Sales campaigns aimed at the faltering personal computer market have

Question

Sales campaigns aimed at the faltering personal computer market have strongly emphasized ease of use, called user-friendliness. This emphasis is oddly premature and irrelevant in the eyes of most potential buyers, who are trying to address the logically prior issue of whether______

(A) user-friendliness also implies that owners can service their own computers

(B) personal computers cost more the more user-friendly they are

(C) currently available models are user-friendly enough to suit them

(D) the people promoting personal computers use them in their own homes

(E) they have enough sensible uses for a personal computer to justify the expense of buying one

AndrewN · Accepted Answer

Hello,  mSKR . In the interest of helping you and the larger community with the question, I will provide a full analysis. Since we are looking to fill in the blank, we have to make sure we follow the passage map.

Okay, so the first sentence tells us that there exists a  faltering personal computer market . In response,  sales campaigns  have focused on the  user-friendliness  of PCs.

Sentence two provides a conclusion for us, calling the campaigns  oddly premature and irrelevant  for  most potential buyers . (Judgmental language is typically a sign of a conclusion or argument.) We need to figure out the reason for such an argument.

Now, you probably know that I am not a fan of pre-thinking. We cannot predict which twists and turns the GMAT™ might throw at us, but one thing we can keep an eye on is whether the premise offered as an answer choice follows the linear logic of the passage. So, what would be a possible candidate for this  logically prior issue  mentioned just before the blank?

This may be a secondary or ancillary consideration, but I have to think that most potential PC buyers would not go in thinking about fixing issues on their new machine. A new PC, to most users, should probably not have problems at all, so  service  would not be the most fitting issue to consider, not to mention that we cannot ignore that the passage calls an emphasis on user-friendliness  irrelevant . This answer choice would suggest the direct opposite.

Hmm, now the scalability of user-friendliness comes with a price? Anyway, we see the same front-and-center focus on user-friendliness here that we saw in (A), and we can dismiss this one on the same grounds.

I should sound like a broken record by now. We should not be focusing on user-friendliness, since we cannot argue with information presented in the passage. Sure, we can call a conclusion wayward and offer reasons why in a  weaken  question, but here, the task is to provide  support  for the given argument. (C) is a reasonable real-world consideration, but a trap is a trap, and you have to watch the passage carefully to avoid falling into one. Moreover, I am not sure about this  currently available models  designation. The passage does not say anything about the campaigns touting the user-friendliness of  next-generation  PCs. Maybe inventory is overstocked and the campaigns seek to ease that burden (i.e. to sell  currently available models ). All things considered, then, we should be looking elsewhere for our answer.

There is nothing about this answer choice that holds up to scrutiny. Whether salespeople use the products they sell is not a  logically prior issue  to consider. Does a snake-oil salesman need to use snake oil for you to buy it? Typically, their spiel is to tell you how well the product works for  everyone else  (presumably people like  you ), and you get so caught up in the pitch that you buy on impulse. Whichever way you wish to spin this one, it is loosely related to the passage and does not fit our logical preface to the underlined portion.

I cannot find a single flaw to debate in this one. The soft language in  enough sensible uses  is harder to argue against than something specific or overreaching (such as  need of ). You drew attention to  the expense , but the noun is simply used synonymously with  the cost  here. That is,  the expense  should  not  be construed as  expensive , but a PC does cost something, just as other products do (even a so-called penny candy). Now, to make sure we do not lose sight of the question, does it make sense for potential PC buyers to think about whether they might actually use one, and whether they would be willing to spend money to purchase the machine? You bet. This is the best answer of the five presented, hands down, and that is why we need to choose it.

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me about it. (I had not seen this one before.)

- Andrew

KarishmaB · Answer

Sales campaigns are focusing on user-friendliness. 
This emphasis is oddly premature and irrelevant in the eyes of most potential buyers, who are trying to address the logically prior issue of whether______

The argument tells us that focus on "user-friendliness" is premature and irrelevant. That buyers are trying to address the logically "prior" issue of ....

So the issue given in the correct option comes logically before the question of "user friendliness" arrives. So the issue we are looking for has nothing to do with user-friendliness, which is mostly irrelevant.

(A) user-friendliness also implies that owners can service their own computers

This is not an issue that arises prior to "user-friendliness". This is something buyers could consider once they hear about "user-friendliness".

(B) personal computers cost more the more user-friendly they are

Same logic as (A).

(C) currently available models are user-friendly enough to suit them

Same logic as (A)

(D) the people promoting personal computers use them in their own homes

Irrelevant.

(E) they have enough sensible uses for a personal computer to justify the expense of buying one

Correct. The issue that comes prior to anything else perhaps is whether they need the PC. Do they have uses for it to justify buying it. If they find uses, then they can figure out whether it is "user-friendly" or not etc.

Answer (E)

shaselai · Answer

i think E? Well since user-friendliness is not a "concern" then that to me means the users need to "use" it first and E seems to show that the potential buyers are still deciding whether to buy one or not. B is a maybe since it could show that the potential buyers just want something cheap and thus price is a lot more important the user friendliness if cost differs as user friendliness goes up.

Economist · Answer

Between C and E. I go with E.

Not C again talks about user-friendliness. We need to find a logically prior issue...which is whether the computers are worth buying. C can be the next best choice:)

cereal255 · Answer

Agree with "E"

If people don't need to use the computer at all, there is no concern with how easy the computer is to use.

nivedita88 · Answer

between b and e i chose b but oa is e

Konstantin1983 · Answer

Conclusion says that emphasis on user-friendly is irrelevant for consumers. Hence they don't care whether computers cost more the more user-friendly they are.

eabhgoy · Answer

Since the question stem tells us that emphasis on user-friendliness is premature we can eliminate any options that use this term or refers to it. Hence A-B-C are out.

Option D is irrelevant or out of scope as it talks about sales people using personal computers or not.

Option E correctly refers to the logical question of whether the personal customer has sensible uses or not.

Hence E is the correct answer.

CEdward · Answer

Sales campaigns aimed at the faltering personal computer market have strongly emphasized ease of use, called user-friendliness. This emphasis is oddly premature and irrelevant in the eyes of most potential buyers, who are trying to address the logically prior issue of whether______

(A) user-friendliness also implies that owners can service their own computers
Nope, this wouldn't be "logically prior"

(B) personal computers cost more the more user-friendly they are

(C) currently available models are user-friendly enough to suit them
Tempting and likely the strongly contender. It really helps to understand what the passage is all about here. What are sales campaigns intended to do? They are intended to sell a product, emphasizing ease of use. But, the reality is - none of those characteristics will matter if the consumer doesn't do the one thing that a sales campaign wants - buy the product!

(D) the people promoting personal computers use them in their own homes
This is not a logically prior issue.

(E) they have enough sensible uses for a personal computer to justify the expense of buying one
Correct. "Logically prior issue" is important to understand here. Ease of use won't matter if people don't even end up buying a computer to begin with.

NikhilJose · Answer

Doesn't "potential buyers" in the question stem rule out option E??

SurajSharma · Answer

If the question is talking about the quality of the computers, then option A be the correct choice?

vasuca10 · Answer

Nopes potential buyers does not rule out Option E
Here the argument is saying that user friendliness of a computer is irrelevant and not a matter of concern to most potential buyer. This means that they are concerned with whether buying a computer at first place is their need or not? Later on they may think about user friendliness and other factors.

vasuca10 · Answer

Utility of computer is a paramount factor to most potential buyers, whether they can use it sensibly or not, then only potential buyers will think of buying I hope my explanation is clear buddy

mSKR · Answer

Hi  VeritasKarishma   AndrewN

Could you please have a look at this question.
Why can't C be answer?

it is not necesary that user freindly PCs would be expensive. I reject E on the basis of it.
I choose C because if someone is satisfied with current features , even a new model have additional features, we don't care.

please give your opinion about this question

Thanks!

Kratosgmat · Answer

the argument says "This emphasis is oddly premature and irrelevant in the eyes of most potential buyers, who are trying to address the logically prior issue of whether______"

emphasis on userfriendliness is premature and irrelevant. Hence the logical prior issue would be something other than userfriendliness Hence E

Kratosgmat · Answer

the key word here is logically prior issue. This issue must also be totally unrelated from user friendliness since the argument says its irrelevant

A - talks about user friendliness
B- talks about user friendliness
C- talks about user friendliness
D- irrelevant
E - right answer (addresses cost factor)

napolean92728 · Answer

Answer: E 
The correct answer is (E) they have enough sensible uses for a personal computer to justify the expense of buying one.

Explanation: 
The passage states that potential buyers are focused on a "logically prior issue" to user-friendliness. This suggests they're concerned with something more fundamental that needs to be addressed before ease of use becomes relevant. Option E perfectly captures this: before worrying about how easy a computer is to use, buyers first need to determine if they have sufficient meaningful uses for it to justify purchasing one at all. The question of utility and value must be answered before user-friendliness becomes a relevant consideration.

Why each other option is incorrect: 
 (A)  Self-servicing is not presented as a "logically prior" concern to user-friendliness; it's actually a secondary or related consideration to ease of use.
 (B)  While cost might be a concern, the passage doesn't suggest potential buyers are primarily concerned with the relationship between cost and user-friendliness.
 (C)  This option addresses user-friendliness itself, not a concern that logically precedes it. The passage explicitly states that user-friendliness is "premature and irrelevant" to most potential buyers.
 (D)  Whether the promoters of computers use them personally is not logically connected to the decision-making process described in the passage.
 (E)  is correct because it identifies the fundamental question that must be answered before user-friendliness becomes relevant: the basic utility and value proposition of the product.

Sales campaigns aimed at the faltering personal computer market have

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Sales campaigns aimed at the faltering personal computer market have

Prep Toolkit

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