Q: Recently a local computer service advertised it could custom build a computer for anyone, tailored to fit their needs and with better components, so that it would last longer. I am wondering if it would it be to my advantage to ask the service to build one for me. The ad said that the cost would not be much different than buying a brand-name computer.
Bill Ratliff
A: Here's the rub. Some of these custom-built computers are great and, since you're dealing with a local firm instead of a distant national manufacturer, you'll also get fast and expert help if you need tech support. But you can also run into incompetent shops that buy the cheapest possible components, slap a computer together and then sell it for the same price, or more, as a brand-name machine. There's another hitch too. Even terrific new small businesses have a high failure rate. If the small business disappears so does the value of any warranty or promises of tech support that you received.
In the industry, businesses like this are called screwdriver shops, based on the fact that they buy the components and then assemble the computer themselves. I've run across some excellent and honest shops run by people with a real passion for computers. If you are lucky enough to find a place like that, then you are in for an excellent experience.
But, unless you are real computer whiz, it's really hard to evaluate the claims made by a shop like this, or to look at the brands and models of the components used to assemble the computer and know if that claim of using "better components" is true. Also keep in mind that most of the brand name computers I've seen lately use decent to excellent components themselves.
At the very least, if you're considering buying from a screwdriver shop, do this: Stick to businesses that have been around for three years or more. While that isn't fair for the new businesses that are top-notch, it does provide an element of safety for the buyer. Downright crooks or incompetents soon are revealed by the market and fail quickly. Also, if you have computer-literate friends or co-workers, ask them to call the shop and ask questions about the components used and the pricing.
Q: There is a lot of news regarding cloud computing. Could you give an explanation of what this is?
Ed Price
A: Ed, cloud computing has become a real buzzword over the last few years. Most simply, when people talk about computing on the cloud, they mean they are storing and using data and programs online. In other words, the computer sitting in front of them may not contain all or any of the programs and data they're using. Instead it's all accessed online from a single or multiple servers.
When you think about it that way you see that many of us are already using cloud computing to one degree or another. For instance, I back up my files over the Internet instead of storing them on my own hard disk. If you use an online site to store your photos, that's cloud computing.
Some real gurus think cloud computing is the future. They're probably at least partially right. You may someday subscribe to a service that lets you use online programs for everything you do, rather than owning and installing the programs. And the data you create will be safely stored online.
Ironically, in the earliest days of computing, most of us used a similar system. You'd sit in front of what is called a "dumb terminal" and access programs and data from the mainframe computer. So this isn't a cloud that just flew in overnight.
My guess: Cloud computing will grow, but for home users, there will always be the need and desire to have some programs and data loaded on the home computer.
