We've all seen the new graphic tactic - take a piece of old equipment and name it SuperCard 2010 GReAT, and people will buy it like there's no tomorrow. Even more so, the new card, although it's not better than the old card, sells way better only because the number in its name is higher. Now, we invented numbers, how come we get so easily fooled by them?

Nvidia has done it with their "new" 9300 GS, 9400 GT, 9600 GSO (8800 GS), and 9800 GT/GTX+ (all of them G92 rebrands), and ATI is no stranger to the higher-number-better-sales tactics either, although they planned on some rebranding of their own until they decided they’ll only do it in certain regions and they dropped it completely. So why would we fall for that, you ask?

The practice is as follows – if you still have batches of your chips by the time the new generation is here, just slap on a new name, sell it to the OEMs and watch the cash trickle into your pocket. You can be sure it seriously trickles, what with the new fancy name and all. You know if I didn’t know better, I’d simply say that it’s the customers that are at fault, as my experience has shown that most people don't know that much about the tech stuff they buy.

However, not everyone can bother with keeping track of the numbers, as some actually do have a life, and these companies not only know it, but count on it. But what if we looked a bit closer? Doesn't it seem that they simply capitalize on confusion and lack of knowledge?

At the same time the rebranding tactic shows a signs of a weak roadmap and a strong competition and you can be sure that if a company would have a new chip it wouldn't simply reuse its old chip and rebrand it. This is also an important piece of the puzzle.

I’d say that this is probably the easiest way to build a sleazy reputation for a company, as many enthusiasts are simply disgusted by such tactics. On the other hand, it’s the unsuspecting non-experienced end-users that pay the price, and who are we to deny these companies their cash inflow?

What are we supposed to think, then? That we're best when we're confused? That would, in turn, mean that enthusiasts are simply a nuisance for these companies, especially if they don't bother buying the priciest new cards. It all boils down to money, and damn these companies if they don't squeeze some more from their “noob” customers.

The thing is, we've done pretty good for one race – you know, the wheel,  flying, medicine, Angelina Jolie, only to be fooled into buying something that has a higher number. Yes, we have thrown a couple of atom bombs here and there, and on many occasions caused massive death and destruction, but a glance at Angelina will take most westerners' minds off of that. And on that note, I’m going to look at a couple of posters – now where’s my new-old rebranded card?