I just caught the article "Prepare for the Worst" and I appreciate your hammering these points to small business users. It's a thankless task, reminding people to back up their data. I particularly related to the first two lessons on automating backups and backing up not just documents but the entire system (and by extension, backing up not only servers but clients/desktops too).
Great job as usual on what is normally such a dry, boring topic. -- Kezia Jauron, JPR Communications, kezia@jprcom.com
I am responding to the Feedback section regarding customer support attitudes.
I have worked in this business for five years--two in call centers and a regular IT department since. I have noticed the attitude of most of the people in this industry are very snobby, rude, and downright awful.
I love what I do, and I guess it shows who is in this for the money and who's in it for the enjoyment and challenge. People who get into this profession have a lot to learn about customer skills. Customers, internal and external, are the ones who keep us employed. How would you feel if you called one and you were treated the way you treat others? -- Scott A Weller, MCP Support Technician, Polsinelli Shalton and Welte, Kansas City, Mo.
Reader Jim Cline remarks that he has the best employees because they are well-rounded. I was confused because he started off saying, "I have found that programmers are a dime a dozen if they have no other skills."
I took this to mean they have no other skills besides computer skills. It sounded to me like he was telling all of us Computer Science majors that we are going to be a dime a dozen when we get out of school. I understand that corporations such as his want the best employee for the money. But we don't need any more negativity about jobs.
I think for some, it is a little too late to get another degree and get IT certifications. I don't know what kind of certifications he is talking about, but where do they give you a certification on Object Oriented Programming and Algorithm Analysis? How about Operating System Concepts? I have never seen these anywhere but at a university, and they are not certifications, they are courses required for a degree.
I myself have been looking for an internship for over a year and have found nothing. I wonder if it is because they adopted or share a similar vision of Jim Cline's--that we are all a dime a dozen. We will never be able to show our true potential if we are not even given an interview, or even a chance of a phone call. -- Bill Vucina, wvucin1@towson.edu
I just read your article "White boxes come back". Nowhere will you find more people who agree with the premise of your article than among the students burned by Dell's rebate tactics.
A large number of students (up to 80,000) purchased systems through Dell over the holidays. The systems were offered with $710 in rebates. The company is now claiming many of these rebates invalid. The student-customers are furious and are considering three options: Return of the system, action in small-claims court, and a class-action lawsuit.
More information about this case is available at these sites: Fat Wallet, Dell forums, Bad Business Bureau.
These students have discovered that a little local support and a friendly face go much further than a discount price and phony rebates. -- Kevin Young
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