Another Fine Mess

With apologies to Rodney Dangerfield, I thought I’d speak up for everyone about the general lack of support for software programs.

Let’s take Skype for instance. Have you noticed that at the end of a call, you’re asked to grade its quality? What’s particularly revealing about their customer survey is that if you rate it as anything less than Excellent, it’s your fault. Don’t believe me? Then try it.

If the call was dropped, then it’s your signal; not their software. If you can’t hear the other party very well, it’s either his mic or your speakers; but it’s not their software. If there’s distortion in your reception, then it’s your equipment, but not their software. If, however, the call was excellent, then they take the credit. No one is willing to tell you how great your headset was.

BBC Radio broadcasts its programs on the Web using some software called iPlayer. I listen to its classical radio station quite a bit. My wife also likes to listen to some of the programs, especially while she eats breakfast in bed. It took me awhile to discover the problem, but the iPlayer is not compatible with Windows 7. I was able to figure this out partly because I had a computer for each operating system and because I checked the user forum that BBC set up.

BBC says that it supports Windows 7, but the facts belie the claim, and I’m not alone. The only help that’s available is from those of us who have written in the forum, the same people who can’t get the two to work together.

In the online world, the insistence that success is entirely because of the company and failure is entirely the fault of the customers is a recipe for suicide on the Web.

Bruce Hoag, PhD, CPsychol
Work Psychologist

http://www.p-advantage.com