The Cutting Edge: COMPUTING / TECHNOLOGY / INNOVATION : FORUM : PC Industry and Its Bugs

The uproar over the flaw in Intel’s Pentium microprocessor has focused new attention on what many have long considered to be a major problem in the personal computer industry: an absence of product quality standards.

PC hardware and software are among the very few products of any sort in which customers are supposed to accept flaws in finished products. Computer hardware products--especially plug-in boards and other accessories--often do not work as advertised, or at least not as explained in the manual. Software programs routinely contain bugs, even after they have been on the market for months or even years.

This issue is becoming more acute now that individual consumers are beginning to rival corporations as personal computer buyers. Manufacturers have already responded in some respects, selling machines with pre-loaded software, long warranties and 800-number support.

But, as Intel’s clumsy response to the Pentium problem shows--the company declared, in effect, that it would decide who deserved a bug-free product--the industry still has a lot of work to do in understanding how to serve customers.

The Cutting Edge is interested in your thoughts on this issue. Do you think the PC industry does better or worse than other industries in maintaining consistent quality? In what specific product and service areas do you think improvements are needed? What are some things that PC hardware and software companies might do to make you a happier customer, or make you a customer in the first place?

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