 10/02/08
But he still called the boy who helped him an idiot  Roque Mocan | 10/01/08
IBM and Oracle  solomonrex | 10/01/08
re: Plus, this was in the South.  derbaff | 10/02/08
"... even before IBM created the PC ..."  Anton Philidor | 10/01/08
The "PC" as we know it today  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 10/01/08
What risks?  Anton Philidor | 10/01/08
PC BIOS  Henrik Moller | 10/01/08
BIOS replicated in the clean-room  Anton Philidor | 10/01/08
My guess is...  Henry Miller | 10/01/08
re: Today's Mac is a PC... I am a PC! happy  Roque Mocan | 10/01/08
That's great, but . . .  CobraA1 | 10/02/08
Why doesn't anyone else ever remember stuff from elementary?  T1Oracle | 10/02/08
The "PC"  ShadowGIATL | 10/03/08
Well, it depends...  wolf_z | 10/01/08
IBM, 9th most powerful brand  Anton Philidor | 10/01/08
#6 by 2008 numbers from same firm  jperlow ZDNet Moderator | 10/01/08
Coke should be #1  CobraA1 | 10/02/08
Itty-Bitty  Anton Philidor | 10/01/08
These kids.  People | 10/01/08
IBM is irrelevant ...  terry flores | 10/01/08
He's 14!  lumpy_blumpkin | 10/01/08
sorry, I think you're wrong  pikeman666 | 10/02/08
When I was 14 I still remembered my 1st PC, that IBM I had at age 10  T1Oracle | 10/02/08
I agree, he's only 14...  Narg | 10/02/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  e-Enki | 10/01/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  Haspyo | 10/01/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  onepersonsopinion@... | 10/01/08
Originally..  TedKraan | 10/02/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  imronak | 10/02/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  Chip Moody | 10/02/08
It's not 1970 anymore. It's the information age.  CobraA1 | 10/02/08
Hmmm.. can't agree with that  TedKraan | 10/03/08
As a Gen Y...... the answer is generally yes.  shryko | 10/02/08
He's American, alright! LOL  i2fun@... | 10/02/08
Why the problem?  Narg | 10/02/08
IBM is a nobody  R1scFactor | 10/02/08
heh  CobraA1 | 10/02/08
Very desktop minded  TedKraan | 10/03/08
I B Ugly  emenau | 10/02/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  cardinal4 | 10/03/08
Visacalc.. Wha?  digitalmorgan | 10/06/08
I... B... Outsourced...  tsudhonimh | 10/09/08
RE: I... B... Wha?  jliao | 10/10/08
It's a bit dumb, but I have some sympathy  tahrey | 11/07/08

What do you think?

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