> -----Original Message-----
> Behalf Of Peter Smithson
> [log in to unmask] says...

[somewhere along the way, an attribution got lost]
 
> > > Lets blame the buying public for the demise of the 
> HP3000....Nice...

[though I agree with the premise, not the sarcastic rejoinder (err, if that's the right term...)]

> Why wouldn't it be the same for other companies.
> Without new customers coming in the income will just go down 

That logic doesn't necessarilly follow -- remember, unlike a "commodity" system, buying an HP3000 usually resulted in maintaining a support contract [meaning two things: (a) you RETAIN your customer base, and (b) your income doesn't decline]  My point was that HP was losing customers on the "support" front, so yes fewer customers would strongly imply lower income...

> didn't ditch it they'd not be interested in making money.  So the
> company wouldn't last so long.

Where is it written that a company MUST grow?  Sure, it's a nice goal to achieve, but it doesn't HAVE to be that way -- consider, for example, a local "mom-n-pop" grocery store or similar -- they'll maintain a base of customers for YEARS without growth -- they simply make "enough" money to cover expenses and live comfortably.  
 
[...]
> the HP3000 did NOT have "built in/planned obsolesence", so 
> 
> What OS has built in obsolesence?

I'm not talking about the operating system -- I'm talking about the HARDWARE.  Marketing and "buzz" has created a perceived need for "faster" systems in the commodity arena, so commodity systems have evolved.  The HP 3000 has "kept up" with this to a degree [faster processors, etc.] but often what a customer buys originally actually manages to meet their needs for a considerable length of time.  The fact that what you buy --today-- will have enough "horsepower" to meet your needs --three to five years down the road-- is what I'm talkging about by not having "built-in" obsolesence  [commodity PC's really don't need to advance either, but as I said, marketing has created a perceived need for newer/faster/better systems]

well, I'm starting to ramble, so I'll stop for now...

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