Refers to the casual user in contrast to the professional user. Consumer products vary in quality, ranging from flimsy, inexpensive devices to very well made; however, the term implies non-professional usage. See prosumer and consumer electronics.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Copyright associations want enforcement for free
- The defender of status quo?What a tired old rant. Use technology and the law to enforce ill advised and ill gotten copyright protection.The internet has revolutionized mankind's ability to communicate and share knowledge and culture, and you want to put it under lock and key to deny mankind that benefit?How...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-05
- Antitrust charges filed against Intel
- Stepping backand seeing an AMD plant being built in close proximity to the capitol of New York Albany, seeing Cuomo follow in the footsteps of his Father Mario, does it surprise anyone that Cuomo is being this aggressive?It's a move which will certainly look good on his curriculum vitae when...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-05
- Q3 09 Canalys smartphone data shows RIM increasing 40% over 2008
- wowmatthew, call me impressed. you finally get it!"It seems that the consumer cares more for the experience and UI than the ability to customize and tweak their device."To tweak or not to tweak"It seems that the consumer cares more for the experience and UI than the ability to customize and...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-04
- CEA study finds there are six types of digital photographers
- The Consumer Electronics Association CEA says that there are six categories of digital photographers in the consumer market today. Where do you fall? by Rachel King
- Blog posts 2009-11-04
- Labels that lie, or perhaps elide a bit
- It's time for a clever cleantech company to make a home testing kit for BPA. Maybe another one could be used by groceries that are tyring to provide truth in labelling. BPA would be biphenol-A a component of some of plastics now uibiquitous in our food packaging here in America....
- Blog posts 2009-11-03
- McAfee vs. Symantec: Dueling in consumer and enterprise
- Worked for SYMC - products inadequately testedWe rearchitected stuff as it was going out the door. That experience was one more reason I eventually switched to Mac.Working for SYMCYou should have stuck around...Then you could have said to have been part of improving of the process . Just compare Norton...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-30
- In recession, VoIP makes strong case for cutting your home landline
- Tempting, but I will passI've considered VoIP several times over the years, but it usually just takes a few phone calls with a friend or relative who is using VoIP before I change my mind! Not infrequently, the conversation becomes a warbling mess. Then there are times we...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-30
- McAfee vs. Symantec: Dueling in consumer and enterprise
- The most recent quarterly reports from McAfee and Symantec highlight some trench warfare in both the enterprise and consumer markets. by Larry Dignan
- Blog posts 2009-10-30
- What's the key to Apple's success?
- One word: QUALITYA concept absent from WindowslandTDSo sad to see how Apple destroyed the word "innovation"Apple has never, ever, done anything innovative. By applying the term to blatant rebadging of 5 year old technology, you devalue the meaning of the word and insult those who actually [b]do[/b] innovate. For shame.Oh,...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-29
- Intuit enhances Quickbooks by bringing cloud apps to desktop software
- Intuit, a trusted name for some 4 million small business customers who manage their finances using the Quickbooks software, is bringing a bit of the cloud to the desktop. The company, like so many others these days, is unveiling an app store of its own and opening its API to...
- Blog posts 2009-10-27
- Times exec hints at Apple tablet
- When are people going to learn that off the record is off the recordNot open mouth insert foot.Yes, some people are excited about some new tech, but to go to some of the lengths these guys keep going to, makes me wonder.I think engadge is just in it for the...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-26
- Why Android is beating Windows Mobile
- So, the analysts have it wrong.because they do not agree with your assesment, but they have it correct when they do?That seems quite selective, but then again, it could be true. That is why when I see anaylyst that believe that Android (for as good as an operating system that...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-26
- Linux in your hand; from geeks only to consumer friendly mass market
- My first experience with mobile Linux was with a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 I bought back in 2003. It was very customizable with apps and functionality and you could change the ROM on it rather easily to fit your needs, but it also required you to spend hours and hours tweaking...
- Blog posts 2009-10-26
- Ding Dong, The Vista's DEAD!
- This Halloween, let's all celebrate what we're really feeling: The Wicked Vista is DEAD! In the United States, we've got a bunch of frivolous holidays. I've always regarded Halloween as a particularly frivolous holiday, one in which we encourage our...
- Blog posts 2009-10-24
- iFixit: Disassembling the new MacBook unibody
- Taking a lookI've one of last year's black MacBooks and have been extremely happy with it. The realignment of the laptop line, bringing back the 13" MacBook Pro and consigning the consumer MacBook to the under $1K polycarbonate model has seemed to be a good arrangement. If you're buying a...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-22
- Google's Schmidt makes enterprise app case as consumer, corporate lines blur
- His comment on cheap hardware is very interesting. Could they be planning on selling self branded Arm based netbooks running Chrome OS???RE: Google's Schmidt makes enterprise app case as consumer, corporate linesWhat is Oracle doing with all of their enterprise dominance?...hello! Can we take some risks and get this...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-21
- Toilet Tissue, Quilted Northern, 60/Carton
- Quilted Northern Goes Cheap Quilted Northern, relying on the long term customer base they established and that has the expectation of continuity, has now changed/cheapened their product. If you have old rolls compared to the newer packages the first noticeable changes are in size. To me,...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-21
- Google's Schmidt makes enterprise app case as consumer, corporate lines blur
- In a room full of chief information officers, Google CEO Eric Schmidt made his case for the search giant's enterprise products adding that the boundary between a corporate user and a consumer "is becoming less and less." Speaking at the Gartner IT Symposium 2009 in Orlando in...
- Blog posts 2009-10-21
- Dell: A few examples of what's wrong with your tech support
- The on-site tech support tech was obviously in the U.S., but ....it sounds like the "other end" of the line is somewhere half way around the planet (maybe also taking orders for "Shammy Wows") while reading off a scripted Q&A screen.Kinda like "cloud tech support"?What really hurts is that this...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-21
- Windows 95 wiped out last PC competition
- Installed only on IBMAt least, isn't that what wiped out OS/2?OS/2 was a great OS, but everyone heard about Windows through marketing and away the lemmings go. The interesting twist is that Apple's limited hardware base is still getting them more customers. Apple is starting to show up as...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-21
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