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By Richard Morochove
First published October 14, 1999
Do you ever wish the technological change merry-go-round took a breather every now and again? That's how I feel after a couple of frustrating upgrade experiences.
When the computer industry works the way it should, it's a marvel of inter-company co-operation. You can buy a PC with components manufactured by a dozen outfits and install programs from as many different software developers and everything will work together.
But when things don't work, you feel like a rat trying to find your way out of a maze. What's most frustrating is when things that used to work, no longer do.
A couple of years ago I purchased a CD-Writer from Hewlett-Packard. It's an external model that plugs into a computer's printer port. In theory, I would be able to plug it in to each of my PCs and backup the data onto a CD. And the theory worked in practice, until recently.
When I tried to hook up the CD-Writer to a laptop running Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system, the software wouldn't install. I searched Hewlett-Packard's Web site for a software upgrade, but didn't find one.
When I was in San Francisco recently for a launch of storage products I described my dilemma to Perry Ralph, HP's CD-RW product marketing manager. No upgrade is currently available and there might never be one.
Every computer product has a useful technological life, one that's usually shorter than its physical life. I've chucked out working hardware before, simply because it wasn't capable of being upgraded to work with the software I wanted to use.
However, two years seems a rather short useful life. I feel I haven't received my money's worth.
I could buy a newer CD-Writer that would work with the new operating system. However, it plugs into a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, something that's not generally available on PCs more than two years old. So I'd need to keep two CD-Writers for backups, something I'd like to avoid. And do I really want to invest in another CD-Writer if it might not work with a new operating system two years from now?
How long should a company support obsolete products? I know I'd feel satisfied with five years use. I'd like to introduce the people at HP's storage group to an organization that does an outstanding job of supporting old products, HP's printer group.
I'm both ashamed and proud to say I still use an HP LaserJet Series II printer I purchased in 1988. I'm ashamed because it's an ancient machine that doesn't deliver the high-resolution printouts of today's printers. Yet I'm proud to say it still prints clean, crisp pages and has never required a repair.
HP upgrades the printer driver software for new operating systems. I started using the printer under MS-DOS. I then upgraded to Windows 3.0, 3.1, 95, 98 and Windows 2000. With each software upgrade, the printer continued to work as it always had.
My eleven years use of that HP printer represents excellent value. When the printer eventually bites the dust, I won't consider any other brand for its replacement.
You'd wonder how one company could have such different approaches to product support. Hewlett-Packard lets its business units operate fairly independently, setting their own policies and procedures. While that operating philosophy has served HP well for many years, it means you can't really rely on the company name as an indicator of a common standard.
I think it's time HP's new CEO Carly Fiorina established some basic ground rules for all HP businesses to follow. And a standard for product support is a good place to start.
Bell Canada's Sympatico Internet service is another business that could learn a few lessons about customer support. In order to continue to use the company's high-speed Internet service users must install a new piece of software, Access Manager. The change has rolled through Sympatico territory, with a deadline earlier this week for users in the Toronto area.
Access Manager uses a different method of connecting to the Internet that's slower than before. My speed has been cut in half. Furthermore, Access Manager doesn't work properly with many operating systems, such as Windows 2000/NT and Linux. Many users who were happy Sympatico surfers last week can no longer access the Internet service. While technical support to resolve problems is available by e-mail, it took five days before I received a response.
There are hundreds of complaints in the Sympatico.highspeed newsgroup about Access Manager. Many dissatisfied users say they will switch to a cable modem service. The last time I saw so many vituperative comments in an Internet newsgroup was years ago, shortly after the math flaw was discovered in Intel's Pentium processor and the company had not yet agreed to replace the chips.
Intel stonewalled customer complaints until it realized its policies were highly damaging to both its reputation and future business prospects. It's a shame Sympatico hasn't learned that lesson. CW
Richard Morochove, FCA, is a Toronto-based computer consultant.
Copyright ©1999 by Morochove & Associates Inc. All rights reserved. This work may not be copied or distributed by any means without our prior written permission.
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