Sarasota PC Monitor
Get to Know our Advertisers (11/02)
Discount Computers
by PeteTheisen, Assistant Editor
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.PC Monitor readers have often seen the Discount Computers, Inc. advertisement, and are no doubt familiar with the deals offered there, but what about the people behind the ad? This is something we have never looked at on these pages before.
Doug Manning describes himself as a computer orientated person. Doug grew up in Sarasota and his Father, Mother and several extended family members are local folks. He recalls completing the syllabus of each computer course at Sarasota High School in the first week of school and then either becoming the teacher's assistant or learning extra material on his own and then teaching that extra material to the teacher. The extra material was such a subject as Pascal. But Doug didn't want to be a computer guy when he "grew up"; he wanted to be an aircraft pilot. He didn't do that because he was too tall to fit into the cockpit of the planes. Bored with non-computer MCC college courses, Doug became a computer professional.
Doug lettered in swimming in high school and competed in the State competition, and he likes to swim, boat and fish. He is also a stargazer, and his house brand, "Orion", is named for a galaxy of stars called the "Orion Nebula".
Joining Doug at Discount Computers, Inc. is his wife, Amelia. She writes: "I was born in England and came to Florida in 1981. I am married to Doug; we both own the store, which was opened in March 1989. We have a dog Oscar, and 2 cats (Minky and Max). I like boating, sailing, computers, diving, and reading. I am the purchaser for our store, Discount Computers, Inc, and I also do some accounting work. One of the things I love about my job is watching a beginner to computers buy a computer from us, and because we give lifetime free classes when they get the computer, you see the customers learn so much and become really knowledgeable and confident in using their computers."
A veteran of 7 1/2 years at Discount Computers, Adam Saah is a hometown Sarasota person. His mother and father are here in town as is his wife, "Tonya". They have a Cairn terrier named "Milo" and a cat named "Jasper". You can meet Adam and see Milo in the store quite often by dropping in at Discount Computers. Adam plays the guitar as a hobby and he also enjoys water sports.
Adam is an expert on scripting languages, and told me many interesting tidbits about them, and he also told me the absolutely correct pronunciation of "Linux". Say "Lynn" like the name "Lynn", and "ucks" as in the verb "tucks" (she tucks the baby into bed). Linus Torvolds, the creator of "Linux", pronounces it that way, so that's the way it is pronounced. Adam has several servers at Discount Computers set up on Linux and has run a Linux computer 556 days continuously without a reboot. It would have gone longer but the power supply failed.
Mark Evans does sales and light technical work at Discount Computers, Inc. A graduate of Riverview High School, Mark enjoys jet skiing and racing. He also does artwork, both with paint and brush and in computer graphics. Mark worked in Auto Body Repair, Pharmaceuticals and was a Broiler Cook in previous vocations. He and his wife, Kelly, have a dog "Hunter" and two cats, "Loki" and "Mooch". Mark has his Mom, Dad and a brother here in Sarasota.
Matt Ronkko, the software instructor at Discount Computers, Inc., never attended college as a student but taught college classes in English at the Northern Savo Polytechnic Institute! How do you like that? Mark taught himself English as a second grader in Pyhasalmi, Finland by playing English language adventure games and watching satellite TV. Matt received his first computer, an Aquarius model, when he was four. Matt is blessed with the ability to figure out computer programs "on the fly" and can teach any programs except accounting programs. Matt's wife, Holly, is from Texas and his Mom and Dad still live in Finland. In addition to instructing, Matt also loads software onto customers' computers and checks them out to make sure they are running perfectly. He also sets up networks.
The ambiance of Discount Computers, Inc. is eclectic. I have to marvel at the quantity and diversity of merchandise on hand as well as the hot stuff on display. They have CNN up and running on one computer, games on another, applications on still another to say nothing of the broadband Internet connections. If you have never been there, well, go ahead and have a look. Pay special attention to the room divider between the sales area and the technical area, as this is remarkably innovative.
Copyright 2002. This article is from the November 2002 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/
The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,600+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.
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