Why I don’t care about Windows XP
10/21/2001
by: Sassy
Everyone knows Im kind of a computer nerd. I like computers and spend a lot of my time messing with them. I tend to keep up-to-date on the latest computing developments, and I’m always trying to learn some new thing on the ol’ PC.
Windows XP is about to be released. It’s the newest version of Windows, kind of a “home version” of Windows 2000, which I use on a daily basis. In addition, Microsoft is releasing their gaming console, X-box, in less than a month.
Now I’m pretty interested in this stuff, and I usually try to play with a new OS or console at least once or twice, even if I don’t buy it for myself. But this time, I can wholeheartedly say, I could give a rat’s ass about Windows XP and X-Box.
Maybe the XP stands for “X-tra Pretty”, due to the wanna-be Mac interface , or maybe it stands for “X-Pensive” due to the typical upgrade costs and increased hardware requirements. Either way, I could care less. X-Box, the big VCR-looking thing with the glowing green jewel on it, is aimed squarely at my demographic: Post-teen, male, with a little extra money to kick around. I’m not much of a gamer, but I have played my share of games. Hell, I even went to the store and bought a Playstation a few years back.
Basically, there’s just no good reason to buy any of this stuff. I mean, another crappy windows version? Who gets excited over Windows anymore? its just the same, grey-and-blue OS, crappy as ever, asking you a million times to click ‘OK’. I’m considered a ‘power user’ and I think like most power users, I tend to ignore the OS as much as possible anyway, so I can actually get something done.
As for X-Box, what moderately successful young male is spending his time playing video games when he could be out getting drunk, laid, or more probably, working like a dog? Aside from the pre-teen Pokemon fanatics and the bong-huffing Playstation junkies, is their really a market for the “adult gamer who wants smart, PC-style console titles?”. It seems to me that those guys already dropped their last $399 on Raedon cards and “Boomslang” 400 DPI gaming mice. the geeks are too busy hacking their 3Com Audreys and Tivos anyway.
Not to say that these products won’t be huge, but I think the love affair with the PC is pretty much over for most of us who use computers every day. Older gamers are probably less interested in buying the next-generation console than they are in playing a great game.
All this techno-lust is getting old anyway. For the most part, all we want are boring things, like a nice pair of shoes, or seeing a chick’s underwear when she bends over to pick up some change.
Tom Brokaw
sd
http://
Kind of a computer nerd…. XP will be the next great step towards intergrating education technology. -DK
Sassy
rolls707@celeryclub.com
http://apple.com
update: http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi- bin/news/news.pl?y=2001&m=10&nid=22- 159.db Looks like some of the in-store X-Box Demos are crashing. HAHAHAHAHAH!
Felix Magellan
xxc
http://www.eyunta.com
Thats article is scary. There are probably half a million reserved already. I wonder how many people will be experiencing those problems. It required 3 cut and pastes to get that one up there.