Computer novices may feel
like they're alone these days, but some of the following calls to IBM's help
center show there are plenty of people out there who still are inching onto the
information superhighway.
After a caller gave a technician her PC's serial number, he scanned a database
of registered users and responded, "I see you have an Aptiva" desktop unit.
Before he could say another word, the caller shrieked and said she'd be right
back. When the customer returned, the technician asked if she was all right. The
caller responded: "Had I realized you could see me, I never would have
telephoned in my bathrobe."
A customer who had just received a laptop computer asked about the power-saving
feature known as "hibernate." Would this hibernate device work in the spring and
summer, the caller asked.
Another caller explained she had received a gift of software on 5.25-inch
diskettes, but she had only a 3.5-inch disk drive on her computer. The
technician said she had two options: Get a second disk drive, or use 3.5-inch
diskettes. The customer called back later, now complaining that her disk drive
was making a terrible noise. And this despite the fact that she was using a
3.5-inch diskette, she said. After a bunch of questions, the technician
determined the caller had used a pair of scissors to trim the 5.25-inch
diskettes to fit the 3.5-inch drive.
A caller, perplexed that his new desktop computer--the one that was supposed to
do everything short of bringing on world peace - was doing nothing, cried out
for help. No problem, the IBM technician said. First, open a "window" to launch
a specific program. The conversation continued, and the caller asked a few
moments later if it might be all right to close the window. Why, the IBM
technician asked. Because, the caller responded, it was getting very chilly. |
|
