Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!decwrl!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!mcvax!ukc!dcl-cs!nott-cs!ucl-cs!B.Witts From: B.Witts@ucl-cs.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: Ethics of crippler circuitry Message-ID: <176@ucl-cs.UUCP> Date: 24 Feb 89 11:26:43 GMT Sender: B.Witts@ucl-cs.UUCP Lines: 35 From: Bill Witts I get the feeling that there is an unnecessary degree of abstraction in this debate. The cost of buying the machine or buying an upgrade from somebody is *entirely* based upon their calculation of what can best further their company's interests, probably by maximizing profit. They don't have any obligation to make an upgrade any more complex than they have to, and if you were happy with the original machine at the price you paid and you were happy to pay the quoted amount for the upgrade, then you have no grounds for complaint when the techy just rips out a jump-lead. You are paying for the upgrade, they are simply trying to deprive you of your assets. Normal business. Do ethics really enter into this? Nobody actually gets stung, and the only reason people feel dissatisfied seems to be some kind of resentment because "I could have done that". But it isn't the vendor's problem that you feel this way: you knew the cost and were willing to pay. I personally would feel far happier to have my machine upgraded like this - I would feel that the upgrade was designed in from the start - than to have some guy spend a week hacksawing the circuit boards, installing new fans, cutting tracks and soldering obscure transistors across them, desoldering processors, adding smoke alarms, fire-escapes ... Is this the sort of upgrade people would feel was "worth the money"? ... Bill - "We ain't runnin' no charity here boy" ************************************************************************ Bill Witts, CS Dept. * Nel Mezzo del cammin di nostra vita UCL, London, Errrp * mi ritrovai per una selva oscura william@cs.ucl.ac.uk * che la diritta via era smarrita. ************************************************************************