The Secret About Secrets: Why You Don't Want To Keep Them

[Guest]

Analyst Opinion - Imagine if you went to a car dealer and said, "What kind of an engine is in that RoadBlastor X500?

The Secret About Secrets: Why You Don't Want To Keep Them : Read more

 

[FilthPig2004]

I think the consumer split is not along geek vs. non-geek lines, but rather, value vs. enthusiast segment buyers. I have a cell phone--it works, was free, and is reliable. Why should I care what chips are inside it? If I had a question about reliability or performance I would have leveraged consumer opinions, not done independent research because I'm not a cellphone expert. Do you know what kind of motor is in your blender? How about the temperature sensor in your programmable thermostat? Of course not, because it's not important. What is important, is that these things work; they're applicances. Other electronics are no different. Specifications are not always a good indicator of real-world performance. Selecting components that work well together is more important. Where's the sense in buying a fast car if you are regularly stuck in traffic? I think computer enthusiasts who over/underclock understand this the best of all. Part of the fun is stretching the limits of your hardware, and tuning components so that your system works at it's peak. It's not about absolute performance--there's always somebody who has more disposable income that's ready to best your specs.

 

[vherub]

Part of the discussion is marketing and education. Consumers are educated to pursue higher megapixels in digital cameras, for example. Or the marketing strength behind a Bose or Monster that tells the consumer why their product is better. These aren't secrets, rather, they are a misleading of information. Even smart consumers can get wrapped up in the idea that a 8 megapixel camera is better than a 6mp camera or that a $100 monster cable produces superior sound quality to a 16-gauge generic radioshack spool for $8.99.

 

[gm0n3y]

@vherub

I totally agree on the Monster cable comment. I've seen people drop $200 on an HDMI cable that you can get online for less than $20.

 

[lopopo]

[citation][nom]gm0n3y[/nom]@vherubI totally agree on the Monster cable comment. I've seen people drop $200 on an HDMI cable that you can get online for less than $20.[/citation]
agreed..people just don't understand that HDMI is a standard and as long as the box has the logo then it exceeds ( or is capable of) that particular standart

 

[gm0n3y]

And its digital, so you don't even have to worry about signal quality. So a $2 cable will have the same quality as a $2000 cable, the only possible different being their durability. Unless of course its bad enough to lose a few bits, but that doesn't really happen (and there are parity bits, etc).