On Monday, December 23 1996, Russell Brooks wrote to John Piper ...

 RB> Far as I am concerned bundling software (that is garbage, anyway) with
 RB> modems is a big scam to lower the tax on the hardware. (that is its only
 RB> benefit (if you could call it that)

People like you and I buy modems for use with our EXISTING software. We've
also owned and used other modems before. As an example, consider a new
modem owner. They have no software, probably no experience, and (safe to
assume) very little knowledge.

If a decent number of modem newbies planned on accessing BBSs and other
online systems (not necessarily ISPs offering PPP & SLIP access),
having some form of terminal software (be it good, bad or indifferent) is a
definite bonus.

Of course, the fact that any bundled software lowers tax on modems is a
bonus for you and I .

 RB> The 14% or so tax should apply to all computers and components, because
 RB> computers (like modems and multimedia systems) cant work WITHOUT SOFTWARE.

I wonder if BIOSs and whatnot could be considered software. The firmware in
modems, motherboards and other hardware is still esentially software. I
wonder whether or not that is overlooked.

John (japp{at}mpx.com.au)

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