Comments on: Are You Held Hostage By Technology in Your Business? http://queercents.com/2009/02/20/are-you-held-hostage-by-technology-in-your-business/ We're here, We're queer, and We're not going Shopping without Coupons Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:23:21 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Your huge computer problem…. isn’t (sorry) http://queercents.com/2009/02/20/are-you-held-hostage-by-technology-in-your-business/comment-page-1/#comment-192350 Your huge computer problem…. isn’t (sorry) Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:46:00 +0000 http://www.queercents.com/?p=6923#comment-192350 [...] Are You Held Hostage By Technology in Your Business? (queercents.com) [...]<p class="top-comments">Current score: <span class="top-comments-karma" id="karma-192350">0</span> <small>(to vote for this comment, please visit the site)</small></p> [...] Are You Held Hostage By Technology in Your Business? (queercents.com) [...]

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

]]> By: PaulaG http://queercents.com/2009/02/20/are-you-held-hostage-by-technology-in-your-business/comment-page-1/#comment-191924 PaulaG Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:40:27 +0000 http://www.queercents.com/?p=6923#comment-191924 Hi Rebecca - I can't agree with you more. I spent over 4 hours on support with HP last night. NOT the way to spend a Sunday. They should be ashamed & it truly should be illegal to torture customers in this way. May I ask what brands you HAVE been having luck with? Great points Dylan -- do you have suggestions of leasing options for the solo/home office person that aren't cost prohibitive or the printing services you recommend? You can bet with the next computer I buy I will be buying the whatever it takes just come to my place of business and fix it service plan. Serena - have to agree a MAC seems tempting & my next laptop may very well be one... yet still you have to deal with vendors and peripherals I would think, right?<p class="top-comments">Current score: <span class="top-comments-karma" id="karma-191924">0</span> <small>(to vote for this comment, please visit the site)</small></p> Hi Rebecca – I can’t agree with you more. I spent over 4 hours on support with HP last night. NOT the way to spend a Sunday. They should be ashamed & it truly should be illegal to torture customers in this way. May I ask what brands you HAVE been having luck with?

Great points Dylan — do you have suggestions of leasing options for the solo/home office person that aren’t cost prohibitive or the printing services you recommend? You can bet with the next computer I buy I will be buying the whatever it takes just come to my place of business and fix it service plan.

Serena – have to agree a MAC seems tempting & my next laptop may very well be one… yet still you have to deal with vendors and peripherals I would think, right?

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

]]> By: Dylan http://queercents.com/2009/02/20/are-you-held-hostage-by-technology-in-your-business/comment-page-1/#comment-191833 Dylan Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:58:27 +0000 http://www.queercents.com/?p=6923#comment-191833 Hey Paula, It's not the way it's supposed to be. I work as a Software Development contractor, and I've also done tech support for small and medium companies. The root cause of the problems seem to be that SOHO products are really just the consumer products, rebadged. Consumer products *suck*. Really suck. They're cheaply made (especially printers), they're disposable almost. No company is going to spend lots of money on building a really reliable, dependable printer when J.R.Soho is going to walk down to their local Officeworks and buy the cheapest thing on the shelf, and lots of home uses will buy a new thing rather then fix the old one. I've come to the sad realization myself that if I want thing to last I have to pay for business ranges, not just SOHO... Maintenance contracts soothe all pain. I won't buy a laptop without a 3 year next day onsite warrenty, even if it's $300 extra. So I guess I balance the extra cost with the quality and the "justworks" aspect. Justworks, to me, is a feature worth paying for, even if that's an extra 1K. Or, at the other end, don't buy the equipment. Lease it, or use a printing service or similar.<p class="top-comments">Current score: <span class="top-comments-karma" id="karma-191833">0</span> <small>(to vote for this comment, please visit the site)</small></p> Hey Paula,

It’s not the way it’s supposed to be. I work as a Software Development contractor, and I’ve also done tech support for small and medium companies.

The root cause of the problems seem to be that SOHO products are really just the consumer products, rebadged. Consumer products *suck*. Really suck. They’re cheaply made (especially printers), they’re disposable almost. No company is going to spend lots of money on building a really reliable, dependable printer when J.R.Soho is going to walk down to their local Officeworks and buy the cheapest thing on the shelf, and lots of home uses will buy a new thing rather then fix the old one.

I’ve come to the sad realization myself that if I want thing to last I have to pay for business ranges, not just SOHO… Maintenance contracts soothe all pain. I won’t buy a laptop without a 3 year next day onsite warrenty, even if it’s $300 extra. So I guess I balance the extra cost with the quality and the “justworks” aspect. Justworks, to me, is a feature worth paying for, even if that’s an extra 1K. Or, at the other end, don’t buy the equipment. Lease it, or use a printing service or similar.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

]]> By: Rebecca http://queercents.com/2009/02/20/are-you-held-hostage-by-technology-in-your-business/comment-page-1/#comment-191472 Rebecca Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:56:10 +0000 http://www.queercents.com/?p=6923#comment-191472 I used to be SUCH a fan of HP. I always had at least 2 of their printers on hand, a portable and an all in one. But the last 2 HP printers I've had to deal with were miserable pains, and even the tech support was ridiculously uninformed. I'm done with them. What a lesson in how to run a successful business into the ground. Same thing with Dell. Quality control + customer service = success.<p class="top-comments">Current score: <span class="top-comments-karma" id="karma-191472">0</span> <small>(to vote for this comment, please visit the site)</small></p> I used to be SUCH a fan of HP. I always had at least 2 of their printers on hand, a portable and an all in one. But the last 2 HP printers I’ve had to deal with were miserable pains, and even the tech support was ridiculously uninformed. I’m done with them. What a lesson in how to run a successful business into the ground. Same thing with Dell. Quality control + customer service = success.

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

]]> By: Serena http://queercents.com/2009/02/20/are-you-held-hostage-by-technology-in-your-business/comment-page-1/#comment-191463 Serena Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:09:56 +0000 http://www.queercents.com/?p=6923#comment-191463 <blockquote>Perhaps my belief that it shouldn’t be this way is what is causing me all the suffering. I should perhaps just Zen-it-up and accept that part of life is spending about 10-15% of it troubleshooting gadgets that have little to do with my life satisfaction but a lot to do with my business success.</blockquote> Maybe you should Mac it up instead. :^)<p class="top-comments">Current score: <span class="top-comments-karma" id="karma-191463">0</span> <small>(to vote for this comment, please visit the site)</small></p>

Perhaps my belief that it shouldn’t be this way is what is causing me all the suffering. I should perhaps just Zen-it-up and accept that part of life is spending about 10-15% of it troubleshooting gadgets that have little to do with my life satisfaction but a lot to do with my business success.

Maybe you should Mac it up instead. :^)

Current score: 0 (to vote for this comment, please visit the site)

]]>