What Do You Know About Software And Hardware Makers?

Yet another alternative for buying hardware and software is going straight to the product market. Hardware companies such as IBM and Compaq manufacture many of the components going into their PCs, whereas companies such as Dell and Gateway merely assemble components made by others into finished PCs. Most PC companies today sell directly to the public, either through advertisements in computer journals or tough their Websites. Many of these companies do not maintain finished inventories of computers; they build each system to suit the buyer's tastes as they receive each order. Consumers enjoy the advantage of ordering exactly the computer systems they want from a single source including free support and service for a limited period of time. Whether or not they make their own component parts, companies that put their own brand names on hardware devices such as computer systems and peripheral devices and sell the hardware directly to the public are called direct manufactures. Many software manufactures or software publisher also sell directly to the public. Buyers generally reach publishers through toll-free umbers that appear in journal advertisements and through the publisher's Web site. Many software publishers will also let you download copies of their products over the internet for trial purposes.