- Aug 25, 2001
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I've got a few close friends, most of which, I build / repair / upgrade PCs for, or give them PCs every few years.
I've started to reflect, a little more, this morning, about one of those friends, and then, come to the conclusion that not all of my friends, that have owned desktop PCs and used them for years, are "enthusiasts".
Some of them, just want the thing to work, do what they want, without any impediments or errors, and they don't want to have to actually put in any time to learn how to use it. (This friend that I'm thinking about, has had PCs for over 15 years, and he still calls me when he need to figure out how to open a .ZIP file. Go figure.) Let's call him a non-enthusiast, or at least, a non-motivated enthusiast. He wants to "do streaming", and "be famous". Well, you need to walk (learn how to copy and unzip files), before you can run (run a streaming rig). He seems to secretly want to be an enthusiast, but doesn't want to put in the effort, just wants things handed to him. (Been trying to get him to build his potential new AM4 PC, but so far, he's refused.) He did once build an AM1 PC for his GF, that I had the idea to do, under my direction. He managed it fine. Which strikes me as strange that he isn't willing to do the same thing for his own PC, a few years later. He doesn't believe me that it's not that hard. Although, he installed a video card, finally, completely on his own, not too long ago, after I helped him install one a few weeks before.
Another one of my friends, who is also a long-time gamer, is a semi-enthusiast. He can change a video card out, and maybe re-format a PC, not sure. But he's never built one from scratch. I would love to help him do that, but he doesn't seem too interested, unless his PC isn't playing his games that well anymore. Or maybe I've denied him the opportunity, since I always seem to have PCs to hook my friends up with, when theirs dies.
Another one of my friends, I helped build a PC with (a Core2), and then, when that got a bit older, he built an FM2 rig, mostly on his own, although he asked a lot of questions. He has since built an AM4 rig, pretty-much entirely on my own. I consider him an enthusiast, even though he's not a gamer. We swap PC build tips, and component sale prices.
I guess, sometimes, I forget, that not all of my friends are as much of a "PC Enthusiast" as I am. (I guess, I'm kind of build-crazy, sometimes. Gotta get that YouTube going at some point.)
Friend #1 above, gets really annoyed at me, when I send him links to discounted PC parts, and items that I think that are relevant to his computing needs. In contrast, friend #3 doesn't mind.
I've started to reflect, a little more, this morning, about one of those friends, and then, come to the conclusion that not all of my friends, that have owned desktop PCs and used them for years, are "enthusiasts".
Some of them, just want the thing to work, do what they want, without any impediments or errors, and they don't want to have to actually put in any time to learn how to use it. (This friend that I'm thinking about, has had PCs for over 15 years, and he still calls me when he need to figure out how to open a .ZIP file. Go figure.) Let's call him a non-enthusiast, or at least, a non-motivated enthusiast. He wants to "do streaming", and "be famous". Well, you need to walk (learn how to copy and unzip files), before you can run (run a streaming rig). He seems to secretly want to be an enthusiast, but doesn't want to put in the effort, just wants things handed to him. (Been trying to get him to build his potential new AM4 PC, but so far, he's refused.) He did once build an AM1 PC for his GF, that I had the idea to do, under my direction. He managed it fine. Which strikes me as strange that he isn't willing to do the same thing for his own PC, a few years later. He doesn't believe me that it's not that hard. Although, he installed a video card, finally, completely on his own, not too long ago, after I helped him install one a few weeks before.
Another one of my friends, who is also a long-time gamer, is a semi-enthusiast. He can change a video card out, and maybe re-format a PC, not sure. But he's never built one from scratch. I would love to help him do that, but he doesn't seem too interested, unless his PC isn't playing his games that well anymore. Or maybe I've denied him the opportunity, since I always seem to have PCs to hook my friends up with, when theirs dies.
Another one of my friends, I helped build a PC with (a Core2), and then, when that got a bit older, he built an FM2 rig, mostly on his own, although he asked a lot of questions. He has since built an AM4 rig, pretty-much entirely on my own. I consider him an enthusiast, even though he's not a gamer. We swap PC build tips, and component sale prices.
I guess, sometimes, I forget, that not all of my friends are as much of a "PC Enthusiast" as I am. (I guess, I'm kind of build-crazy, sometimes. Gotta get that YouTube going at some point.)
Friend #1 above, gets really annoyed at me, when I send him links to discounted PC parts, and items that I think that are relevant to his computing needs. In contrast, friend #3 doesn't mind.