C:\Documents and Settings\Utter Despair

Consumer Reports (June ’13) dropped this little factoid into the middle of an article on securing one’s smartphone:

Software infections and scams still ravage home computers. Our survey suggests that 3.4 million users had to replace a computer last year because of infections.

Holy flurking schnitt.

What I want to know is this: How many of those 3.4 million users, after first attempting to disinfect a machine — which admittedly takes time and effort — simply said “Fark it, I’m buying a new one?” And does that truly count as “had to”?

(Note: Yes, it’s a Windows-related string up there. As Apple fanbois will happily inform us all, nobody attacks Macs.)

Stolen entire from Dustbury. If you are making $100K a year, which, near as I can tell, is a mediocre professional salary these days, it will take you one day to earn enough money to buy a new laptop. I suspect many cubicle drones like to do something else in their time off besides fool with computers. I will further bet that most of them did not even attempt to disinfect their machine. Therefor I am surprised that the number of replacements is only 3.4 million and not 3.4 billion.