Why I kinda stopped
Aug. 15th, 2020 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plonqI read something on Reddit this evening that gave me a flashback to the time when I decided that I was no longer going to help build computer for anyone other than immediate friends and family members.
A co-worker came to me because he had a friend who was looking for a new computer, and he told her that he knew a guy who was good with computers.
He gave me a list of her requirements, and her desired budget. I spent a few hours researching parts, and managed to put together a pretty capable system that would fill all of her requirements with some headroom to spare, and still came in a bit under her budget. I printed off the parts list for him and he took it to her.
A couple of days later he was back with the list and a few questions - neither unexpected, nor unreasonable since this person was looking to lay out a fair bit of money for a new computer, and they wanted to feel comfortable with the choices I'd made for them. She preferred to go with a more expensive brand for one of the parts, but since it still came in under her budget, I swapped out the part on the list and sent him away again with the new manifest and cost estimate.
He came back a couple of days later because she was questioning my choice of an AMD processor rather than an Intel. She preferred Intel, and she was concerned that AMD might not be compatible with [some trivial bit of software that did not care what processor it ran on] I explained that there was a significant price difference, and even if I went with a slower Intel processor, the motherboard with that socket was also more expensive. I did up a modified list for him with the Intel solution - I'd had to make compromises on almost everything (HD, Memory, speed...). When I gave him the list, I assured him that nothing in her original requirements indicated that she would benefit from an Intel chip, or suffer for having an AMD processor.
A couple of days later he was back again. He said that she was still reluctant to go with AMD, and she didn't understand why she had to give up so much to get the Intel one, but if I could assure her that it was somehow better, was 100% compatible and would never cause any problems down the road...
I stopped him before he was finished and said, "No."
"You mean 'no' it won't cause any issues down the road?"
I replied, "No, I'm not going to build her computer. She 's going to blame the CPU for every problem she has going forward. If she installs a game that's not compatible with the sound card, it's the fault of the CPU. If her power supply smokes, it's the fault of the CPU. If her monitor dies..."
He reluctantly agreed that I was likely right, and he let her know that "something came up and he can't build this for you after all".
I feel like I dodged a technical support bullet.
A co-worker came to me because he had a friend who was looking for a new computer, and he told her that he knew a guy who was good with computers.
He gave me a list of her requirements, and her desired budget. I spent a few hours researching parts, and managed to put together a pretty capable system that would fill all of her requirements with some headroom to spare, and still came in a bit under her budget. I printed off the parts list for him and he took it to her.
A couple of days later he was back with the list and a few questions - neither unexpected, nor unreasonable since this person was looking to lay out a fair bit of money for a new computer, and they wanted to feel comfortable with the choices I'd made for them. She preferred to go with a more expensive brand for one of the parts, but since it still came in under her budget, I swapped out the part on the list and sent him away again with the new manifest and cost estimate.
He came back a couple of days later because she was questioning my choice of an AMD processor rather than an Intel. She preferred Intel, and she was concerned that AMD might not be compatible with [some trivial bit of software that did not care what processor it ran on] I explained that there was a significant price difference, and even if I went with a slower Intel processor, the motherboard with that socket was also more expensive. I did up a modified list for him with the Intel solution - I'd had to make compromises on almost everything (HD, Memory, speed...). When I gave him the list, I assured him that nothing in her original requirements indicated that she would benefit from an Intel chip, or suffer for having an AMD processor.
A couple of days later he was back again. He said that she was still reluctant to go with AMD, and she didn't understand why she had to give up so much to get the Intel one, but if I could assure her that it was somehow better, was 100% compatible and would never cause any problems down the road...
I stopped him before he was finished and said, "No."
"You mean 'no' it won't cause any issues down the road?"
I replied, "No, I'm not going to build her computer. She 's going to blame the CPU for every problem she has going forward. If she installs a game that's not compatible with the sound card, it's the fault of the CPU. If her power supply smokes, it's the fault of the CPU. If her monitor dies..."
He reluctantly agreed that I was likely right, and he let her know that "something came up and he can't build this for you after all".
I feel like I dodged a technical support bullet.
Ecology is Magic
Date: 2020-08-15 10:43 am (UTC)Re: Ecology is Magic
Date: 2020-08-15 01:35 pm (UTC)This was what I'd seen developing all those years ago. When I decided I didn't want to build this person a computer anymore, it was due to the bit where they'd wanted me to guarantee everything would work perfectly in perpetuity. I figured it would be easier for both of us if I just let one of the local computer stores build it for her.
I knew through my workmate that this person had a pretty low level of technical knowledge, and her "brand loyalty" boiled down more to "brand recognition". In a more modern setting, she'd be the one to see a smartphone and ask, "What brand of iPhone is that?"
I'd been slowly losing interest in building machines for other folks by that point anyway, but my coworker had initially cajoled me into it at the time because I was the most expertly expert on those things that he knew.