Stories by: Ray Shaw

I noted Microsoft was awarded $720,000 in damages in July against Queensland reseller, Magic Computers, after it was found to have loaded unlicensed Microsoft software onto hard drives between 1998 and 2004.

When the first consumer hard disks were released in the early 80s they were 5.25 inches wide, weighed more than a house brick, had capacities of 5-10MB and were commonly called Winchester disk drives. The cost with an ST506 controller card was about $1000 - but then early PCs were worth about $3000 so I suppose it's all relative.

I love junk mail, not just IT related stuff either. It keeps me up to date with new products, special offers, street pricing and it can often lead me to shops I would not normally use.

Convergence is just a fancy technology term for watching television on your PC. We have been able to do that for years, so what is all the fuss about?

The greatest crime any IT business can commit is having a static website that serves merely as an electronic representation of the company's product brochure. When I did my marketing and public relations degree many moons ago, I was always told that any promotional tool must have a call to action, even if it is just a tear-off coupon offering more information or an incentive to order.

Specialist IT resellers frequently lament that no amount of newspaper, radio, TV or Yellow Pages advertising (at least on the scale that they can afford) brings them any more business. And with profit margins barely reaching 10 per cent, you have to sell a lot of product just to pay for an advertisement.

We in the IT industry should all drop to our knees and thank Microsoft for two things - XP Service Pack 2 and of course the release of Media Center Edition 2005. These have something for everyone.

Our readers are a sophisticated and well educated lot. When they want a PC they know what to ask for and more importantly how and where to get it without paying too much. Ever wondered how computer illiterate Joe Average and family find this experience. Read on.

Ergonomics is the study of making everyday things have a better human interface - designing to ensure that people's capabilities and limitations are taken into account and the product is fit for use.

When you buy white goods like a fridge or washing machine you expect relatively trouble-free use, at least for a few years. Then if you have a problem you are happy to pay for a manufacturer backed on-site service call and usually have a few more trouble free years. These industries are aware of the need to keep quality up and post-sales service levels even higher. It is an investment in the brand.

I recently interviewed the owner of a well established, family-run retail box-flogger who has about six staff and turns over about $2 million per annum. The business had provided a reasonable living but times were getting tougher and he either could not see, or did not know, how to change things just to stay in business.