Computer Or Data

[landbeforetimelover]

I'd definitely have to say my data is more important than my actual computer.  I mean, hardware is replaceable.  Oftentimes, files are not, especially the ones I create myself.  What about you?

[lbt/cty_lover]

I agree. I can live without a computer as long as I have my data stored on an external hard disk. If I lose my data, I would probably go insane.

[Kor]

with some data one may find it hard to do a lot with, but with a computer some lost data could be recovered, found or eventually replaced.  

Also, to me at least, computers are rather a lot more then data.  Though I keep some of mine on an external hard drive, & on disks.

[Amaranthine]

Same here LBTlover. The computer is sort of like a person. It's not the physical appearance that makes the person, it's what's inside that counts. The data, which is what the computer is made up of, I think is important. That's how I look at it anyway.

If I lose my data, I would probably go insane.

This unforunately happened to me recently. I for some reason lost all of the data, the hardware crashed and the people at Apple gave me a new hard ware because they just couldn't save any of the information. It was sad to see the data go and now I have to upload everything again, but I was soooooo happy I got my computer back. Call me weird, but I didn't go insane. I basically thought, "Well, maybe I do have to restart everything again, but I sort of like that feeling. Just restarting anew."

[landbeforetimelover]

Well that explains it.  If you have a mac, you have to REALLY know what you're doing otherwise you probably won't even have any files. I'll let y'all in on a little secret.  I don't even have 1 file that is only accessible by a mac computer. Macs are pretty much useless for what I need a computer for.

[action9000]

Simple: Computers are replacable by throwing money at them.  Data is priceless.  If I had to lose one or the other, I'd much rather lose the one I could work for awhile to replace.

[Amaranthine]

I kept wondering why some people didn't like macs. I just thought they were the greatest things human kind has ever made...but now that I experienced that...now I see why some people just don't like them

[landbeforetimelover]

I dislike macs because:

1.  They're expensive
2.  They have limited programs and the programs they do have, although they're good, are HUNDREDS of dollars
3.  You can't hack with them
4.  Limited freedom
5.  I just don't like the mac os design very much

Maybe if macs were a lot cheaper than PCs, I'd like them more but when they can't even do as much as a PC and they cost two and three times as much.....well that's when I have a problem.

[action9000]

yet I would do quite a bit for a high-end Mac Pro! :

It all depends what you do.  Media producers thrive on Macs, as do the majority of people who don't use their computer for much beyond internet/mail.  Why?  No worries about anti-virus and that sort of stuff. B)   Macs are like.."easy mode" for computer users. If it does what you need, it's the safest, easiest way to get on the road without having a high-maitenence system being a pain.  

That is getting a bit off-topic though.  Computer or data?  Unless money is a serious issue and the data on your computer is all replacable, I'd say data wins every time.

[landbeforetimelover]

It all depends.  I have a computer that's worth well over $2000.  I'd be willing to trade some of my data in exchange for it not blowing up, but certainly not all of it.  It really depends on how much data is stored on your computer.

Media producers thrive on Macs

You got that right.  I use a mac with a 2.4ghz core 2 duo processor, 2gb of ram, and a 320gb hard disk just for video editing.  That's about all they're good for though.  Besides, I just load mac os onto a PC if I want power.  PC's are a heck of a lot cheaper, that's for sure!

[Mumbling]

My choice would be computer. I wouldn't mind losing my data unless someone else gets hurt with it. Maybe this will change over time. But for now, living in a family home, everyone makes pictures and stuff so I'm not the only one saving them. For the rest I've got no special stuff on it except for music. Rest is saved online somewhere.

[NeptuneNavigator2001]

In lieu of my recent absence from GOF, well, enough of that for now...  Definitely data...  Computers are a dime a dozen as far as I'm concerned...  But data, well, sometimes you can't get irreplaceable things back.

[Malte279]

Also data. I would not, for example want to risk loosing all my emails, pictures, or my university stuff. Computers are expensive to replace while some data are impossible to replace at all. Computers have a price while some data are priceless as the worth attached to them is one that is measured in different terms than money.

[Petrie.]

I can get another computer...all the data stored on it (some of it for work) is irreplacable, or would take oodles of time to recreate.  There's a reason I have about four backups of all my work stuff.

[Vaan360]

Also data. I would really go insane if i lost all my data.
I¥m saving most of my stuff online like Mumbling, but sometimes I¥m to lazy to do that and that alredy cost me ,I alredy lost all my data once, and I really don¥t want that to happen again. <_<
But lots of dvd¥s also help, especially for animes episodes, which i have a lot.

[DarkHououmon]

3.  You can't hack with them

How is that a bad thing?

[Amaranthine]

Supposedly, there is a difference between hackers and the destroyer conterparts, "crackers". Hackers are people that create things on the computer, for the computer, so they're the real masterminds. A cracker is someone that just destroys everything.

Now I could be completely wrong here, but I read something about hackers and to my understanding, that's what it's about. I'm not trying to justify hacking or anything, but I suppose if I read more about it, I could see from LBTlover's pov what is so "great" about it.

[landbeforetimelover]

Hackers are people who bend the "rules" of computers to meet their needs AND the needs of others without intentionally hurting anyone.  Hacking is a very good skill to have.

Crackers on the other hand are lazy b******* that don't want to do anything but force their way into computer systems solely for personal gain with no regard for anyone but themselves.  They're the ones who go to jail for "hacking".  Hacking is totally legal.  Cracking is not.  I don't know why the term "hacker" got associated with a bad thing, but it has.  Hackers are not bad.  It's the crackers that are the bad guys you need to watch out for.  

Crackers tend to learn only what they need to know in order to compromise any security system, but fail to learn the basics or what needs to be learned to do it with stealth.  Hackers don't often turn bad.  Crackers only purpose in life is to get what they can and screw everyone else.  They are horrible narcissistic people that should be in prison.

[DarkHououmon]

I never heard the term "cracker" before. I've only heard of hackers, and from what I hear about them, a hacker is someone who invades something, a computer or a website, and can change things in it. So technically, cracker and hacker are the same thing based on what I remember, and whether a hacker is "good" or "bad" depends on their morals and what they use their hacking skills for.

But again, this is just based on what I learned over the years. This is one of the very few times I heard anyone say that hackers were "good".

[landbeforetimelover]

Well, this is getting a little off topic.  Thank you DH.  You've inspired me to create a new topic.  Let's get back to the matter at hand that this topic was about now.