Random Thoughts

June 2, 2004

The Great Computer Shell Game

Has anyone noticed the bait-and-switch game being played on us by the computer and software manufacturers?
It goes like this: You fork out a grand for a computer that promises to solve all your problems. But after a couple of years, your now obsolete clunker no longer works with some of the applications being created by new “improved” software.
So no problem. You upgrade your operating system or cough up a couple thousand more bucks for a new computer.
Then you get the happy news that your new machine no longer works with your old software.
No problem. You spend a few hundred (or thousand) dollars more to get new software.
Then you lean back and savor the thought of getting screwed all over again in this gotcha’-over-a-barrel game a couple years down the road.
We’ve gone through this experience a couple of times at Northern Express, as software engineers continually “improve” graphic design products such as Quark, PhotoShop and Acrobat Reader, making it impossible to use the new stuff on computers that are younger than most preschoolers. Generally, the improvements just serve to make what you’re doing more complicated for no other reason than to give the software companies another product to force on you. It’s kind of like jamming two or three spider webs together under the notion that one big sticky mess will be somehow better because it will have more connections.
We’re currently using a new page design program called InDesign which is so torturously complicated that it was apparently created by the Marquis de Sade. Can’t wait until we’re stuck with the improved version of this monstrosity a couple years from now.
I’m sure this is like ancient Aramaic to those of you who not entrenched in the mysteries of graphic design, but similar situations occur in other fields: accounting, engineering, office management, etc., creating a vicious circle in which your “improved” software becomes nearly impossible to figure out without an advanced degree, while making your computer obsolete.
It’s no different than the annual improvements you see in bicycles, golf clubs, cameras, camping gear and cars. Most of the must-have “improvements” are marketing ploys to get you to buy the latest goodies.
The difference is that I can still use the Canon 35mm camera I bought in 1974 or the mountain bike from 1986, but there is no way my 1991 computer is worth anything other than as a museum piece. Unfortunately, that’s increasingly true of computers obtained just a few years ago.
Several years ago, many scoffed at the federal trustbusting lawsuit against Microsoft as an example of needless government interference, even though the suit was brought at the behest of many smaller companies which were being pushed out of the nest by the original mockingbird of the business.
But when you consider that Microsoft now owns Apple and has its tentacles thrust into every corner of the computer world, it’s easy to understand why a monopoly is a bad thing. With the power held over your head to make you pay for software “improvements” every two years or so, you will indeed pay and pay and pay, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

Bus station‘s bright side

Prediction: a few years from now, businesses next to Traverse City’s controversial new bus station on Hall Street will consider it a neighbor well worth having.
That’s because more and more of us will be taking the bus, and the station will become a customer-generating magnet.
It’s easy to understand why there have been concerns about the transit center downtown because at present, bus stations are considered unsavory at best across our country, attracting undesirable characters.
But that old paradigm is going to change now that gas is headed toward the $3 per gallon range (and beyond). More people of all ages and backgrounds are going to see a fixed-route bus service as a good alternative to paying high auto costs. Our bus stations will develop as vibrant community crossroads similar to mass transit centers in Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Wait and see. Someday, businesses will want to be as close to Traverse City‘s new bus station as possible.
Personally, I was surprised that the station was approved. Whether you like the project or not, one has to admit it took guts for the Traverse City Commission to stand by the Planning Commission in the face of great opposition from local businesses.

Tear it down

Speaking of which, it’s amusing that some environmentally-minded citizens are trying to keep part of the old Light & Power building intact on the bay in Traverse City while conservative members of the City Commission such as Phill Orth are adamant about tearing it down. You’d think it would be the other way around.
The Commission should stick to its guns on this one. Tear the whole thing down. Don’t let a single brick remain on top of another.
There are plenty of buildings in Traverse City and plenty of empty spaces going begging for lack of use. What we don’t have is unimpeded views of our bay. Our bay is a priceless treasure -- our perfect jewel. A chance to see it whole in all its glory right downtown is the only way to do it justice.