Your Typical Taberna Computer User
(September, 2005)
If your computer has the word Dell embossed on its case, and if you connect to the internet through a Cox cable modem, then you fit the mold of a typical Taberna computer user.
These were the findings of a survey of subscribers to the Taberna email list, the closed-loop email system that bands Taberna residents together. As list administrator, I already had all the email addresses, so it was easy to discern the ISPs (internet service providers) used by each person. I recently sent out an invitation for subscribers to tell me what brand of computer they used, where they purchased it from, and how satisfied they were with it.
Twenty eight respondents told me about their combined 41 computers. (This excludes one person who owns well over a dozen for his business.) That works out to an average of about one and a half computers per household. A third of respondents reported owning two or more machines, and four people reported three or more computers at home. (I can add my name as a fifth to that list.)
Personally, I have always been a proponent of so-called “white boxes”, unbranded computers built locally of industry standard components. My feeling is that a local shop can provide superior customization and service while delivering a PC void of superfluous, resource robbing add-on software, and inclusive of a full operating system backup on CD. The perceived uncertainty of long-term business continuity is offset by the fact that white boxes generally use universally available components serviceable at any repair shop, unlike many branded computers that use proprietary designs.
But clearly the buying public finds comfort and value in a brand name, and Dell’s marketing helps make their brand a top-of-mind choice for buyers, while their volume translates to buying power that allows them to sell at prices that even white box vendors have trouble matching. In our survey, an astounding 54% of computers were Dells, and most Dell owners gave their ownership experience relatively high marks. Yes, there were a couple cases of the inevitable lemon machine which soured a couple folks on the brand, and there were a few mentions of the need to be able to understand east-Asian dialects in order to obtain technical support, but by and large the Dell products received good marks. Those not buying direct from Dell tended to get their machines at the big box electronics stores – Best Buy, Circuit City, and Comp-USA. Other brands included HP (4 machines), Compaq (3), Gateway (3), Sony (2), and a smattering of machines from Acer, IBM, Toshiba, and others. Only one person reported owning “white box” machines, and like me, he built his own, using AMD processors as opposed to the more common Intel processors.
As I write this, the Taberna email list is made up of 192 subscribers. Exactly half – 96 – have chosen Cox Communications as their internet service provider of choice. Add in the handful of Earthlink DSL subscribers, and well over 100 of our list members enjoy a broadband (high-speed) internet experience. I liken broadband to central air conditioning – once you have it, you can’t imagine not having it again. Second to Cox cable users are the AOL subscribers who number 25, with Earthlink coming in third with 16 subscribers, some of whom have DSL while some are on dial-up. In addition to those three are 25 other ISPs, 15 of which are represented by only one user on the list. Many of these appear to be work-related domains.
The Taberna email list turned nine months old in September. Started in mid-December 2004 with a dozen adventurous souls, we are now nearing the 200 mark. If you’re new to the development or missed signing up previously and are now interested in joining this email distribution list which is only open to Taberna residents and property owners, send an email to me at wamaruna@cox.net and I will send you back information on what the list is and how it works. So far, traffic is pretty light, and our closed system guards against spam, so you should not worry about being inundated with worthless email traffic – unless you include the occasional computer survey.