Monday, November 20, 2006

Technical Expertise

I am not a gadget guy. I like electronics well enough, but I don't need the latest toy. I do fine with minimal cellphone use and don't need a pager/Blackberry. I try to learn how to take care of technology and want to come up with a list of things to do when confronted by wonky technology. (A shout out to Steve on the word choice.)

After talking with friends, there are four steps most people take:

1) Restart.
2) Percussive maintenance.
3) Call support.
4) Read the manual.

The problem with this list is that #3 is usually the 50th thing I want to do and #4 is the 100th. So what are all the other steps in between?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm famous! Soon, everyone in Jared's circle will be talking like me.

Since you flushed me out, and forced me to post and not just lurk like I usually do, here's a tip: Get yourself an R2D2 unit. Not a real one, perhaps, but befriend a mid-20-year gadget guy. I was fortunate enough to have this happen when my old housemates were looking to replace me when I moved out a few years ago, and not only did my replacement turn out to be a great guy, he was a total R2. Introduced us to TIVO about a year before anyone else had it, and if I ever have a problem with a gadget, a few minutes in front of it, and boom, he's cleared it up. I think he literally plugs into most electronics like an honest-to-garsh R2 unit.