Computers are a lot like cars. They both cost quite a bit of money. You can't judge a car's total performance by looking at just its engine just like you can't do the same thing with processors. Both are very complicated.

There are car and computer afficionados/experts. The majority of people know little about neither -- they actually trust someone to give them the straight goods.

So when these people go to buy a PC, they can easily be mislead. They don't know what they want. I mean, they want a PC -- but do they need 6 PCI slots? "What's a PCI?". Yeah, exactly.

So the major assemblers (I hestitate to call them manufacturers) put all of the right things in a nice pretty box and then sell it like a toaster. The only problem is, you may not be able to add two more bread slots if your mother-in-law comes to visit for an extended period of time.

I can't blame the assemblers for trying though. The PC market grew like wildfire because of the Internet. Now people are surfing the net with their 2 year-old toasters wondering "can I get an upgrade on this thing or not?".

Of course they can't. They bought a crap motherboard, integrated sound and a case they can't open without voiding the warrantee. So who do we blame for consumer ignorance? Them or the companies profiting from them?