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Curt Harms
06-01-2006, 3:21 PM
This brought forth a rueful chuckle. How many of us will agree with one or more of the 25 choices:( particularly # 1, 4, and 8.

http://pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125772,00.asp


Curt

Jim Becker
06-01-2006, 5:41 PM
A real walk down memory lane on some of those entries!

Mike Cutler
06-01-2006, 6:24 PM
1,4 & 14. Yeah baby!!! That proprietary BIOS and Windows OS on the Gateway is what pushed me to Mac's. I never bought another Gateway.

They left one out though. The first version of MSN would automatically launch AOL, and kill all of your Internet settings. I remember sitting on the phone for about 4 hours one nite with Microsoft, to reformat the HD, and reload eveything. They swore up and down that AOL would not be on the computer, and that it wasn't part of the Windows 98 disc. They were wrong. It was there.... like a disease. I learned that "OK" is not ok on a PC. The "OK" button still scares me.

Windows Millenium.Ahh.... How I loved(NOT!) that operating system.Most of the little I know about PC's came from having that OS.

Some of the other stuff was pretty stinky, but those stand out.

John Miliunas
06-01-2006, 6:33 PM
1, 2, 4 & 15 here! AOL is not too far from willingly installing a virus on your machine, RP isn't bad unless you just "let them" install everything that comes with it. ME=Massive Errors. Zip Drive...Can you say, "Click, click, click"??? :eek: :D Another one they missed was the Apple "Cube". I remember when that came out, the service area I worked did both, WinTel and Apple. Our "incoming" racks for defective equipment looked like part of the assembly line for those Apple "Cubes"! :D :D :D What a piece of "engineering" those were! :rolleyes: :cool:

Lee DeRaud
06-01-2006, 6:46 PM
Zip Drive...Can you say, "Click, click, click"??? :eek: :DThat one surprised me: I'd never heard of anyone having trouble with one. I had one of the very early parallel-port drives (gave it away at work when I retired last year, still working fine), and we also had a couple of SCSI Zip drives that we used on Suns. Plus two USB drives and an internal one here at home that have never missed a beat (except the internal drive is missing its door).

Just lucky, I guess.:D :cool:

John Miliunas
06-01-2006, 7:57 PM
That one surprised me: I'd never heard of anyone having trouble with one. I had one of the very early parallel-port drives (gave it away at work when I retired last year, still working fine), and we also had a couple of SCSI Zip drives that we used on Suns. Plus two USB drives and an internal one here at home that have never missed a beat (except the internal drive is missing its door).

Just lucky, I guess.:D :cool:

Well, my friend, that must be it! That or, good, clean living! :rolleyes: :D We had literally tons of those bloody things die on campus. Worst part is, a lot of people were depending on them for backups. More than once, people would be trying to "restore" from a backup, because the "active" files were pooched and they would pop the Zip disk in, only to hear the "click of death"! Yeah, you guessed it...That data was now corrupt, too! :mad: Lots of unhappy campers, I'll tell ya! Sadly, many still didn't learn from the experience. Most everyone has Network access to a LAN, with their very own directory and we still end up trying to do recoveries for lost data on their main HDD, because they just "don't bother". Oh well...Job security, I guess! :D :cool:

Vaughn McMillan
06-02-2006, 1:33 AM
Fun list indeed. Glad to say I've never owned any of the products on the list (except IE 6), but I've owned my share of goodies and gadgets that would fit right in with this group.

- Vaughn

Jack Hogoboom
06-02-2006, 4:14 AM
I'm surprised PointCast was on that list. I loved that program. I used it at home all the time. It may have been a resource hog, but it was pretty cutting edge for its time.

Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan
06-02-2006, 5:18 AM
#15 Zipperhead drives!

I went through 4 of them, yep FOUR in the first 30 days I had them, it was stupid.

A buddy across the street bought one the same time, and he still used it, go figure. :confused:

Mike Cutler
06-02-2006, 9:14 AM
1, 2, 4 & 15 here! Another one they missed was the Apple "Cube". I remember when that came out, the service area I worked did both, WinTel and Apple. Our "incoming" racks for defective equipment looked like part of the assembly line for those Apple "Cubes"! :D :D :D What a piece of "engineering" those were! :rolleyes: :cool:

Ahh....come on now John. Those G4 cubes were an product engineering marvel:D I was sure that Apple must have been using some super secret defense technology, and super condutors too dissapate all of that heat trapped in that plexiglas cube.;) They were easy to fix, just remove the guts, drill a zillion holes in the cube, put some form of filter material over the whole cube, and voila!. Mac has had some stinker products of their own over time, believe me. The original version of OS X didn't support the DVD players, and OS 9.1 had a software switch that inhibited the battery from charging on the powerbooks. After having everyone replace the PROM battery, and battery charger, learning how to take apart a $3000.00 dollar laptop in the process, It finally got fixed with Jaquar, and Apple had to reimburse everyone for the original purchase price of OS X. I used to have to reboot the two seperate OS's to use the DVD player in 9.1, and then charge the battery in OS X.

Jim DeLaney
06-02-2006, 10:43 AM
Guess I am/was/have been a glutton for punishment because I've had at least eight of the 25 items on the list:

1. AOL - Very briefly!
2. RealPlayer - Very briefly
4. ME - factory installed on two different computers. One worked okay, one didn't.
7. Bob - came preinstalled. I couldn't get rid of it, no matter what I tried!
8. IE6 - Have it on three computers. Really haven't had any problems yet...
10. dBase - ahh, the database from Hell!
12. Pointcast - Can you say REBOOT? I knew you could...
15 Zip drives. Have had four. Three died.

Yeah, I've spent a lot of money on junk... Wonder what's next for the list?

Lee DeRaud
06-02-2006, 11:02 AM
Well, my friend, that must be it! That or, good, clean living! :rolleyes: :D Guess so...just did another pass at the list:
4. Windows ME: had that on two machines, no serious problems, seemed to work at least as well as Win98SE.
5. Sony BMG music CD's: yeah, that one bit me. Managed to avoid installing their spyware, but after waiting what seemed like forever for that new Santana CD last summer, couldn't rip it. (Plus the music itself was kind of a disappointment, but that wasn't Sony's fault.)
8. IE6: no particular issues. Works a whole lot better than Outlook Express, which probably should be on the list.
10. dBase IV: not a great product. Then again, I didn't have to pay for the copy I had to deal with (for my ex-wife's job), and the need to deal with it went away when she became my ex-wife. (If I thought dBase had anything to do with the divorce, I'd probably like it better.:D Hmmm, it shows 1988 for dBase IV...it might have been an earlier version I was using, more like late '85, early '86.)
15. Zip drives: (still) no problems. Yeah, they've pretty much been obsoleted by CDRs and flash drives, but they sure made "SneakerNet" run smoother at the time.

Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan
06-02-2006, 12:38 PM
G........................
8. IE6: no particular issues. Works a whole lot better than Outlook Express, which probably should be on the list.............

You are kidding right?

You mean to tell me that someone, somewhere actually uses Outlook Express :eek::eek::eek:

Lee DeRaud
06-02-2006, 1:43 PM
You are kidding right?

You mean to tell me that someone, somewhere actually uses Outlook Express :eek::eek::eek:Only until I got a copy of "real" Outlook that would run under XP. I know there are better email clients around, but I was already used to Outlook from work.

But there's a bunch of people I know using OE...
hey, it's way better than the webmail clients from AOL/Yahoo/insert-ISP-name-here.

Bruce Page
06-02-2006, 2:06 PM
That was a fun read! Boy, do I agree with the dubious winner of #1 worst, AOL! I tried them once years ago and had a bear of a time getting them off of my credit card when I cancelled, it took months! I can’t believe they are still suckering people.

Scott Donley
06-02-2006, 3:49 PM
Only until I got a copy of "real" Outlook that would run under XP. I know there are better email clients around, but I was already used to Outlook from work.

But there's a bunch of people I know using OE...
hey, it's way better than the webmail clients from AOL/Yahoo/insert-ISP-name-here.Right with you Lee, I use OE and ME worked great for me on the 3 networked computers in my house. Still have an old laptop with a wireless card that has Me and works great with the other 2 that has XP. Go figure:o

Mark Pruitt
06-02-2006, 4:51 PM
I was unlucky enough to have a PCjr. THat thing was so pitiful it turned me against PCs and I went for years without a computer at all before finally becoming brave enough to try again with a "real" computer.

AOL.....don't get me started.

Kinda scary to read the things said about IE 6.0

John Miliunas
06-02-2006, 10:46 PM
Forgive me, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly why IE 6 is on that list!!! I do know that the very first or second iteration of it was clunky but, since then, I've had virtually zero problems with it. :) I don't use Outlook Express except for the news reader. Full version Outlook for email. Now, I know what some folks are thinking: Both IE and Outlook are BIG targets for hackers. True enough. BUT, that same fact prods me into keeping on my toes and being ever aware of that possibility. I keep everything patched and updated with the latest (tested) updates and I've had virtually no issues. Plus, in my line of work, I get to support a LOT of folks using the same apps, so I had better know them inside and out! :) IE 7, currently in Beta, looks to be a pretty promising browser, as well. :) Regardless of what O/S you're on or what browser and email client you use, I can't stress enough the importance of being cautious and aware at all times! I'm waiting for the day (and it will happen!) when some wise guy decides to run rampant on OS-X or Firefox or T-Bird. Too many folks have been lulled into complacency and say that it's only Microsoft products at risk. One 'o these days, they're going to get nailed and nailed bad!!! :eek: I'm truly hoping that doesn't happen, as I also support several Mac users and I'm not nearly as well versed in it. If something goes goofy with them, I'll suffer, as well! :( :) :cool:

Tyler Howell
06-03-2006, 6:43 AM
Clearly #1.
If I could only get those hours wasted returned to my life:( .