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Unless
we're techies (and even then...) most of us are lost when it
comes to the intricacies of the technology that underpins most
of the tools we use everyday.
Assumptions
On
the job, where IT is part of the package, we always assume
somebody will be there whose job it is to take care of the
problems. At home (or in a SOHO environnement) it's
different. When a problem arises, the whole thing becomes
pretty emotional. Worry sets in, the next door computer whiz
kid (or son, or brother in my case) is called to the rescue.
Or you call tech support from whoever sold you whatever
doesn't work. Which is where the nightmare begins. Because
most IT or software vendors (or ISPs) don't really care, and
the poor folks on the phone aren't up to it.
This
situation is bound to get worse as technology gets more
complicated. Bill Gates says he is going to make things easier
for us : but to make things easier to use, one has to
complicate the underlying technology : so when it goes down,
there's really nothing anybody can do about it. Well, sort of.
Don't
expect too much...
However,
from a consumer's perspective, one would assume that vendors
(or service providers) should provide the appropriate
(effective) level of support when something goes wrong. The
idea being that you've paid for that support when you bought
the box. But that would be too simple ...
As
it turns out, calls to tech support lines always (well, 9
times out of ten) turn out to be frustrating experiences,
boiling down to "Now that we have ticked all the boxes in
the manual, please switch the machine off - or reinstall the
software". Great. I hate paying 30 cents a minute to help
an incompetent (and not always friendly) young person try to
help me deal with a situation they don't understand and have
no (real) idea how to put right. Don't you ?
Why
?
I
can see two reasons for this state of fact.
Firstly,
an "inception" problem. New product managers are
usually being held hostage by the techies who devise the
tools. Marketing people come up with a concept, and they write
a set of specifications. Then, techies take over and start
working away - their way, which doesn't involve taking into
account how 'real' people (read 'non-technically minded',
average you an me) will actually interact with those tools.
When the product is tested, things aren't usually right - I
mean from a non-techie point of view. But it is too late to
make any significant changes, and/or it would cost too much
money. So product managers go along, hoping that marketing and
tech support will alleviate the problems in the end. Usually,
it doesn't work that way, though.
Then
a hard business reason : vendors make their money selling the
box. Their margin is in that box : so one shouldn't expect
them to invest too much money in after sale service - well,
that's what a senior Compaq UK marketing person (in charge of
tech support...) told me, and it makes sense...
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