'Bonus' software hard to keep or delete

Posted to: Editorials Opinion

The Virginian-Pilot
© August 30, 2008

On;y in America, and only in the bloated world of high technology, could a customer have to pay more to get less. And only in America, and only in the world of high technology, could paying more to get less threaten the bottom line.

Let us explain: Big computer makers cram their hard drives with all kinds of dubious software before they let you buy them. The companies get a couple of bucks for each title, and customers get to live with the annoyance of software they don't need pitching them services and upgrades they probably don't need, either.

As a bonus, all that software also slows down that spiffy new computer.

So customers are now paying good money - 30 bucks is one going rate - to get rid of all that extraneous code.

Unfortunately, while retailers are making money by taking out the software trash, computer makers worry that the trend will erase profits, according to a story in The New York Times. And so, in the middle of a stand-off between retailers and the companies who sell them computers to retail, customers are caught in the middle, with only their wallets and patience to protect them.

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