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4 Most Helpful People in Tech-Support Forums
11 years ago
I guess I sort of gotten reminded of this from the last journal post, in sort of that going online to do mundane things and filtering out the stuff that works from the stuff that doesn't. I don't know if there's ever been a guide somewhere about tech-help forums but weather it's looking up information on programming or figuring out why your computer is acting funny... and it's just an observation, but almost every forum you can expect the following:
1. "Go Download This!" Bot: Alright, I can understand that some things take an external program of some kind, but I can't count how many times something was solved using what was already available on your computer, and yet every forum has at least one person or bot pushing software that would likely just infect your computer with bloatware and cause you even more problems! Yes, I'm on to you!
2. "OMG I Am Having the Same Problem I Hope This Gets Solved Soon!" Guy: Let's just say it just gets really depressing when this is the only response...
3. "Google it" Guy: Hey, genius, I'm already Googling it!
4. "The Problem is You're Using [Brand]": Sometimes useful if it doesn't take time or money to acquire, otherwise it's needless to say, but people come for help because they have a problem, not a disposable income...
Next commission being worked on: "Sewer"
"Cantina": 100% 100% 100% 75% Flat Color Complete
"?????" ?% Mystery Drawing
"Hat" 100% Commission Complete
"Sewer" 75% Flat Color Compelte
"Toon" 25% Sketch Complete
"Horses" 0% About to start
1. "Go Download This!" Bot: Alright, I can understand that some things take an external program of some kind, but I can't count how many times something was solved using what was already available on your computer, and yet every forum has at least one person or bot pushing software that would likely just infect your computer with bloatware and cause you even more problems! Yes, I'm on to you!
2. "OMG I Am Having the Same Problem I Hope This Gets Solved Soon!" Guy: Let's just say it just gets really depressing when this is the only response...
3. "Google it" Guy: Hey, genius, I'm already Googling it!
4. "The Problem is You're Using [Brand]": Sometimes useful if it doesn't take time or money to acquire, otherwise it's needless to say, but people come for help because they have a problem, not a disposable income...
Next commission being worked on: "Sewer"
"Cantina": 100% 100% 100% 75% Flat Color Complete
"?????" ?% Mystery Drawing
"Hat" 100% Commission Complete
"Sewer" 75% Flat Color Compelte
"Toon" 25% Sketch Complete
"Horses" 0% About to start
Not to mention "huh? why do you ask this, are you stupid?" people ~
0. "Never mind, I fixed it"
If there are old people around, you also get things like...
"I can't display 4K videos from YouTube!" On further inquiry, they have a computer they bought new with Windows 2000, a 4:3 CRT, and IE 2. When you suggest that after 15 years, maybe it's time to spend a little money on hardware, they get mad.
"The problem must be *here*." One version of this I've seen a lot is blaming Windows for networking problems, when it's more likely to be something like crap antivirus/firewall software, or possibly a crap ISP. When you tell them to disable the firewall temporarily for a test, or (if it's a laptop) go somewhere else and try a different ISP via wi-fi, they either say that they already tried that and it didn't help (which is often a lie), or just say "That won't help, it must be the OS!"
Another funny idea old people have is that phone support 1) exists and 2) is useful. I know a guy that actually called Google and his ISP on the telephone because he couldn't get YouTube to work. Needless to say, he didn't get any joy from either one.