Suggestion Box

[dooBdoo]

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@lightswitch wrote:

I do not use the additional software however I research and compare through PC Mag or CNet or consumer reports. The times I have purchased a computer have been at the end of the TSV close to midnight. I like the 30 day return policy and the tech support is fine. Never had an issue. Never had to wait. The speed of the computer is only as good as your internet speed. All computers make special models for retailers many times it is trying to compare apples to oranges. I have also order computers direct from the manufacturer. The tech support is great for a college student especially if they are attending a rural college. I brought the additional warranty when my daughter was in college and tech guy had to drive over an hour one way to fix her laptop.

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        It is not true that "the speed of the computer is only as good as your internet speed."  Sometimes when you're using the Internet a slow response time on your device is caused by a problematic internet connection, but not always.  And, of course, when you're not using the net, the connection has no bearing on the device's speed.

[Moonchilde]

I have never had to use phone tech support in 23 years and at the beginning of those 23 years I was clueless.

[dooBdoo]

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@Moonchilde wrote:

I have never had to use phone tech support in 23 years and at the beginning of those 23 years I was clueless.

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          @Moonchilde,   I'm used to being the phone tech support!   I've called Apple a few times when I was puzzled about a few things, but usually I can figure things out with trial-and-error (I'm pretty fearless -- I'll bet you are, too! -- but sometimes I get myself in trouble), or by using a manual, the "Help" features, or online resources.

[Moonchilde]

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@dooBdoo wrote:

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@Moonchilde wrote:

I have never had to use phone tech support in 23 years and at the beginning of those 23 years I was clueless.

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          @Moonchilde,   I'm used to being the phone tech support!   I've called Apple a few times when I was puzzled about a few things, but usually I can figure things out with trial-and-error (I'm pretty fearless -- I'll bet you are, too! -- but sometimes I get myself in trouble), or by using a manual, the "Help" features, or online resources.

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Early days, I asked friends. But as time went on, for me at least, the sorts of issues I had were not ones best suited to phone support vs. having someone see what I was talking about in person, or getting peripherals to work, etc. Lots of people seem to need help with software not functioning as they expected, and although they might try, I thought CS would be a waste of time in that instance, especially off-shore CS which so much was/is.

Once various iterations of Windows became much more stable and in general software companies got with it and actually worked with the OS, when things worked *most* of the time, I got braver. Once I got braver and the computer didn't implode I got braver still, etc. Each "It worked! I did it!" increases confidence.

I do a lot of googling for Apple issues - and learned that even in person at the Apple store, they are not always helpful of iOS/PC questions, because "I don't know, I use a MAC."

[dooBdoo]

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Moonchilde wrote:

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dooBdoo wrote:

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Moonchilde wrote:

I have never had to use phone tech support in 23 years and at the beginning of those 23 years I was clueless.

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          @Moonchilde,   I'm used to being the phone tech support!   I've called Apple a few times when I was puzzled about a few things, but usually I can figure things out with trial-and-error (I'm pretty fearless -- I'll bet you are, too! -- but sometimes I get myself in trouble), or by using a manual, the "Help" features, or online resources.

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Early days, I asked friends. But as time went on, for me at least, the sorts of issues I had were not ones best suited to phone support vs. having someone see what I was talking about in person, or getting peripherals to work, etc. Lots of people seem to need help with software not functioning as they expected, and although they might try, I thought CS would be a waste of time in that instance, especially off-shore CS which so much was/is.

Once various iterations of Windows became much more stable and in general software companies got with it and actually worked with the OS, when things worked *most* of the time, I got braver. Once I got braver and the computer didn't implode I got braver still, etc. Each "It worked! I did it!" increases confidence.

I do a lot of googling for Apple issues - and learned that even in person at the Apple store, they are not always helpful of iOS/PC questions, because "I don't know, I use a MAC."

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         I love what you said about increasing confidence.  I realize not everyone has an IT background/training and not everyone wants to be all that "tech savvy."   Even so, investigating a problem, doing the troubleshooting and finding and applying a fix, can give a person a great feeling.   And, in the process, they're more able to understand and fix any subsequent problems.   Since I was a toddler, I always was fascinated with taking things apart, figuring out how they worked, and (sometimes) putting them back together...  not always successfully, to my parents' chagrin!

[GingerPeach]

I've always found myself to be fairly mechanically-inclined as well as not afraid to take chances by trying things out on the computer.  (I've done stuff like replacing a garbage disposal or two.)  And, as @dooBdoo and @Moonchilde said, once something you've tried works, it just gives you that much more confidence to try again.  Not that I'm any sort of computer expert or anything, far from it, but I'm fairly comfortable.

I do recall one session back in the 90s when someone from IT was teaching a group of us in the firm I worked for then.  I suggested that it might be helpful to learn how to go back if you happened to hit a wrong key.  But they did not think that was valuable.  They just wanted to go "one way."

I learned, and remembered more, by knowing how to back out of trouble.

[Moonchilde]

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@GingerPeach wrote:

I've always found myself to be fairly mechanically-inclined as well as not afraid to take chances by trying things out on the computer.  (I've done stuff like replacing a garbage disposal or two.)  And, as @dooBdoo and @Moonchilde said, once something you've tried works, it just gives you that much more confidence to try again.  Not that I'm any sort of computer expert or anything, far from it, but I'm fairly comfortable.

I do recall one session back in the 90s when someone from IT was teaching a group of us in the firm I worked for then.  I suggested that it might be helpful to learn how to go back if you happened to hit a wrong key.  But they did not think that was valuable.  They just wanted to go "one way."

I learned, and remembered more, by knowing how to back out of trouble.

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Knowing how to back out one step at a time was one of the first things I taught those unfamiliar with the software when I was teaching new hires. IMO knowing how to stop & back up is vital.

[GingerPeach]

Where were you when we needed you, @Moonchilde!

I used to consider all those so-called "classes" just "introductions to. . ."

I never learned anything until I was actually on my own, doing it myself, and teaching myself how to move both ahead and how to retreat from mistakes.

[Moonchilde]

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@GingerPeach wrote:

Where were you when we needed you, @Moonchilde!

I used to consider all those so-called "classes" just "introductions to. . ."

I never learned anything until I was actually on my own, doing it myself, and teaching myself how to move both ahead and how to retreat from mistakes.

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LOL, @GingerPeach :-)

Over the years, I've had to teach a lot of work-specific software that no one outside of the "business" would ever have use for, and up until maybe the last 7 years, quite a few different programs were used at various facilities to do the same job, so it was commonplace for a new hire to have to learn whatever *we* were using. Within the past 2-3 years, most places use one of two programs, so the odds are getting better that not everyone will need ground-up training.

I could tell within 2-3 days if someone would work out or not. Without exception, those who took no notes and basically paid no attention such that they just expected you to explain something for the tenth time, the eleventh time, etc and *still* took no notes, or never asked questions about their notes (Not my fault, you didn't tell me that. Yes I did, you either didn't hear it or you didn't write it down) were the ones who bailed.

Queen of the Run-On Sentence with that one ;-)

[dooBdoo]

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Homegirl wrote:

I've always found myself to be fairly mechanically-inclined as well as not afraid to take chances by trying things out on the computer.  (I've done stuff like replacing a garbage disposal or two.)  And, as @dooBdoo and @Moonchilde said, once something you've tried works, it just gives you that much more confidence to try again.  Not that I'm any sort of computer expert or anything, far from it, but I'm fairly comfortable.

I do recall one session back in the 90s when someone from IT was teaching a group of us in the firm I worked for then.  I suggested that it might be helpful to learn how to go back if you happened to hit a wrong key.  But they did not think that was valuable.  They just wanted to go "one way."

I learned, and remembered more, by knowing how to back out of trouble.

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        @GingerPeach, You were the one who was right!   In teaching people to use computers over the years I've always encouraged your way of thinking.  It really does make people think about how things work instead of following step-by-step and it also helps affix the lessons in their memory.   Sometimes step-by-step works, other times it doesn't...  and then, that's where understanding the "hows" and "whys" can be of use when a person is alone and trying to debug and fix a problem.   Good for you!

eta:  By the way, sometimes doing things the wrong way on computers actually taught me the best lessons in how to do things the right way...