As sales manager at the Consumers Computer Exchange in Houston, Paul Dulworth is intimately familiar with the latest and greatest technology. Dulworth is a member of a growing market phenomenon that has stunned many in the consumer industry. But that's all changed over the last year with major players such as Compaq Computer Corp. and IBM offering products that have major bang for the smaller buck. Almost overnight, this market is one of the fastest-growing segments in the retail PC industry.
Some analysts see that percentage going even higher.
But studies show the market is also pulling in people who have so far ignored the computer revolution. And not just buyers are benefiting. Some 41 percent of the firm's low-end sales are to new buyers. This time, the killer app is the Internet. We've gone from a 100MHz system to a 200MHz system with bigger and bigger hard drives.