OT: New definition of a job required, beyond PC support ... On-call PC operator :-(

[Adrian C]

I'm pissed.

I'm the one plagued with relatives wanting their computers sorted out, windows update, AV updates, spyware, crashed drive etc...

Support story has been told on uk.comp.homebuilt, but now a new sinister development has taken place, which is now causing me grief. It's hand holding in extremis :-(

They buy a computer and use it for outlook express email. That's it - period.

No interest in using a web browser. No interest in learning how to change a print cartridge in an ink-jet printer. No interest in buying a cheap laser printer to avoid problems of above. No interest in learning how to transfer pictures from their digital camera. No interest in using google. No interest in attending computer literacy classes. No interest in starting up TeamViewer / Remote Desktop. I *have* to drive over.

Just had a chap ring asking me to come over and print him out a map on how to travel around Peterborough. He was once upon a time (many years) a school teacher....

Another (flower arranger) wants me to help (no, actually do - because she can't be arsed to follow the clear emailed instructions) populate a web application with photos from her cruise holiday so that they get an expensive personalised printed book momento of it.

It goes on ...

There is no learning involved here, there is no point of me teaching them anything. They can't be bothered. Attention span of a gnat. All of them.

And a few weeks later, I get called back to do exactly the same kind of things again. It's like, I'm not computer support. I'm their operator...

:-(

[Peter Andrews]

My sympathies - I think you will have to learn to say no, I did! However Teamviewer can be set so that no local intervention is required - log on whenever you like :-) Half hour remote support is much better than a 20 mile round trip and a whole evening occupied.

Peter

[Tim Watts]

Peter Andrews wibbled on Thursday 28 January 2010 21:03

And you can set their screensaver to horseporn and blame it on evil communist hackers.

Back to the OP - being slightly less cynical for a minute (it's hard, I'm straining a muscle here) - if I had people that useless with so few requirements, I think I would probably slap linux on their PC, set it so everything works with one word processor, one web browser and email, working printing and leave it at that.

They won't tell the difference, they're less likely to break it and remote support is potentially easier. OK, VNC is VNC, but you might at least be able to do a fair few requests over ssh... And it's easy to remote mount the filesystem securely over the internet with sshfs. Oh, and fix sshd_config so only your account and not theirs is even able to log in remotely...

Or develop an hourly rate and turn it to your advantage...

[Phil L]

Just send them this link - it explains everything everyone needs to know about computers:

[Dave]

I take it that you are not married then. I get all those problems from my wife. :-((

The number of times I have talked her through attaching something to an e mail is un-believable. :-((

Dave

[Chris Whelan]

[...]

[BigH2K]

Don't see this as a problem.

Tell them a time when it's convenient for you to call, tell them it's a minimum £25 call-out, charge them realistically for your time and that's a nice little earner. I love customers like this.

[Tim]

Me too. :-(

Sometimes I wish I'd just told them all to buy Macs and then leave the phone off the hook.

Tim

[Conor]

Easy solution. Charge them £30 an hour from the time you leave your house until the time you return. Gets shut of em well and truly.

[ericp]

Ah but I bet you don't get them with Thai keyboards installed. Oh what joy we have !

[djc]

[Phil L]

perm any eight from ten of these 2000 or so:

's to say where the original originated from?

[Clive George]

Well, I can - it's xkcd. Whether the words are wholly original is a different question, but the style is distinctive.

You're allowed to copy it as much as you want though.

However how many have the alt text?

[Pete Verdon]

by-your-leave. I know he does CC licensing, but I assumed it was at least an attribution variant.

Pete

[Pete Verdon]

The original of that cartoon was drawn by Randall Munroe, who is XKCD. I couldn't swear that he didn't get the idea from elsewhere, but 1) I would trust him to say so if he had and 2) all of the copies in your link are of his hand-drawn version.

Pete

[Pete Verdon]

So WTF do you do it?

My parents get free tech support, but I've made it clear that it's not something I particularly enjoy doing and they behave like reasonable people in light of that.

When I was a teenager they tried to pimp me out to friends and relatives; I instigated a charging regime, did one job for £50 per hour, and then strangely enough no more.

Buy the relevant well-known ThinkGeek T-shirt, and tell them to stuff it. If you were a car mechanic or carpenter would they expect you to work for free?

Pete

[Harry]

Used to be involved in a similar problem with the wife's huge tribe. Cured by doing the same, £25 per call out and rapid development of an inability to understand software. As in, "No idea how you do that on here, I only do hardware y'see".

[The Medway Handyman]

If you are a handyman your daughters, sister in law, mother in law etc all expect you to work for free :-)

[Chris Whelan]

[...]

Car mechanics have a much harder time of it than PC techs!

The same expectation of free help at any time of day or night applies, only they get to do outside in the rain.

Chris

[Adrian C]

A couple (young, professional) have been told to get Macs, and thankfully, recently, they did. Apart from email configurations and seting the wife up for her workplace's Citrix access, nothing else has been heard of them. These folks are learning about their new machines, and given their investment and other interests in "art" will surely get great things done. Previously on Windows, I was forever wiping spyware off their drive caught from their visiting activities on less reputed and scam websites ...