[OT] Can someone help me acquire a HP TouchPad?

[Lynn Fredricks]

> Yeah I think over half the network printer models I got had 
> bad CD drivers. In two cases the drivers for Mac AND PC would 
> not work. Only going to the website solved the problem. Also, 
> HP has a habit of including a lot of other things that bog 
> down a slow PC. 

Bloatware is an interesting market, and has a long tradition with printers.
So why are the apps usually crap?

Bundling on install CDs or preinstalling is a big business. The printer
companies don't include stuff because its good. It is included because they
are being paid X per unit shipped by the software vendors. This became an
even more important business to them as printer prices plunged and they
became more reliant on printer cartridge sales (also being eroded by the
cheapo and resused cartridge market).

There was actually a time when hardware vendors paid software vendors for
bundling - and the bundles were good! Sure, you'd make pennies on the
dollar, but huge volume sales and upsells were a beautiful thing.

Best regards,

Lynn Fredricks
President
Paradigma Software
http://www.paradigmasoft.com

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