"David Eduardo" wrote in message
t...

A parallel would be the number of people who in the mid to late 80's into
the 90's built their own computers. There were parts places all over,
magazines filled with ads for cases and fans.... now there is nearly
nothing.


You're kidding, right? Those ads are everywhere. There are probably at least
as many people building their own computers now as there are buying
pre-built ones. In our house, there are exactly three pre-built desktop
machines (old Gateway minisystems I bought for next to nothing to use as
streaming machines). The other 6 desktop machines (mostly towers) are built
from discrete parts chosen for their particular merits. This is done by most
anyone into serious computing. Those that buy machines off the shelf are
usually doing so just to access e-mail and do a bit of web surfing.