--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Given the volume of PC sales and the way…" description: "\"Given the volume of PC sales and the way McAfee runs its operation, I imagine there must be thousands of phantom subscribers - folks who signed up once..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/barton-gellman-3126_behind_given-the-volume-of-pc-sales-and-the-way_2777218.jpg" --- # Given the volume of PC sales and the way McAfee runs its… ![“Given the volume of PC sales and the way McAfee runs its operation, I imagine there must be thousands of phantom subscribers - folks who signed up once upon a time and left the software behind two or three computers ago.” quote by Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/barton-gellman-3126_behind_given-the-volume-of-pc-sales-and-the-way_2777218.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/barton-gellman-3126_behind_given-the-volume-of-pc-sales-and-the-way_2777218.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/barton-gellman-3126_behind_given-the-volume-of-pc-sales-and-the-way_2777218.jpg) > “Given the volume of PC sales and the way McAfee runs its operation, I imagine there must be thousands of phantom subscribers - folks who signed up once upon a time and left the software behind two or three computers ago.” [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Large software ecosystems generate many inactive (“phantom”) users, inflating metrics. **In simple terms:** Phantom users skew data. Key Takeaway Validate user data. Themes technology security data integrity marketing Mood analytical concerned Type technical business When to use this quote - software licensing - subscription services - analytics Key Concepts information systems cybersecurity Questions to Reflect On - How do phantom users affect business decisions? - What methods can clean data? A Different Perspective Phantom users may hide security risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Phantom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phantom/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sales/) [Software](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/software/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“A lot of the machines that Google is built on—commodity is the polite word for them—they're regular PCs and so they're not always the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-livingston/a-lot-of-the-machines-that-google-is-built-on-commodity-is-the-polite/) [Jessica Livingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-livingston/) > [Both VisiCalc and MultiPlan were available when the IBM PC shipped in October 1981. 1-2-3 didn't hit the market until January 1983.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-kapor/both-visicalc-and-multiplan-were-available-when-the-ibm-pc-shipped-in/) [Mitch Kapor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-kapor/) > [Tablets are more intuitive than a PC or laptop. 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What you think of as the traditional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dell/computing-shows-up-in-many-different-ways-you-have-computing-that-you/) [Michael Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dell/) > [In my humble opinion, the PC as we have known it is in a continuous decline and being relegated to a utility device for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-ruiz/in-my-humble-opinion-the-pc-as-we-have-known-it-is-in-a-continuous/) [Hector Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-ruiz/) > [I do as much debugging as possible on the Mac, but I occasionally must debug problems in the PC world, which is significantly slower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-patterson/i-do-as-much-debugging-as-possible-on-the-mac-but-i-occasionally-must/) [Robert Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-patterson/) ## More by Barton Gellman > [On March 12, 2004, acting attorney general James B. Comey and the Justice Department's top leadership reached the brink of resignation over electronic surveillance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/on-march-12-2004-acting-attorney-general-james-b-comey-and-the/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/for-political-and-bureaucratic-reasons-governments-at-all-levels-are/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [Searches of al Qaeda sites in Afghanistan, undertaken since American-backed forces took control there, are not known to have turned up a significant cache…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/searches-of-al-qaeda-sites-in-afghanistan-undertaken-since-american/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [I don't think Cheney started off in 2000 with a burning desire to become vice-president. 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