letter to microsoft
Thursday, 10. July 2008, 09:41:49
just give me a horse... you feed a horse and you love him.
a horse that makes you spend a month of your life every other year to get him to go should be shot. shot only to put him out of the misery he must feel from the misery he has caused.
my latest communication to microsoft (who only led me to links to spend more money.)
a little aside... " greed is the chief feature of america". i said that. but that weakness could become a strength with a bit of intelligence.
so anyway,
i said to microsoft in a fit of impatience and extreme exasperation ( on the basis, for example, if you buy a car, you expect it to go from here to there. my experience with computers for 14 years only, has been that they may be more trouble than they're worth. as they are that is.)
i know the solution. drop the greed. make something that is universal. like a nut on a bolt. metric or american, just make it standard. so much time and money would be saved.
so i said to microsoft....
it is a little confusing. one wonders whether to take the leap to
vista from xp home edition... there seem to be some cautions
here. it might help to simply charge us to upgrade to pro and
then be guaranteed help along the way to vista. to be ministered to by providers of services is simple common sense.
but these forms that have to be filled out before a question can be asked are time consuming, and even then to get no closer that a link to faq.... so sucks. how much time do we have to read every one of these; hoping our case, our problem, our infuriating out of the blue error messages, might be hidden in all those words.
i have no doubt that the creators believe in vista. but the scuttlebutt is 'too many
problems.'
i wish i knew. i spend way too much time adjusting my computer with technical research. and the truth is... the bigger the company the lower the quality of real help.
just a heads-up... so many problems with microsoft outlook or outlook express recognizing legitimate email addresses... i don't use them anymore express or outlook. incredi-mail works just fine. and browsers? opera wins. no load. and their $30 a year email is unsurpassed. when i am sold by my server, opera is still there. but when i buy a product, even hardware, it comes with money making 'bugs' which are a terror to eliminate. popups etc. inability to uninstall etc. etc... it's all on purpose to make more money.
i will restrain myself, and say no more.
a great service to all of us would be that if we had an error message and then we email it to the program creator or company, provider, or whoever we paid, that is... $$$$ hard to come by, that that 'accountable' entity answer us with real links to blot out the bug and cure the probelm they caused with sloppy programming. or with the message to include a link to restore the missing file. how simple would that be? if you know the answer, you must know the question....
( i know many will say that it's like a sickness and the doctor doesn't know everything. but a doctor goes to work and studies the problem and relates to the supplicant.)
how can we users know everything? we have better things to do than tweak our machines.
sincerely,
scott cumming
president
hungryeyegraphics.com
a horse that makes you spend a month of your life every other year to get him to go should be shot. shot only to put him out of the misery he must feel from the misery he has caused.
my latest communication to microsoft (who only led me to links to spend more money.)
a little aside... " greed is the chief feature of america". i said that. but that weakness could become a strength with a bit of intelligence.
so anyway,
i said to microsoft in a fit of impatience and extreme exasperation ( on the basis, for example, if you buy a car, you expect it to go from here to there. my experience with computers for 14 years only, has been that they may be more trouble than they're worth. as they are that is.)
i know the solution. drop the greed. make something that is universal. like a nut on a bolt. metric or american, just make it standard. so much time and money would be saved.
so i said to microsoft....
it is a little confusing. one wonders whether to take the leap to
vista from xp home edition... there seem to be some cautions
here. it might help to simply charge us to upgrade to pro and
then be guaranteed help along the way to vista. to be ministered to by providers of services is simple common sense.
but these forms that have to be filled out before a question can be asked are time consuming, and even then to get no closer that a link to faq.... so sucks. how much time do we have to read every one of these; hoping our case, our problem, our infuriating out of the blue error messages, might be hidden in all those words.
i have no doubt that the creators believe in vista. but the scuttlebutt is 'too many
problems.'
i wish i knew. i spend way too much time adjusting my computer with technical research. and the truth is... the bigger the company the lower the quality of real help.
just a heads-up... so many problems with microsoft outlook or outlook express recognizing legitimate email addresses... i don't use them anymore express or outlook. incredi-mail works just fine. and browsers? opera wins. no load. and their $30 a year email is unsurpassed. when i am sold by my server, opera is still there. but when i buy a product, even hardware, it comes with money making 'bugs' which are a terror to eliminate. popups etc. inability to uninstall etc. etc... it's all on purpose to make more money.
i will restrain myself, and say no more.
a great service to all of us would be that if we had an error message and then we email it to the program creator or company, provider, or whoever we paid, that is... $$$$ hard to come by, that that 'accountable' entity answer us with real links to blot out the bug and cure the probelm they caused with sloppy programming. or with the message to include a link to restore the missing file. how simple would that be? if you know the answer, you must know the question....
( i know many will say that it's like a sickness and the doctor doesn't know everything. but a doctor goes to work and studies the problem and relates to the supplicant.)
how can we users know everything? we have better things to do than tweak our machines.
sincerely,
scott cumming
president
hungryeyegraphics.com
(6%)
WIDGETIZE
Kay Four # 10. July 2008, 09:53
I have my own issues with Microsoft... like why do I have to relaod my printer every time I want to use it? I have my printer istall disk in the pile with my favorite music.
But, in a way, MS bowed to the wishes of the masses. "We want Microsoft to be more secure because we are tired of viruses and hackers." So, MS made vista so damned secure, no one can use it.
deborah # 10. July 2008, 10:57
i am in the business of customer service and i support the free enterprise in the USA and the world, but i do not adhere to many rules and i will not do as i'm told, ever! so msn, miscrosoft can just kiss my big toe!
good blog post! i love to rant about the woes of being a windows user!
scott cumming # 10. July 2008, 11:23
1bluebox,
i will even go a step further and say that there is something criminal afoot. and the last to notice will be the government for the people and supposedly by the people... not! still the rich wringing the pennies out of the poor.
Lois # 10. July 2008, 12:05
For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.
At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated,
"If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."
In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating:
If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........
Twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
Matthew # 10. July 2008, 13:18
Bea # 10. July 2008, 13:43
Many people dont like linux just because they dont know it, but is much simpler and better than microsoft. I have issues with microsoft over 10 years and every new release is a big s*** more than the last. It's a shame that it is already the standard plataform on most companies, universities and houses.
Allan # 10. July 2008, 14:18
Microsoft is too big - and suffers severely from the toobig illness. They have to be universal and adapt to anything - which is impossible.
Recently my laptop with Windows XP got ill. The harddrive was beginning to make errors all the time, which again began causing other conflicts within the system.
I therefore prepared to buy a new laptop. I have very bad experiences with putting new devices, like a harddrive, in an old PC. I could buy a new one with Vista - but I have tried that, and to say the least, I was not impressed at all.
So, two options remained: Linux or Mac.
I chose Mac. And I am happy. Happy! The machine runs like a hot knife in butter. No conflicts. No quirks. Not even one tiny one. Nada!
From when I opened the machine for he first time, it's been running absolutely flawlessly. And there's nothing it cannot do - even play windows media files. No problem. Just installed a plug-in and the problem was solved.
Please don't stick with a company you don't like. There are alternatives - and in a situation when the alternative is way better than the first option - well, why not do it?
PainterWoman # 10. July 2008, 14:47
My computer ran perfectly for exactly one and a half years. Then it got a virus. I had v-scan and a firewall. They did not protect me.
Sooooo frustrating getting everything back to normal.
Andres Rodriguez Guapacha # 10. July 2008, 15:00
Use Windows when you feel you don't feel bothered by troubles everyday.
* P.S.: If you like computers, your mindset is ready to adopt UNIX/Linux philosphy.
scott cumming # 10. July 2008, 18:09
thanks for all your comment my friends...
alan's experience with the mac really influenced me. i had no idea. i had always known that artists mostly use the mac but i didn't know why.
i really can't afford the time it takes to keep the "wooley mammoth" lumbering through cyberspace.
and fox... i do like computers. but i'm not going to change horses in midstream. at least i know enough about HP Pavilion to doctor it.
just one last point... i don't know why i didn't do this before, but for about $150 i bought a 500 gigabite external drive. i knew i was going to crash and i saved everything. i suppose if i had rtfm that would have gone better. even though i backed up all my programs, i still had to install them on the clean operating system. that surprised me.
i am bleary eyed searching for licence keys and hassseling with companies that have been gobbled up by the 'big fish'
to further the car analogy... it's like going to a new gas station and being turned down... "ehhh... we never saw you before. if you want to gas up here, you'll have to fork over a 'user' fee first."
Eliane a/k/a Elly # 10. July 2008, 18:21
Other companies make products to support the major OSs, if there were too many, then wouldn't it be confusing?
The best wins out.
Whenever I get an error warning, my computer asks me if I want to send the issue to Microsoft.
I agree I would rather talk to a real person, and hopefully one with an accent I can understand; but sometimes it is way less aggravating to just write an email and let a bunch of people solve the problem without driving me crazy on the phone.
Anonymous # 10. July 2008, 19:09
I hear you! I switched to Mac a couple of years back and I will never return to Windows.
See you on jalbum.net :)
Nicolas Borgsmidt # 10. July 2008, 19:10
Andres Rodriguez Guapacha # 10. July 2008, 19:30
The fact that it updates does not mean it works. Programs sould not break that easily, but the price of the unbalance between market coverage vs, quality goes too far in microsoft's side. The fact that Bush is the president of the USA, does not mean he is the best.
When you stop going with the flow, you realize there are better options outside, and the only price you pay is either money (Mac) or time (Linux) but it is better to pay one of the options than paying for windows and waiting for a solution to come. The fact that you are sending error notifications to Microsoft does not mean that your action will automagically fix the problem. You are paying for a product that does not take into account the customer service at all.
Angeliki # 10. July 2008, 21:55
nepmak2000 made a believer out of me!
http://my.opera.com/nepmak2000/blog/ms-continues-xp
http://my.opera.com/nepmak2000/blog/the-gospel-from-microsoft
http://my.opera.com/nepmak2000/blog/2008/07/08/linux-moslim-edition-hamdullillah
it is sad that the Microsoft and BROS group... can dance with their "golden" shoes on muddy passages they did build for all of us, the barefooted !
scott cumming # 10. July 2008, 22:49
nic tickled with "almost" hey... a miss is as good as a mile.
thank you for chiming in dor. jalbum followed suit... much to my dismay.
after spending six hours scanning and loading i go to publish and jalbum never heard of me. i write this shit down. so i can't be wrong about my username and password. i give up...
another five years is all i will give to the 'modern world' then, i am going to belize.
i will get up in the morning, yawn on my dilapidated veranda, reach for a banana and take deep breaths for twenty minutes. then i will jump in the water (very refreshing daily routine), about face and begin to squish around with oil paints; whatever i fancy.
i am serious.
Allan # 10. July 2008, 23:06
scott cumming # 10. July 2008, 23:44
i will blog on 'til then. because i like it. i may even blog on from belize if they have cable by then. thanks for asking.
it's not the blogging that is hard. it's the trying to create something online that is hard. even with all the credentials of a real citizen, an open book, i get blocked from so much... because my last resort is to pay. i may be wrong, but, i have no other recourse except to try to get it done without spending.
the unbearable aspect of it all is that i have spent over $900 in the last two months trying to make $2,000. not to say that i will not be re-imbursed for the expenditures.... that's our agreement.
it's just that i don't have that much money to fiddle around with. so i am constantly stopped in my tracks until more money is available.
so that's where the tension comes in. i could do almost anything if i had the money to pay for the resources. still
deborah # 11. July 2008, 22:29
basic language started this world we live in online . . . . one and zero.
i love this blog post scott!!!!!!! great job and the comments are fantastic! imo!
lois, i love number eight and number ten the most!!!!!!!!
i'm a mac user who doesn't own a mac, because i quit the last job that let me use and produce on a mac. i've only enough for the cheap model at my house and i've never learned to operate linx, but i will -- i promise, if i ever win the lottery or my great, great, something dies and leaves me a large stash! deb.
scott cumming # 11. July 2008, 23:00
just so i can get clips and stills from vhs and dvd. arrrgggh.
i think this is the last job i will ever do. i'm just not cut out for reading tons of manuals. rtfm is not my bag.
thanks for commenting 1bluebox. i liked all of lois's car/'puter list. but i started laughing from the first one.
deborah # 11. July 2008, 23:51
Angeliki # 12. July 2008, 00:14
I love your free spirit,
never imprison it again!
rtfm is not my thing either!
scott cumming # 12. July 2008, 02:18
i am rather attached to being free... always have been.
Angeliki # 12. July 2008, 02:57
every single time, I do feel it!
Eliane a/k/a Elly # 12. July 2008, 06:41
What is rtfm?
PainterWoman # 12. July 2008, 12:49
I think people blame Microsoft because a pc will get viruses and a Mac will not. That seems to be the complaint I hear most.
Andres Rodriguez Guapacha # 12. July 2008, 12:54
Matthew # 12. July 2008, 13:31
PainterWoman # 12. July 2008, 13:37
scott cumming # 13. July 2008, 03:02
many people i guess just fly like i do... everything should be easy. so as not to interupt our concentration on the vision.
it's nobody's fault exactly... just we wish for perfection... smoothness... no hassels.
deborah # 13. July 2008, 03:16
remember basic, remember dos 2.0? i still have the manuals in my attic!
rtfm?
retired trecky from mars . . .. . . . . . . .
Angeliki # 13. July 2008, 03:21
My translation of rtfm:
reward,
tender,
fun,
men !!!
scott cumming # 13. July 2008, 03:51
reward
tender
fun
massage
thanks for your agreement 1bluebox.
all i need now is a good long shoulder massage.
thanks meli,
i am coming into the home stretch...
Kimberly # 13. July 2008, 03:54
i have had so much problems with windows & IE its pathetic.
i no longer use IE at all, and have gotten to where FF is even getting as bad as IE...
no, i use opera for everything now. screw the others. and microsoft is no different on the phone than they are on their site. press this number, press that number, talk to the ROBOT not a PERSON...
like u though, i will refrain from saying more, so that i don't start pitching a bitch on ur page.
hope to talk soon
Angeliki # 13. July 2008, 04:06
scott cumming # 13. July 2008, 04:28
yes, meli,
just paint.
Angeliki # 13. July 2008, 04:42
I can not wait for you to paint again and be around more !!! I missed you something terrible !!
scott cumming # 13. July 2008, 05:48
Angeliki # 13. July 2008, 10:49
deborah # 13. July 2008, 23:24
angelika is very talented. scott, you should hire her!
scott cumming # 14. July 2008, 02:20
yes. it is marvelous how our ideas correspond.
ibluebox,
i could use some help but i'm not in a hiring tax bracket. good idea though.