On Sunday, October 31, 1999, Thomas Fernandez wrote:
MDP>> Very true! Computers are not the source of frustration. It is an
MDP>> individual's own ineptitude that provides it.
> You are both right, but still I am human and I get frustrated when the
> programme does something else than I want it to do. See my other mail.
A user upgrades to Windows 98, carefully following all the instructions.
All seems to go well. But he finds later, when rushed to get a report
done that he brought home from the office, that his word processor keeps
crashing with a very helpful error message about modules and registers
and stack dumps that may or may not actually point to the source of the
problem. His report is late and he spends the next week trying to figure
out what the problem is. He checks the Web sites of the software
companies and finds nothing that specifically addresses his problem, but
tries a few things that don't help. He downloads 4000+ posts from a
users news group. After a couple of hours of sifting through the posts,
he finds other users with the same problem, who have discovered on their
own that the Windows 98 upgrade replaced some system dll with a version
dating from the early days of WIN95.
A user installs a small software program to help keep track of things to
do that was recommended in a review she read, following all the
instructions carefully and even using an uninstaller program. Everything
seems fine and she likes the program, but then her e-mail program
suddenly develops problems. She e-mails support for the e-mail software
company, who can only suggest reinstalling it. She does, first
reinstalling over the existing installation, then uninstalling with her
uninstaller and trying to clean out every trace of the program. It
doesn't help. Then, being a bit more savvy than many users, she recalls
that the problem started after she installed the other program. She
e-mails support for that company. The developer replies, as it's a 2-man
shop, and is very nice, but says he hasn't had any problems like this
reported and he's not familiar with her e-mail program. She uninstalls
the program, but her e-mail program still has problems. She re-installs
the e-mail program to no avail. Finally, as a last resort, she spends a
weekend wiping her hard drive and reinstalling all her software. The
e-mail program works. Was it the little software program? Who knows?
An office spends over $4,000 for a new laser network printer, which is
installed by experienced systems staff. They run a couple test prints;
all seems well. But, the staff then discover all sorts of printing
anomalies when printing simple word processing documents. The printer
company and the software company point fingers at each other. The only
solution found is to use old printer drivers, which make unavailable the
nice, new features that were among the reasons that the office bought
the expensive printer in the first place.
A user is installing some software upgrade from a major software company
that deals with DUN connections. She is confronted with an installation
screen that asks which chipset her modem uses. Chipset? She pulls out
the documentation that came with her computer. In this case, she
actually happens to have a 'manual' that indentifies the modem in the
computer. The 'manual' is a 4-page brochure. It includes a list of the
modem specifications, filled with esoteric data, but nowhere does it say
what chipset the modem uses. She visits the modem manufacturer's Web
site. Nada. Top secret information apparently. Finally, she has to call
the manufacturer at long-distance charges, wait on hold for 20 minutes
on her dime, then talk to a support person who says he'll have to check
and get back to her. He never calls back. She calls again a couple weeks
later, goes through the same routine, but this time happens to get
someone who knows. He tells her politely, but is probably rolling his
eyes and thinking "another idiot user".
All these examples are from real life. Want more? I could fill a volume.
How are any of these problems the result of the ineptitude of the users?
When you have to spend nearly as much time understanding the obscure
elements of how a tool works, diddling with it, fixing unexpected
errors, etc., as you do trying to use it for what you want and need to
use it for, then in my book that tool is frustrating. And, when the
quality standard of an industry is 'well, it works OK for most people',
then in my book that industry is still in the primitive stages of
developing.
As for RTFM - as someone who always RTFM, or more often the online help,
which is the only written help one gets with most software these days, I
can only say that if the people who wrote these things knew the first
thing about clear writing, or if software companies would invest in
hiring people whose business it is to write good manuals or help files,
then users might be more inclined to read them. Yes, there are the users
whose first response when they encounter anything they don't know how to
do or fix is to call support (or yell across the office), and obviously
when you are doing support, this is going to be your picture of users.
But, if this were most users, there wouldn't be enough phone lines in
the world to handle the flood of calls. And, I can match every story
that a support person can tell about the clueless user with one about
the clueless support person. But, users don't bother circulating these
stories around the internet to the condescending chuckles of those who
revel in their in-the-know status. Computing is not the center of their
lives. Should it be?
My apologies to those on the list who could care less for this long
message.
--
Paula Ford
The Bat! 1.35 (reg)
Windows 95 4.0 Build 950
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
View the TBUDL archive at http://tbudl.thebat.dutaint.com
To send a message to the list moderation team click here:
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To Unsubscribe from TBUDL, click below and send the generated message.
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--------------------------------------------------------------
