Mfg's ripoff prices for disks (was Re: Cheaper winnies on an NCR tower)

[Peter Rowell]

In some article ockenden at prlhp1.prl.philips.co.uk (Paul T Ockenden) writes for someone else
:
:We have an NCR Tower 32/600 here. NCR being the *wonderful*
:people they are want about (UK#)4500 for a 140Mb drive. This sticks in
:my throat.
: ...
:
:Second. 4500 UK Pnds for a 140Mb drive is er... a little steep...

To which vause at cs-col.Columbia.NCR.COM (Sam Vause) replies:
>The design of the operating System disk interface code precludes the addition
>of any non-approved disk into the TOWER.  The reason for this is *NOT* to 
>inconvenience you as a customer, but to make sure that only *CERTIFIED* drives
>are installed--the reliability of the machine and its data is the most impor-
>tant issue here.  Drives this size *MUST* have an extremely high reliability
>rating.
>

Sam: Did it occur to you that if he wants to put in his own damn drive
that maybe he has the right to do that and would not expect NCR to
guarantee it til the Second Coming of Christ?  If, in fact, he *did*
expect NCR to guarantee it, just say that it, and any problems that
exist *only* when it is plugged in, are *his* problems, and not yours.


This reply (and, I am certain, the corporate policy that spawned it)
smacks of the worst kind of patronization in order to justify
near-criminal profit margins on mass storage.  Yes, I am fully aware
that NCR has plenty of company in this particular boat, including DEC,
Sun, and every other system manufacturer I have ever done business with.

I have been quoted a price, by one of my current system vendors, of $4400
for an out-of-the-box CDC Wren II with the normal 90 day warranty.  Literally
2 miles away, I found the same drive from a disrtributor for $895 and
the warranty was 30 days money back, 6 months swap out!  Unless we believe
that the distributor was operating as a non-profit institution, we must
assume that the system vendor is being criminally greedy.

I could go on, but my blood pressure is going up.........

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Rowell				"You will need a bigger rock."
Third Eye Software, Inc.		(415) 321-0967
Menlo Park, CA  94025			...!pyramid!thirdi!peter