Has Crapware Gone Too Far?
New PCs from certain vendors have always included at least some bundled software that is of dubious value to the purchaser, but after spending over an hour cleaning “crapware” from my grandmother’s new Acer PC, I wonder if at least one vendor has finally gone too far.
Whenever I visit, my grandmother always takes some time to ask me for help with various electronic gadgets around her home in southern Arizona. And, likewise, I’m always eager to help her by checking the house for problems that might be obvious to me but not-so-obvious to her. This time she threw a curveball at me: she decided to buy herself a new computer and wanted me to help her get started with it.
She certainly didn’t act a moment too soon. Her old computer was equipped with an aging Pentium III processor that could barely run Windows XP adequately. Over a hundred “Windows Updates” later and with new software like Internet Explorer 7 and the latest versions of her virus-checking software and some “utilities” suite, that computer’s performance was absolutely abysmal. To replace it, my grandmother chose an Acer machine that she found at the local Costco that appeared to have impressive hardware specs, especially considering its price. For $569, Costco sold her a computer with a dual-core AMD 64-bit processor clocked at 2.3 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, a fairly generous hard disk, and even threw in a 19″ widescreen flat panel monitor. Not bad.
I think we both assumed that “help her get started” meant that I would assemble the new computer for her, configure it for internet and email access, transfer some files from her old computer, and then spend some time patiently answering her questions about how to use it to accomplish certain tasks.
Before you start laughing, understand that we were both sort of naïve. The last three computers that I’ve purchased for my own personal use have been Apple Macs. Macs aren’t cheap, but they ship pre-loaded with tons of high quality “full version” software like iPhoto, iDVD, iChat, and iCal that makes them ready-to-use right out of the box. I’ve also had a two company notebook PCs issued to me by my last two jobs, but both of those were also extensively configured for me by an IT professional before I ever got to touch them. When it comes to opening a new computer, I’m spoiled rotten. And, as for my grandmother, she hasn’t purchased a new computer since sometime shortly after the birth of Christ. The Compaq Pentium III that we replaced today was positively ancient.
So, even though I keep very up-to-date with respect to Windows news, and I even dual-boot Windows Vista Ultimate on my MacBook in addition to a desktop, nothing could have prepared me for what I faced when I booted up my grandmother’s new Acer computer for the first time.
The computer ran like molasses. Mouse-clicks took whole seconds to register. The Windows desktop was a mess of icons for “Trial”-this and “Demo”-that. A “McAfee 30-day virus protection BUY NOW!” window popped up at twice during the first few minutes the computer was powered on. The system tray was filled with littered with the icons of a backup application, a trial version Office 2007, and something called “Acer GameZone,” each with its own respective “bubble” begging me to click it and learn about its offer. The top of the screen was occupied by an always-on-top “Acer Empower” windowpane application that could not be hidden or quit without accessing the Windows Task Manager. Internet Explorer also had at least two non-standard toolbars, including Yahoo’s annoying one that simply duplicates the functionality of IE7’s built-in search bar.
My grandmother’s brand new computer was truly loaded to the brim with crapware.
I can’t say that it completely surprised me. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has often made comments about how, in contrast to many PCs that ship with tons of bundled software that is either of poor quality or that the hardware vendor was simply paid to include, new Macs ship only with “software you’ll actually use,” like the iLife suite and other first-party applications like iTunes and iChat. And I’ve read reports about how some vendors like Sony actually charge extra fees for computers that ship without crapware. There’s no question in my mind that Acer was paid to include much, if not all, of this extra software with the computer.
In principle I don’t have a problem with this. If vendors like Acer want to offer value-priced products like my grandmother’s $569 desktop and keep the price that low by agreeing to bundle third-party software that consumers might not otherwise be inclined to install on their own, they’re absolutely free to do that. But I also feel that PC vendors should be required to disclose when they do this. It might affect a consumer’s decision to purchase a computer if she learned that she needs to spend potentially hours uninstalling demos, trials, and redundant toolbars (in addition to re-installing the appropriate non-trialware like the full version of Microsoft Office) before she can actually use the computer productively. I’m sorry, Acer, but there was absolutely no way I could leave my grandmother with that computer as it came right out of the box; it was simply unusable.
What happened to the days when unboxing a new computer was something to look forward to? Back in my retail days I was a firm believer that a customer’s opinion of a product is based primarily on her very first experience with it. I think that consumers should at least be told what they’re getting themselves into. This is exactly the sort of thing that companies like Acer should care about. We have a very mixed opinion of Acer right now. On the one hand, the hardware seems very good for the price and, now that I’ve removed over a dozen applications from it, the software seems adequate too (for a Windows PC of course). But our out-of-box experience was irreparably marred by what we saw when we first powered on that computer. Maybe it’s time that some PC vendors learned from Apple’s strategies. If you ship a computer “clean,” with no stickers to peel off and no crapware to remove, ready to work right out of the box, consumers will love it from the first moment they hold it. We love that kind of an experience. It makes us feel like we just purchased something wonderful, and when you keep offering it, we’ll keep coming back to you for it over and over again.
0 Responses to “Has Crapware Gone Too Far?”