Captain Support to the Rescue

Friend of the ‘Lab, Tim Hall (@oraclebase) posted a quick note over the weekend that caught my eye.

More PC support… | The ORACLE-BASE Blog

For me, the interesting part part is his question: “How are normal folk meant to cope with this?”

This isn’t rhetorical either. It’s a serious issue with technology. Most of us likely don’t call tech support when we have issues, but that’s only partially influenced by our own ability.

For the most part, tech support is abysmal for consumer electronics, e.g. when I hit issues with the OTA update to Android 2.2, I made that mistake.

Support at Sprint and HTC both shrugged their shoulders and suggested a factory reset.

Anyway, Captain Support may be the reluctant (or not) alter ego many of us have, but what about all the other n00bs out there who don’t have family geeks?

Find the comments.

AboutJake

a.k.a.:jkuramot

4 comments

  1. They are still running with IE6 on their Windows XP because the Windows Update was so slow ten years ago when they were on a dialup modem. Or eventually, they just go buy a new box.

    Seriously, my parents (on the other side of the world from me) pay a guy to come round and fix their problems every so often. Sometimes viruses. My Dad worked in the Sports events field and typing Asian Games in search engines didn’t always take him where he expected to go. Well, that’s his story.

  2. I suspect you’re right about disposal computers, i.e. limp along until you can’t take it anymore and buy a new one. Never mind the viruses and trojans, albeit by necessity and not by choice.

    I’ve always assumed a personal consulting gig in private IT like you mention would be a good way to start a business. There’s a huge leap in trust, since you’re doing voodoo to a machine people don’t really get. Still, I think personal outfits doing home service would do well, fitting in nicely with repair shops and the Geek Squads of the World.

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