Portrait of a company going down the tubes

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
10/17/2019 at 13:21 • Filed to: How to lose money the cheapskate way.

Almost two years ago now, my wife quit her job of about 12 years to stay home with our children. She never thought she’d be a stay at home mom, but things at our daycare had turned bad, and things at her company had turned worse. The company was ... well, still is, for now... a previously very successful family run company, that had been swirling down the drain for a while when she quit. Honestly, she stayed longer than she should have at that place, because she loved a lot of her coworkers. Many of whom she is still in close regular contact with.

This is the “new” computer that one of her former coworkers just received .

Now, this should be embarrassing for a company to give to a low level administrator. The person who was given this machine is a 3D sculptor. An incredibly talented one at that.

This, my friends, is the epitome of penny smart, dollar stupid.

When my wife quit, I gave them 3-5 years before they were out of business. I’m feeling like that prediction was pretty spot-on.

DISCUSSION (52)

For Sweden > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:33

Does she work for Nibby

Boxer_4 > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:34

I’ll be honest, I miss Windows 2000...

That is embarrassing though.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:38

Nibby bait.

“ On January 4th, 2000 , at CES, Bill Gates announced the new version of Windows CE will be called Pocket PC. Microsoft Windows 2000 was released on February 17, 2000 . Microsoft Windows ME (Millennium) was released on June 19, 2000 .”

I would look at my boss, and say I quite in the first hour of work.

For Sweden > Boxer_4
10/17/2019 at 13:38

Windows NT was the last good OS

Thomas Donohue > For Sweden
10/17/2019 at 13:41

Windows NT was the last good Windows OS.

thejustache > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:41

Ouch. I work for a small (15 or so person) software company that is stable but has a pretty minimal cash flow. I definitely get the ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ feeling but haven’t seen anything nearly that bad or I would have been out the door yesterday in a heartbeat. That’s pretty sad

Nibby > For Sweden
10/17/2019 at 13:41

i cannot divulge employee details

Nibby > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:42

unless he’s 3D modeling for N64 era stuff he’s gonna have a hard time... curious what the hardware specs are on that machine

Snuze: Needs another Swede > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:42

Windows 2000 is best Windows.

Tripper > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:44

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!

OPPOsaurus WRX > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:44

just reading the title i thought you were talking about Microsoft.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:47

You know they should make a windows mi l len nial edition to replace windows 10.

Kinja'd!!!

For Sweden > Thomas Donohue
10/17/2019 at 13:48

Also it was the last good OS

Chariotoflove > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:49

It must have taken some effort to even find a working copy.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:53

This makes me feel only slightly less bad about the university library upgrading us to 3rd gen Core I5 machines only this year .

Aremmes > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 13:56

Do modern video cards even come with drivers for Windows 2000? I don't know how a professional 3D sculptor could even thrive making do with an ATI Rage 128.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > For Sweden
10/17/2019 at 13:58

Iunno, Peppermint Linux is pretty "fleek", as the kids say.

For Sweden > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
10/17/2019 at 14:01

I said what I said

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > For Sweden
10/17/2019 at 14:06

So did Trump, but that doesn't make him correct

facw > For Sweden
10/17/2019 at 14:17

Everyone knows Windows for Workgroups was the real winner. Or maybe... Bob.

facw > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 14:19

That’s embarrassing. I have no idea what that’s running, but I don’t see any scenario where you couldn’t buy a better machine for less than $300. If your employer can’t spend that much to keep their employees productive, happy, and secure, I wouldn’t count on paychecks clearing either.

For Sweden > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
10/17/2019 at 14:24

He seems like an iPadOS guy

kanadanmajava1 > Boxer_4
10/17/2019 at 14:27

Same here. I used to be pretty good at messing with those. I built and configured many machines to myself and my friends. I loved the feeling of having a fresh Windows 98/2000/XP machine with all drivers installed and zero amount of unnecessary crap running in the background.

Since Windows 7 arrived I haven’t bothered much. Now it’s just updates and more updates.

And where did the Hyperterminal go? It’s was ~4 00kB software that should fit quite well inside any harddrive. My example Windows 7 install takes ~50GB of space so I guess there’s no room for this tiny useful program.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 14:36

My god, that computer is worth what? $40? And that’s regardless of the hardware in it. The resolution is so low you’d still be able to pick out pixels easily.

ranwhenparked > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 14:59

I remember 6-7 years ago, I was working for a larger nonprofit, but got a crap assignment to keep me busy for the summer “slow season” managing a decrepit facility we were leasing from someone else. The offices there were like a museum of vintage computers. To prove the point, when my boss asked for a payroll study, I saved it on a floppy disk from a new wrapped package I found in my desk and handed it to him when he came to visit, since the internet connection was so spotty. He asked what the f*uck I expected him to do with that, and within a few days, we all had new laptops.

Future next gen S2000 owner > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 15:26

I’m surprised that is even capable of running any modern 3d software.

dieseldub > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 16:01

Man, I used to really like Win2k. Seemed faster and more stable than any of the DOS-based consumer level stuff I was used to (95 and 98SE) at the time.

Had some compatibility issues with some programs meant for 95 and 98, but there was a compatibility layer you could engage that would usually fix that.

Then XP came out... which was a fancier, reskinned 2000. I seriously do have some good memories of using 2000. But jesus, it’s 20 years old!

smobgirl > ranwhenparked
10/17/2019 at 16:13

That is amazing.

wkiernan > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 16:21

Are they planning on ever hooking that thing up to the internet? You definitely can’t get any modern version of a web browser that runs in Win2K. I’ll bet you can’t even get up-to-date antivirus software for that OS. And if any of the 15 year old parts on that box finally fails, they’re going to have a hard time getting it fixed.

Do you suppose they have some irreplaceable antique custom software that won’t run on any later version? I’ve heard of stuff like that; for example, supposedly McLaren has to keep an MS-DOS box in running order to run their “bespoke” diagnostic program for the F1. I can’t think of any other reason to keep an obsolete, damn-near unfixable computer running. It would actually be cheaper to buy the cheapest available bargain-basement model at Best Buy or Walmart.

shop-teacher > For Sweden
10/17/2019 at 16:33

I think Nibby could run that place a hell of a lot better.

shop-teacher > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
10/17/2019 at 16:35

Replacement jobs in this particular industry aren’t the easiest to come by.

Thomas Donohue > For Sweden
10/17/2019 at 16:36

Agreed. I think OS X had him confused as to where to start. Tablet is better.

Kinja'd!!!

shop-teacher > ranwhenparked
10/17/2019 at 16:36

Bwahahaha!

shop-teacher > Nibby
10/17/2019 at 16:36

No idea.

shop-teacher > wkiernan
10/17/2019 at 16:37

No, no crazy old custom software or anything like that. This company pays thousands a month for crazy high speed internet, but my wife used to have to delete art work she made for them regularly, because their server had less space on it than some hard drives have on them now.

shop-teacher > dieseldub
10/17/2019 at 16:38

Yeah, it’s crazy that they still have this thing around, let alone that they just depl oyed it.

shop-teacher > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
10/17/2019 at 16:39

This company never ceased to amaze me in their ability to continually do the dumbest things ever.

shop-teacher > Aremmes
10/17/2019 at 16:39

I have no idea.

shop-teacher > thejustache
10/17/2019 at 16:41

Replacement jobs in this particular industry are not easy to come by. Many people in this company have been let go. I’m sure by now my wife would be out of a job, if she hadn’t already quit.

shop-teacher > facw
10/17/2019 at 16:41

I think this coworkers plan is to ride this one into the ground. Many people have been let go, but the owners are still flush with cash, so no paychecks have bounced.

shop-teacher > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/17/2019 at 16:41

Understandable.

shop-teacher > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
10/17/2019 at 16:42

LOL!

shop-teacher > Chariotoflove
10/17/2019 at 16:42

I don’t know what crypt they dug it out of.

shop-teacher > Future next gen S2000 owner
10/17/2019 at 16:42

I am too.

shop-teacher > Tripper
10/17/2019 at 16:43

Yeah. This is his “ NEW” compu ter. Got it last month.

Chariotoflove > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 16:44

Microsoft’s director of software archives:

Kinja'd!!!

Kanaric > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 16:52

In 2007 I worked at a company with Windows 98 still and using DOS Fox Pro and had a 386 server for managing their phones and I thought that was bad.

This would be like if we gave that 386 as a desktop to a person,wow.

That company I worked for also had no proper firewall setup, no net-admins, and their email server and databases were basically owned by chinese hackers. All their customer data, including credit card information and others, for sure was stolen. Somehow in 2019 they still are in business.

The owner of that company was a psychopath as well.

shop-teacher > Kanaric
10/17/2019 at 16:56

WOW!

Tripper > shop-teacher
10/17/2019 at 17:14

And I’m to understand he does DESIGN work with that!? I’m on the opposite end of the universe over here, sitting on a pile barely used $2k laptops because the big guys like new things and we’re growing so quickly.

shop-teacher > Tripper
10/17/2019 at 19:07

Yeah. Design. 3D sculpting.

Batshitcrazypants.

atfsgeoff > shop-teacher
10/21/2019 at 04:27

Say what you will , Win2k was goddamn amazing.

shop-teacher > atfsgeoff
10/21/2019 at 07:02

Amazing enough that a professional 3D sculptor should be given it as his “new” work computer in 2019 though?