giving up

[ASDCR]

NY Times story on the growing trend of ppl trashing their PCs instead of fixing them

just keepin my ear to the ground!

 

[JosephLeo]

This just boils my blood. In this "Eco-Friendly" era people still throw away things that are contaminated with Lead, Mercury and who knows what else? This stuff ends up in our dumps- who's runoff ends up in our water. God damn it.

When I get into the tech business I am going to make a literature to give to every one of my clients about how to avoid malware and how to recycle your old broken PC.

 

[ASDCR]

yeah - seriously

but.. the point i noticed was how ppl are opting to get a new computer rather than fix the one they've got - even in this economy



with the price of computers getting so low, its hard to justify spending a couple hundred bucks fixing it

 

[JosephLeo]

Yeah, but they should factor in the fact that a computer no matter how fast will come to its knees from just 1 virus. Just because you have "The latest intel processor" or "A massive SATA hard drive...that's right, SATA!!" doesn't mean your PC is immune.

Getting a PC from the store is like buying a car from the dealer. However, it comes with no windows, or body or seatbelts.

Since Microsoft isn't doing nothing major about the malware problems, OEM's should start by installing their own basic anti-malware software. This can in turn bring them profit for the "Premium" version with more functions like parental control, pc maintenance, etc.

 

[rsavoia]

I was considering the possibility of offering netbook repair but given the low cost of replacing them and the ease at which they can be discarded like old cell phones I figured I could make more as a Maytag repairman.

 

[Kenhelms]

"Mr. Tucker, an Internet industry executive who holds a Ph.D. in computer science, decided that rather than take the time to remove the offending software, he would spend $400 on a new machine."

If this guy has a PHD in CS, and obviously works in the industry then why is he using a 400 dollar machine?

 

[ASDCR]

malware is just gaining in momentum - and there's no end in sight

from where i stand, it looks like the problem will only get worse


the benefits to the bad-guys is large, the potential downside is negligible - no real *serious* counter to malware is in sight



i think there's gotta be laws passed that forbids credit card companies from processing transactions of malware sites

 

[JosephLeo]

malware is just gaining in momentum - and there's no end in sight

from where i stand, it looks like the problem will only get worse


the benefits to the bad-guys is large, the potential downside is negligible - no real *serious* counter to malware is in sight



i think there's gotta be laws passed that forbids credit card companies from processing transactions of malware sites

Which would cost millions of dollars to monitor. There are millions of websites out there. You think it's possible to actually monitor them all? And what about people who call in and "claim" that they were ripped off?

The only solution to malware is to never own a computer. It will probably be like that for the next decade or so. Get used to it. Soon OS/X will be crippled, and finally as the world searching for a more "secure" OS they will move to Linux which will also cripple.



Although, I did just have this quick idea.

An anti-malware software that tracks ALL malware in real time and the software is updated immediately to be immune to said malware. The company that makes this software should also have 1,000's of spy's in every black hat forum/irc room/dark net/message board on the web (and other Internet like services) and monitor where every virus is coming from and how it's getting installed.

Of course, this is impossible. But it's the only way to MINIMIZE malware infections. There is no possible way to eliminate it...It's kind of worst than cancer.

 

[ASDCR]

can't really argue with you




i think it'll stay this way until the individual end-user (the weak link in this whole system) wises up


no gov't is gonna swoop in to save them - no corporation - no one

if ppl want security, they gotta do it themselves



i read recently, "security is paying attention"

good one




once ppl are burned enough, they'll "do what it takes"

the current generation may NEVER "figure it out" - it will probably be this next generation that is being raised on/around/with computers/cell phones/internet/etc

 

[JosephLeo]

can't really argue with you




i think it'll stay this way until the individual end-user (the weak link in this whole system) wises up


no gov't is gonna swoop in to save them - no corporation - no one

if ppl want security, they gotta do it themselves



i read recently, "security is paying attention"

good one




once ppl are burned enough, they'll "do what it takes"

the current generation may NEVER "figure it out" - it will probably be this next generation that is being raised on/around/with computers/cell phones/internet/etc

Nah, people will keep OS hopping until they realize that there is no such thing on computers and just live with the malware.

 

[commodore64]

new vs repair

I see this alot lately as well with the price of computers going down. I've been making money from the new ones though selling tune up jobs to remove all the unneeded garbage from the new one (especially hp's), setting up antivirus software and other software and updates as well as moving data from the old to the new.

 

[JosephLeo]

I see this alot lately as well with the price of computers going down. I've been making money from the new ones though selling tune up jobs to remove all the unneeded garbage from the new one (especially hp's), setting up antivirus software and other software and updates as well as moving data from the old to the new.

Yeah, I might not be in the business but I can make one prediction. 10 years from now the only repairs we will be doing is Data Recovery, Laptop Screen & Power Jacks and Network repair.

Got a virus? get a new PC.
Program won't open? Get a new PC.
Downloads going slow? Get a new PC.

10 years from now, mark my words.
That or our prices will have to be ridiculously low. Craigslist prices...

 

[NYJimbo]

Let the idiots dump their computer and buy a new one. That's a "rational response" as per some dumbass researcher.

What happens the next time these same idiots get their new computers infected?. Do they keep dumping their machines for new ones?.

We had a brand new HP machine in this week from a guy who did just that, this new machine was heavily infected and he was mad as hell because the salesman told him that Vista didnt get infected as bad as XP.

Go ahead and throw out your computers, see you in six months with a machine I can clean in 30 minutes instead of 3 hours on the old slow Centrino with 512mg of ram.

 

[JosephLeo]

Let the idiots dump their computer and buy a new one. That's a "rational response" as per some dumbass researcher.

What happens the next time these same idiots get their new computers infected?. Do they keep dumping their machines for new ones?.

We had a brand new HP machine in this week from a guy who did just that, this new machine was heavily infected and he was mad as hell because the salesman told him that Vista didnt get infected as bad as XP.

Go ahead and throw out your computers, see you in six months with a machine I can clean in 30 minutes instead of 3 hours on the old slow Centrino with 512mg of ram.

Aw Jimbo, don't call them idiots just because they're idiots. Call them idiots because they don't care about all the negative effects it has on their wallets and more importantly the environment. I still stand by my words though. 10 years, no more tech repairs. Kind of like how you rarely see Vaccuum repairs. Vacuums used to be thousands of dollars. But now you can buy them at your local drug store. The "Super High End" models only cost around $800 tops. You can actually install an in-wall vacuum for your home for around $2,000 during the construction of the building. The same will eventually happen to computers just like it did with the vacuum, the radio, and the stereo. It will just reach a certain point that they become so cheap to make that it's rare to find something more than $1,000.

If you think about it. The best cellphones on the market today are more powerful that the best possible computer you could have built 10 years ago. 10 years from now you might be walking around with a cell phone that's capable of playing Crysis w/ built in projector and a 16tb sd card.

Once we hit a limit in the fabrication process (Maybe around 2-5nm) we will see this happen...I think I veered a little too far off topic now.

 

[Galdorf]

Here in canada we pay a disposal fee on all items we buy it also eats into my profits the question is where is this money going?.

Seems like a money grab to me according to reports income from taxes are down 54% big surprise there the economy in my area is getting worse not better many business have gone under.

I get calls every day about where to recycle computers there use to be places where they did this but now they have all gone out of business and people are tossing them in the dump.

 

[JosephLeo]

Here in canada we pay a disposal fee on all items we buy it also eats into my profits the question is where is this money going?.

Seems like a money grab to me according to reports income from taxes are down 54% big surprise there the economy in my area is getting worse not better many business have gone under.

I get calls every day about where to recycle computers there use to be places where they did this but now they have all gone out of business and people are tossing them in the dump.

Well, here in America we actually have city recycling centers that you can bring all your electronic scrap (as well as batteries) for recycling. Check with your local town hall and ask for a services listing.

 

[bytebuster]

I'm thinking of advertising myself as an OS Reinstall service. Most of the PCs I've cleaned have just ended up needing a new OS anyway. I need to get people to understand that when you toss a PC in the dump, it leaches nasty stuff into the groundwater. I'm in an area where the groundwater is fairly close to the surface, so it gets in there easily. Maybe I should do a thing where I collect old malware trashed PC's, replace the hard drive, and resell them. I've heard that some techs in South America do that.

 

[JosephLeo]

I'm thinking of advertising myself as an OS Reinstall service. Most of the PCs I've cleaned have just ended up needing a new OS anyway. I need to get people to understand that when you toss a PC in the dump, it leaches nasty stuff into the groundwater. I'm in an area where the groundwater is fairly close to the surface, so it gets in there easily. Maybe I should do a thing where I collect old malware trashed PC's, replace the hard drive, and resell them. I've heard that some techs in South America do that.

Why replace the hard drive?

• Reformat the HDD
• Install OS
• ???
• Profit!

If you're worried about customer data then random pattern write it a couple times and be finished with it. Hard drives while cheap are still around the $20 ea. range for a used one.

 

[vontreigo]

sounds like advertising a recycling program might be due....

 

[bytebuster]

Why replace the hard drive?

• Reformat the HDD
• Install OS
• ???
• Profit!

If you're worried about customer data then random pattern write it a couple times and be finished with it. Hard drives while cheap are still around the $20 ea. range for a used one.

My dad had a boot sector virus. It wormed its way into the HDD of every PC he had and he could NOT get rid of it. I finally had to replace all his drives.