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Apple, Pandora, and the Snob Aesthetic

February 23, 2022 By Mark Leave a Comment

Whatever your feelings about Apple as a corporation, former CEO Steve Jobs is rightly credited with exploiting the intersection of technology and fashion. The iPhone, for example, was not simply a revolutionary device, it quickly came to signify cultural cachet. If you were obsessively checking another portable device you were a dweeb, but if you were obsessively checking an iPhone you were hip.

Because of my feelings about Apple as a corporation I have only owned one Apple product in my long life — an iPod Mini, which was received as a welcome and generous gift. In terms of music storage it was functional, in terms of sound quality it was tolerable, but in terms of design it was as cutting-edge as a device could be at the time. Unfortunately, a foundational precept of Apple’s cutting-edge design aesthetic involves obscuring and abstracting device functionality to the point of incomprehension, leaving new users in the dark about how their sophisticated devices actually function.

I still remember fiddling with my new iPod Mini and being soundly rebuffed in my various attempts to understand the interface. I also remember reading the curt instructions in the enclosed insert, and finding no information which explained how to reliably navigate the various menus. I even remember trying to fight may way into the iPod Mini menu system in the hope that there might be some onboard instructions — even a README file — but again I was defeated. Only when i logged on to the internet and conducted a wide search did I find a demonstration of the distinctive thumb swirl which was critical to the functionality of the iPod Mini interface.  [ Read more ]

Filed Under: ~ Tangents Tagged With: tech support

Network Solutions Fails Again

January 1, 2012 By Mark Leave a Comment

Last year I wrote a couple of posts about the tech support hell I ended up in with my internet service provider (ISP), Network Solutions. I also wrote a post explaining the tech-support process and how to navigate some of the obstacles you’ll encounter. I stated at the time that I would look for a new ISP, but NetSol performed well until the renewal of my service contract seven months later, so I opted to go with the devil I knew.

That devil has now failed to get one of my sites up and running for an entire week. During that week I’ve been told the problem was related to a denial-of-service attack, and that it was related to an error in the configuration of my WordPress settings, but neither of those knee-jerk diagnoses were true. When tech support came to the same conclusion — after multiple calls from me — they escalated the issue to engineering. My site is still unavailable after seven days.

I understand that Network Solutions can’t provide free tech support to every site owner who uses WordPress. And I have no doubt that they are constantly badgered by users seeking exactly that: free service for problems those users created. So when the NetSol techs told me there was a configuration problem with my WordPress settings I took ownership of the problem. (They stressed that they weren’t even supposed to do that much, and I’m grateful they tried to help within the confines of their internal directives.) In looking into the issue, however, I realized not only that I didn’t cause that problem, but there was clear evidence to suggest the configuration issue was not the cause of the problem I was having.  [ Read more ]

Filed Under: Ditchwalk.com Tagged With: fail, Network Solutions, tech support, Wordpress

When Escalation is a Good Thing

September 18, 2010 By Mark 1 Comment

Whether you’re an indy artist establishing a full-blown online presence or just an average tech user, sooner or later you’re going to run into gadget problems that need resolving. It’s the nature of the tech beast that the devices and services we rely on are complicated and regularly in need of reconfiguration.

While even the most automated updating process can go wrong, where most end-users run into real trouble is when they require (or think they require) individual tech support. Even worse, the more obscure, intermittent or subtle a problem is, the more difficult it can be to get tech support to address the problem.

The good news — and I think it is very good news — is that there are some basic things you can do to make the problem-resolution process as efficient as possible. Which is not to say that you will enjoy it, or even that your problem will be resolved, but simply that you will know you took your best shot.  [ Read more ]

Filed Under: ~ Tangents, Publishing Tagged With: tech support