

The problem with calling technologies dead too soon. - Macha
http://blog.webicity.info/2010/05/01/the-problem-with-tech-is-dead-hysteria/

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9oliYQjP
I know people that still use really old computers. If you're trying to sell
something to them, they aren't your market. If you think they care that your
website looks like absolute crap on their computer, they don't really care.
These aren't people that generally look at computing as anything more than
something they grudgingly were forced to do. They know their computer is old
and expect things not to work on them. It fits into their perception of
computers being useless anyway.

~~~
ams6110
Yeah my parents were like that. The only things they did on the internet were
pay bills and check their email (using Outlook web access, which not only
works in IE6, it works a lot better than in Firefox).

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arethuza
I think that says more about OWA than it does about Firefox.

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swombat
What proportion of computers sold in the last year ran Windows 98?

Ok, the market for selling Win98 computers is dead, then, we agree?

So what remains is the leftovers of the people who already bought those
computers. But no one will buy a new one.

So, going back to the iPad... people who are saying something like the iPad
will kill, say, the personal computer industry (like Charles Stross) aren't
arguing that everyone's PCs will suddenly vanish in a puff of smoke. No one
would be stupid enough to argue that.

What they're arguing is that the iPad and devices like it will transform the
landscape of devices sold. Right now, probably 0.01% of computer-like devices
are "tablet computers" and 99.99% are "PCs" (i.e. netbooks, desktops,
macbooks, etc). What people who predict the "death" of those computers are
predicting is a reversal of that _sales_ situation - i.e. a not-so-distant
future where 99+% of "computers" sold are tablets, and only a negligible
percentage are traditional computers.

Sure, there'll still be people using Win98 even then, but who cares? Anyone
who spends any money on computer-like equipment will have moved on to spending
their money on something else (both hardware and software).

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MarkPilgrim
I'd like to use my current computer for 20 years:
<http://mark.pilgrim.usesthis.com/> Only 17.5 years to go!

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RyanMcGreal
It depends on what you mean by "dead". [1]

[1] <http://www.paulgraham.com/cliffsnotes.html>

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techiferous
I like to urge on the death of IE6. For my paid work I often don't have the
luxury of ignoring IE6. But for my side projects, I often specifically check
for IE6 users and offer them some kind of "go away" page. My thinking is that
I want to make the IE6 Internet the "boring" Internet. If everyone's
interesting side projects didn't support IE6, then after a while the general
public will catch on that their IE6 browser is crippling them. Meanwhile, the
enterprise IE6 users aren't affected because they are at work and wouldn't
(shouldn't?) be visiting silly side project websites anyway. ;)

Here's what alphabetclock.com looks like when you view it in IE6:

<http://imgur.com/J7809.png>

I helped my wife launch a dessert baking blog at chocochichi.com. Here's what
that looks like in IE6:

<http://imgur.com/py8rn.png>

~~~
wwortiz
If you are going to do this please add a link to something to educate a user
on how to upgrade and why as just pictures like yours come off confrontational
and would probably leave casual computer users (who are the ones that can
actually upgrade their browser) confused and probably irritated.

~~~
techiferous
Good point. Can you suggest a web site that properly explains the issues with
IE6 and how to upgrade in language that's appropriate for users who may not
even know what a browser is? I bet there are some pages out there already like
that.

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Macha
This one is quite helpful: <http://browsehappy.com/>

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techiferous
Thanks. I'm using that at the moment, but I'm going to keep looking. The site
doesn't get to the point fast enough and it doesn't suggest Google Chrome.

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DeusExMachina
A little side note. The author says:

 _The best online image editor I could find, still doesn’t achieve feature
parity with Paint.NET, which it is obviously inspired by._

I think that the aviary.com suite is well past that point.

~~~
Macha
I'll have to look into that one. I never heard of it before.

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tonystubblebine
If your job is to build new technology products, is there a difference between
a technology being dead and the users of those technologies not adopting any
new technology? I don't think so. Saying Windows 98 is dead is just short hand
for saying users of Windows 98 are never going to be my customers so I don't
need to build a Win98 compliant desktop version of my product.

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jasim
Its not just about IE6. I've users who would have used DOS 6.22 and an old POS
software happily. However they were forced to upgrade since they needed to use
Thumb drives, DVD Writers (for Backup) and USB printers. If it were not for
these hardware requirements, they would have happily used DOS. [updating the
app through net? A lot of users have very simple requirements that once done
are done for a long time.]

The average Joe upgrades their software only when they miss out very essential
things. If they are still able to Facebook, check mails and watch movies,
they're probably okay with whatever old OS they've. They really don't care
about 64 bit computing or the latest Service Packs unless it has something
very directly related with daily use.

