Start by realizing that even at honest stores, your interests and the firms’ won’t be the same. I know of a Washington store that planned to drop the Kaypro. Despite the computer’s generally good technical reputation, the store seems to have been stuck with more than its share of lemons with disk-drive problems. But that wasn’t the real reason, apparently.
“We’re moving out of the lower-priced equipment into systems where we can make a bigger profit,” explained a store employee. “We’re not in this for charity. We’ve got to make a living.”
Understandable. But don’t count on a store like that to sell you the least expensive machine for your needs.
You can also protect yourself by considering the right questions—some of which appear below:
ONE
Do you need a computer? Are you prepared to fire the humans the machine might replace? Remember, a computer can’t make coffee or lie about your whereabouts when you may face an angry customer. Of course, your business may be expanding so that this isn’t an issue.
TWO
Do you have the temperament for the device? A willingness to struggle with mechanical and human frailty—including your own?
THREE
Are you prepared[prepared] to do your homework? You can’t avoid some preparation. It’s dangerous to dump the whole chore in the lap of a consultant who, however good, doesn’t know your business as well as you do.