Squid is naturally damp, hence dramatic in that state. A squib won't light properly when damp, producing a "phut" rather than a bang.

maybe if pcworld were cheaper, and had the stuff people want in stock when they want it, they might make more profit here in the uk.

/statin' the bleedin' obvious

...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damp_squib

but I can quite see how the Vista launch could be compared to the rotting corpse of a cephalopod.

... a squid won't light properly when damp, either.

-- Alex.

Is it possible the squid reference is a precursor to someone out there making a remark which includes the words "Microsoft", "Bunch", "of" and "Sharks", all in the same sentence?

If so, it won't be me.

Coud be a sales reduction. Sick squid off all PCs running Vista.

if pcworld didn't automatically rip off its customers just for entering the store it might get a few more sales. My favourite was a £250 graphics card on their website, which happily lists an in-store price of £290. They even let you collect from the store after buying online! so i can reserve it online, walk 10mins up the road and into the store, someone will wander off and pick it off the shelf for me and i've saved myself £40??

They do have some advantages though, in the past i've had a notebook hard disk die at 3ish on a sunday morning, gone onto the site and ordered a new one, and then wandered into the store as soon as they opened, a few hours later, to pick it up. Sometimes you need to get things immediately, and they are the people most likely to have what you need, even if it does cost more.

when presented with a damp squid i do tend to go "eeeugh get it away" which was exactly the same as my reaction at the Vista launch. So spot on :)

Everyone assumes the squid is damp with water.

If it's damp with petrol it will light quite well.

(Instant calamari!)

Thrusting the now flaming squid towards the rear ends of PC World shop staff may, but there's not much hope, get them to move a bit quicker.

Fluffykins' comments remind me that Windows Fister marks the point at which Micro$oft might be said to have "jumped the shark".

(Although I've been around long enough to remember DOS 4.01...)

The wages pissyworld pay are enough to turn even the most normal* person into a demotivated slow coach.

(* I am referring to the very small percentage of staff they hired that had a brain and were just down on their luck)

To be fair I did originally go to buy Vista from PC World but it was so horrendously over-priced, by an extra £80 in comparison to buying online, that I didn't bother. I questioned a member of staff about it and he responded "Yes, we're a rip off."

So true and so funny.