Tag Archives: service

Computer repair shops: the 21st Century’s car mechanic

Geek Culture, Information, Opinion, ,
One of the worst feelings a person can have is seeking the repair of a product that they have a limited knowledge of how it works. How do they know what they are being told is true? How much does it really cost to fix? How will I know if they really replaced anything and it was just a loose screw causing the problem?
 
I talk to home and small business computer users daily in the course of my job and the one thing I continue to see is how much they distrust any IT person they come in contact with.
 
I can’t blame them as they may have seen the same stories on the news about the big box computer stores and national computer repair companies and what their technicians have been caught doing to users and their computers.
 
The more disturbing thing I’m see is how mom and pop repair stores are selling these people bootleg copies of software and loading up corporate networks with “Free for personal use” software.
 
I had a client ask me how much it would cost to replace Vista on the machine she had bought a few months back. I told her is would be the cost of a copy of XP plus the install time, she turns to me and says, “My old IT guy was able to upgrade our four of our other machines from Windows 2000 for $35 each.”  At that point I looked at the machines and each one of them had the same CD-Key and an activation hack loaded.
 
I believe independent shops are hurting themselves and others in the field by devaluing the cost of their services and in the end leaving the customer in a bad situation as well as perpetuating the myth that IT people are arrogant and will sell them what ever snake oil tonic they have to make a quick buck.
 
The main thing I think people should look for when seeking computer repair outside the home is personal recommendations. Talk to your friends and family and see who they have used in the past. Nothing beats the one-on-one interaction with a repairman as well as how they talk to their customers and explain the problems and possible solutions. Also if they say they need to replace a part, ask for the old one back even you have no plan to keep it.
Thankfully I have never been in the situation where I have had to rely on a total stranger to fix a computer of mine that contains family photos, banking information, personal emails and whatever else passes through my computer on a daily basis.
 
What experiences have you or your friends and family had with these shops and what are your tips on finding a quality shop?
 
As always I can be reached at jparie (at) gmail (dot) com.

Netflix Videos to your PC

Commerce, ,

I talked in my show last night about how Netflix is progressively rolling out a new service for customers to allow them to get videos delivered via the Internet. With those on the $17.99 subscription plan being able to download and watch up to 18 hours of video per month.

My biggest issue with Netflix was my own laziness in not getting my DVD’s requested and missing out on a week of service utilization. This new video service will be perfect for folks like me that get lazy.

If I knew I could get the live service immediately I would sign back up but it turns out Netflix is rolling out the service to customers over a period of time to make sure that they have bandwidth and server capacity to handle the load. Watch the demo at www.hackingnetflix.com

Personal Cellular Sites Possible Soon!

ev-do, service, Technology, ,

Last night I outlined my issue with changing desk and loosing the ability to use my Cellular service and EV-DO card because of no signal, and now comes word that Mobile Operators are thinking about allowing there customers help solve these very issue for them.

Not  many people know it, but you can buy equipment today off the shelf that will boost the mobile signal in your workplace. They start at about a $1000.00 for basic amplifiers and can get very expensive for solutions designed for moderate to big buildings.

I know that folks in my office bitch about this issue every day, and if the carriers would come in and boost the signal we would all be happy. Most people put up with no signal and few are willing to go to the extreme of buying an amplifier like I did. I was not happy to have to spend $250.00 to make my EV-DO work but it was a priority for me.

I actually went and purchased a long distance phone card for the first time in 10 years because making personal Long Distance would not make my boss happy.

GigaOm has some details on how mobile operators are thinking about dealing with these issues by apparently allowing customers to deploy mini cellular sites called femto cellular.

My mom lives in Michigan the service out their really sucks and this idea would go well their. I had put out a offer that if Sprint would like to put a tower up on our property we had plenty of acreage to support it, and I would give them a long lease and rent for free in exchange for free service. I realize towers are multi-million installations but you can’t blame a guy for trying to hook his mom up.

I am going to spin that a little bit in that I will extend the offer in a new way if a mobile company buys me one of these femto cellular units I will be happy to install and plug the thing in at work so that our mobile phones will work.

Do you have the same problem with no signal in the office? I am sure there are millions of us with these issues. [GigaOM]

Is Microsoft looking to put a dent in Orb and Slingbox bottom line?

Commerce, service,

I have a windows media player that I have been paying a lot more attention to since CES and I have a very good friend who has a Slingbox which he really loves. I have been wondering for sometime why Microsoft doesn’t allow me to do the same thing with Windows Media Center as Slingbox and Orb provide.

Well according to engadget there are some rumors on the street that is hinting that Microsoft may be getting ready to release a Windows Media Player update that will do some of the functions of Slingbox and Orb. [Engadget]

Nation Wide Google WiFi for free how it could change everything!

business, Commerce, google, service, wifi, , , ,

First I want to thank one of readers for sending us the Google WiFi link yesterday, he helped us be one of the first few sites to post the information which resulted in one of our higher traffic days around here. More info is on the street tonight.

Those of you that took the time to read the FAQ which is no longer online it was noted that the service was only going to be rolled out in and around Google HQ. A lot of people jumped on this today with lots of speculation that they are likely going to be launching something nation wide based upon all the bandwidth they have been buying up.

Time will tell but I bet that they have the telco’s, wireless and broadband providers scared to death.

Here are some thoughts.

1. Google Talk Anyplace Anytime (Replace Phone Company)
2. Surf the net Anyplace Anytime (Replace Broadband Cable Providers)
3. Sell services such as TV Programming, Videos etc through that Free Wifi pipe!
4. Sell a hardware device you can use to surf the net, talk on the phone, watch TV, listen to audio through this free WiFi Network!

If they follow through on this, this single act will route around all of the major commercial data providers. Google wins big and kills a lot of companies in the process gaining market share by simply giving away free WiFi nation wide and selling premium services. [Silicon Valley]

Winzip may cost you something now!

Commerce, service, Software, ,

I have at least 7 licenses for Winzip and have always paid for the application. Obviously a lot of you are running hacked versions of the program. Well their is a new Sheriff in town and you may soon very well find Winzip to not be as nice when it comes to those running cracked versions.

Expect the next versions of the program to have significant security upgrades and features that only registered / verified users are going to be getting. I for one look forward to seeing what tricks they have up their sleeve and look forward to supporting one of the applications that is a integral part of my desktop. [Cnet]

Pubsub saw my post and responded!

pubsub, service,

I had a e-mail come in late last night from the Pubsub staff and they fixed my problem. Cool thing is they saw my problem obviously from a keyword they were tracking. They were concerned that my e-mail to support had went missing and actually had me send a test message to their site. Apparently this is a bug they are aware of. So if you are using Pubsub keyword searches and the results dry up send them a e-mail and tell them about it.. [Pubsub]