The Hindu Business Line : Flashback and fast forward

REMEMBER the time when buying a computer was a huge project by itself? One of the main problems was deciding what you wanted and from whom you wanted to buy it. And your best advisor at that time was this geeky teenager or youngish twenties guy living next door or your nephew. And what did they advise you about? They told you what processor you should go in for, how much of memory, how big a hard disk, what accessories you should have... everything. And, the key thing was that they had this "friend" who could assemble all that you wanted (and could afford) in the "cheapest" deal.

This "friend" would typically be a guy whose language you couldn't even understand. The only person who seemed to understand what he was talking about was your "advisor".

And what problems you had! Not only did you not know absolutely anything about what you were going to buy except how much it would cost you, but you also weren't even sure if you got what you ordered.

Real life story: A friend bought a "Pentium II" some years ago, and for a long time, he thought he had a Pentium II till he wanted to upgrade his machine some time ago. And then he got the shock of his life - his computer didn't even have an Intel processor, let alone a Pentium II.

Another major problem was that there was no way you could even get in touch with your vendor unless you blackmailed or coerced your advisor into getting in touch with him. Sometimes, your vendor suddenly changed his business, or just ran away.

Real life story: A colleague bought a computer a couple of years ago and it kept giving him some problem or the other. He just let them accumulate because he had bought the system from someone who lived quite far away. The moment the computer had a serious problem, he went to the vendor's house and was told that the man had migrated to Australia!

But all this was set off by one major advantage that the assemblers had at that time - cost. Assembled computers were sometimes cheaper than branded computers by as much as 40 per cent. Another advantage was that you could get a fairly "old" configuration new machine from the grey market because the brands did not sell "old" configuration computers. And one of the greatest attractions earlier was all the software that these assemblers would load on to the machine - any operating system, any flavour, any office suite, any graphics package, any software you ever wanted.

And look at the scene now! Branded PCs are now just about 10 to 15 per cent more expensive than the grey market PCs. Meanwhile, some of the larger assemblers are so well organised that their levels of service sometimes surpass those of brand name companies. As far as the software goes, the strict drives against privacy have ensured that assemblers do not enjoy an advantage in the software area any more. The line between branded and assembled PCs is now razor thin, and going one way or the other basically depends on the vendor's location and the relationship you share with the vendor.

nagaraj@thehindu.co.in

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