this happened circa 1999
The following altercation reminds me of the movie Spinal Tap when they are talking about the special amplifier that goes to 11. I overheard this exchange at the local Computer City and I have to say they train their people well. I got ROTFL but the clerk played the best straight man since Bud Abbott.
Large Offish Customer In Incredibly Tacky Clothes (LOCIITC): Look, I’m not a stupid guy so don’t try to sell me something I don’t need.
Clerk: Yes Sir, we’re just here to help.
LOCIITC: Ok, so I heard that the odd numbered processors are faster so that’s what I want. One of the odd numbered ones with lots of RAM. I want at least 40 gigs of RAM.
Clerk: Hmmm. The odd numbered processors, yes they are faster. I assume then you want a Pentium III. Let me show you this HP unit. It has…
LOCIITC: No! No! No! Look, I told you I’m not stupid! I want one of those odd numbered processors, not that 600 one in that HP. The 533 is an odd number so everyone knows it’s faster. That means it’s better than the 500 or the 600, cause it’s an odd number. Look, you always have to buy the odd numbered ones cause they come after the even ones and that’s when you know they got it right. Besides, this 533 is a Celeron which is a lot better than the Pentium anyway.
Clerk: Err, yes sir I completely agree. The odd numbered units are always faster than the even numbered ones. And, you’ll notice that they are considerably less expensive than the Pentium III systems. This is probably due to the manufacturing efficiencies that they were able to achieve by going to odd numbering processor manufacturing processes. Here, let me show you this emachine. It has an odd numbered processor and has 40 gigs of RAM….
LOCIITC: Now that’s more like it.
Moral #1: Never start a sentence with “Look, I’m not a stupid guy”
Moral #2: Life is more fun when the customer is always right.