In the pre-PC days, lots of computers were sold as kits. The Altair was the first popular, practical kit computer for individuals. And while other pre-PC microcomputers such as the TRS-80 and Commodore PET were sold fully assembled, they needed some cable-plugging and lots of learning.
IBM PCs with DOS required cable-plugging too, although IBM made the cabling easier by using unique, asymmetric plugs for each type of cable. It was impossible to plug the wrong things together, and impossible to plug the right cable into the right jack but in the wrong orientation. Yet IBM PC DOS required lots of learning.
Microsoft Windows made things easier -- eventually. The early versions of Windows required a lot of set-up and configuration. Early Windows was a program that ran on top of DOS, so to run Windows you had to configure DOS and then install and configure Windows.
The Apple Macintosh was the one computer that made things easy. And today's PC with Windows pre-installed and configured with automatic updates is very easy to use. But let's ignore those computers for now. I want to focus on the "it's hard to set up and use a computer" concept.
When computers were difficult to use, only the people who wanted to use computers would use computers. Like-minded geeks would join together in user groups and share their hard-earned knowledge. User group members would respect each other for their accomplishments: installing an operating system, attaching peripheral devices, or building a computer.
In today's world, computers are easy to use and lots of people support them. One can walk into any number of consumer stores (including Wal-Mart) and buy a PC, take it home, and do interesting things with it.
Not only can you buy PCs, but the businesses that one deals with know how to support PCs. When calling a company for technical support, the company (whether it is the local internet provider, a bank, or a movie distributor) has a customer support department that understands computers and knows how to get them working.
Computers have changed from the hard-to-use, only-for-geek devices to plain consumer appliances. They are almost the equivalent of toasters.
If they are running Windows.
You can buy PCs with Windows in just about any store. You can buy Macintosh computers in a few places -- but not as many as the places that sell Windows PCs. And you can buy PCs with Linux in a very few places, if you know where to look.
Businesses have customer support departments that know how to fix Windows PCs. And a few can support Apple Macintosh PCs. And a very few will support Linux PCs.
Linux, for all of its popularity, is still a do-it-yourself operating system. As an enterprise, you can purchase Linux support services, but as an individual you are expected (by our society) to use Windows (or maybe a Mac).
Linux geeks, for the most part, buy PCs and install Linux. They don't look for PCs with Linux installed. They will buy a PC without an operating system, or they will buy a PC with Windows and then install Linux on it (possibly saving Windows, possibly not). This behavior skews the market research, since marketers count sales and the Linux PCs are not selling well.
Linux geeks also respect each other for their accomplishments: installing Linux, adding peripheral devices, and re-compiling the kernel. They have to respect each other, because they need each other. Linux users cannot count on outside entities for support like Windows users can.
Some Linux distros have made installation and upgrades very easy. These distros lower the barriers of entry for individuals and expand the potential population of Linux users. It's very easy to install Ubuntu Linux or SuSE Linux.
The difference between an easy-to-user Linux and Windows is now not in the installation of the operating system, nor in the software that is supported. The difference is in the external support. Windows users have lots of options (not always effective options, but lots); Linux users must be rugged individuals with the right social networks. Getting Linux fully accepted into the support structure will take a lot of work -- possibly more work than getting the install to work on different hardware.
No comments:
Post a Comment