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I tried everything I
could think of to keep our doors open, but we have been in a downhill
slide for a long time. There appeared to be no end in sight. There are many factors
that contributed to our demise, and I can't really blame it on any one
thing. Here are a few of the
reasons though, in case you care...
1. The constantly
dropping price of computer hardware meant we had to sell more and
more and more products just to make the same dollar in sales, while the cost of doing business, selling the system, building the
system, etc. have remained the same, or even gotten higher.
Just watch TV and look at the Gateway and Dell ads. Better computers than you could possibly need (okay, unless you're a gamer, or a graphic editor, or a...) for under $600. How can anyone compete with that? More importantly, why would they even bother? If I could sell you bags of sunflower seeds for a quarter, but I had to help you open them too, would I be a fool to try? Well...there ya go!
2. The declining demand
for computers too, has taken it's toll. Most people's
computer is really fast enough now for e-mail, word processing,
accounting etc. 75% of the computers out there are plent fast enough
for their owners, and will last most people a while. Especially with
DSL or cable Internet access. The rate of people buying has gone way down. Do you really
need a two gigahertz machine and a 100 gig hard drive? Not unless
you're a game fanatic or a video editor you don't. And speaking of
games...
3. The competition is brutal. With Best Buy and Staples moving into the area, along with Circuit City suddenly selling tons software, there was just too much competition too fast for us in the software market. There are only a few hundred pieces of software sold each month in the Gateway area.
The final straw though, was a certain customer (I hope you're reading this; you know who you are...) coming in and asking if we knew anything about a game we had, Tony Hawk Pro Skater II. We did, but we also got online, searched for and downloaded a demo, installed it, set up a game controller, let him play it for as long as he wanted, and he ultimately bought it for $39.99. Our cost was $33.75, so we made $6.25 on the deal. After about an hour, this guy came back because Circuit City had it on sale for $29.99. He wanted to know if we could match their price. I refunded all his money, and that was the day I exited the software business for good.
Not to mention all of you with CD burners out there illegally copying software for each other. Now, you can even download the FULL CD version from a website, so you and your friends aren't even buying the ONE real copy make copies of! You know who you are too. It's illegal, it's wrong, but everybody does it anyway. Can I blame you? Can I say I've never done it? What do you think?
3. People are smarter
now than they used to be. You've learned to operate Windows, and
don't need as much help as you once did. Those of you
who've read my articles, I hope have benefited from my knowledge. I
intend to keep writing them, although they won't be in the East County
News anymore. You can still get to the archives and sign up for them
via e-mail here.
4. More and more people are building their own computers. More and more of you are installing your own parts as you upgrade too, and having a lot less trouble, especially with "real" plug and play in Windows XP. Again though, how often do you need to upgrade now that you personally have more computing power than they used to send Neil Armstrong and the gang to the moon?
5. The Oregon economy
isn't exactly on fire. Look around at all the "Vacancy" and "For
Lease" signs as you drive down the street. I hope none of you are
experiencing the pains of the economy directly, but if you are..."I
feel your pain". (Who said that? Remember him?)
6. I still stand behind my decision to change our name. We had to get away from the stigma of "used junk" and Cyber Exchange just screamed "bring me your Goodwill donations". In retrospect though, moving and changing the name at the same time was not good for business. However, do you know what a 4' x 6' sign costs? I needed two! I'm sure there are more reasons than I've listed here, but that's all I can think of at the moment. Maybe I'll update this sometime. All e-mails sent to me will still get answered, but maybe not as quickly as before. scott@mphcomputing.com Thanks for reading this,
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