News AMD says consumers are technology illiterate

It's not made of liquid, gas, or plasma, is it? Therefore it's "hard".
SSD stands for Solid-State Drive, so it's a drive.

LOL

SSDs are hard drives. What we can't call it is an "HDD".

 

Yes but if someone walks into PC World without a clue and a £400 budget chances are they wont get a system that meets their needs. If they spend a few minutes posting on a forum like this, or better one run by a PC manufacturer with a £400 budget and a clue as to what they want from the machine then they will get advice on what they need to get the best matched machine for their money.

 

That's very true ( and sensible ) but the reality is that most high street consumers don't do this.

If you know anyone who works at PC World, they will confirm the same thing that Psytek said, which is that 'most' consumers simply look for a computer which falls within their budget.

They also look for the best looking PC design, shape and size for their budget.

Yes, they will know what they want a PC for: such as "check my emails", "go on facebook", "play my music" "type a Word document".

However, most of them know nothing about the hardware technology. They may have heard of 'Core 2 Duo' or 'Core i7' , but don't actually know what it means. They know it sounds like the latest thing to get, but don't know how it relates to their needs, in terms of checking facebook, emails and using the internet. On the other hand, us enthusiasts look for benchmarking stats and how the hardware affects PC boot times, general system performance and multitasking etc.

They also haven't got a clue about the differences between Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium. Only that one 'sounds' better, and more expensive, than the other.

The new AMD label scheme will only fly over most peoples heads. Most high street shopping consumers WILL NOT read about the various label tier ratings. 'Vision See', 'Share' and 'Create' are confusing. For example, you can see, share and create on very basic laptops. AMD's definition of See, Share and Create will be missed by the average consumer. 'Vision', Vision Premium' and 'Vision Ultimate' are as meaningless to the average person as Vista Premium and Vista Ultimate. 'Ultimate' obviously sounds like the best version. Having 3 labels may be better than having 200.

However, as mentioned in this thread, something like the Microsoft Windows Experience Index (on a sticker) would be a better way of communicating to consumers about how a particular PC compares with another.

Just the other day, I said to a friend that I would never buy a PC desktop that has a small sized case. Then I explained that generally 'small' equals less power. The guy went into a state of shock. It's as if it was the first time he had heard about the general relation between computer size and power.

A lot of consumers who purchase laptops as desktop replacements ( especially those who have no real need for the portability benefits ) , had no prior knowledge about the limitations of the laptop option and how the size to power ratio compares with a modern desktop costing half the price. The stickers saying 'Intel Inside' or 'Pentium', or 'Core i7' mean nothing. Comparing an intel clock speed to an AMD chip is even more confusing. The sales person isn't going to check whether the customer knows that they can get a desktop more powerful than the laptop at half the price. He wants his commission. So will simply direct the customer to a particular laptop. At least with a Windows Experience Index Sticker, the customer might notice how the very small and cute laptops have lower performance index ratings than the larger laptops, which generally have lower than the desktops.

 

Ehmmm I disagree...

But hey, I've got a Slot 1 Celeron 166 in a 3 foot case here, must a really powerfull crate in your opinion

 

I work with a guy who use to sell for PCWorld, I'm still training him to be a true PC enthusiast.

Not really since any QuadCore with 4GB, a half decent HDD and Graphics will max it out. It is still relevant for laptops though. Windows 7 seems to be taking the same approach, current high end hardware (next years mainstream) can max out everything but the CPU score. When people ask me about performance I quote 3DMark, Cinebench and HDTune scores. The trouble with the Windex is that it has a limit.

 

If they set it too high at the start, people will think the computer they are buying is junk. It's much better sales-wise to make them think they are getting something fast.

It's a sales tool, not a benchmarking tool.