February 2, 2005

• Cost of Ownership

  I have seen a computer advertised lately for $199.99, complete with monitor and printer. It is a very nice, modern computer, despite coming with a Windows XP Home operating system. Many people will buy it, not realizing that the price doesn't represent their cost, which is at least $499.39 because to purchase the computer they must subscribe to AOL for a year at $24.95 per month.

  That may still be a reasonable cost for the machine. It simply differs from the stated price.

  And many people will continue their subscriptions to AOL after the year expires, making the AOL executives happy.

  I recently acquired two machines for measuring my blood sugar, one a ReliOn Ultima that cost $8.88 and the other a BD Logic that was sent to me free. Both use modern technology to produce rapid readings with very small blood samples. The Logic is a more sophisticated machine, having the ability to record user insulin injection data and to download all accumulated data to software on a Windows-based machine for detailed analysis.

  Using the Logic will cost more than twice as much as using the Ultima because its test strips cost 88 cents each as compared to 42 cents for the Ultima's test strips. That's $2.64 per day against $1.26 per day, $963.60 per year against $459.90. The Ultima will cost me $494.82 less to own in the first year.

  Actually, that's only true until the middle of December. When Medicare kicks in, all of the test strips will be free and the cost of ownership, to me, will be nothing. That is assuming the current administration does nothing to screw things up, which is probably not a good assumption.

  A cracker (commonly mislabeled a hacker) published his analysis of the cost of ownership of existing operating systems. He compared the ease of taking over, "owning", systems running Windows, Linux, BSD and other software. If you bought a computer running Windows and connected to the Internet, the cost to him to "own" your computer was almost nothing. All other systems were much more expensive to "own".

  This is really the cost of allowing your data to be owned by somebody else, somebody who can use it to harm you.

  I run a Windows XP system. I just don't connect it to the Internet. The system I'm using at the moment to connect to the Internet runs Linspire 4.5, which is Debian Linux.

  The Spyware out there has become too sophisticated. Existing countermeasures won't handle it and nothing in the near future seems likely to be able to. Using Internet Explorer will almost guarantee that somebody else will soon be spending your money and perhaps using your identity.

  Viruses and worms are almost as bad. Continuing to use Windows operating systems will help build up the crackers' retirement funds while continuing to keep Bill Gates among the richest men in the world.

  Most people don't do the simple calculations that show the real costs of the things they buy.

  • 00:19
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