Blog Entry

The Pleasure of Computing

28 September, 2008

It has been a while. We have been reviewing our logs, business solutions and home user solutions that have been implemented in the past by our company and others.

Wouldn’t it be great if every time you sat down to use your computer, it just started up (fast) and when you did something you wanted to do, it worked. Wouldn’t it be a great day spending time with your computer if it was an error free day? And what about if you could work at your computer for a whole month and never see the warning balloon asking you to do updates? And the one that would really take the cake would be if you were sitting at your computer and you wanted to print something, and it actually came out of the printer exactly the way you envisioned it? That would be a day to really celebrate.

When some of these things that I have mentioned above don't happen the way you intended them to, what is your reaction to this situation? I know. I hear you. "Ah!!! Not again. This stupid machine never does what it is supposed to do. All I want it to do is ...". You may even be driven to use some colourful metaphors. I do have some good (if not great) news for you. You don't have to live like this. There are choices you can make, options you can take to make your computing experience "A Pleasure".

Let's get started with this road to happiness. First, when you get your brand new computer, you need to have it set up properly. You need to have your connection to the Internet set up & secured. You will notice the word properly-set up by a qualified technician. Out of the box equipment is seldom set up for your personal use. It is a generic thing. If you buy a brand name computer and it gets delivered to you, they have installed all kinds of software on your computer that you may never use. Microsoft once put out a paper stating the average user only uses 6% of the computer! If that is the case, why would you start up all these other features and programs that you will never use? It will slow your new machine down (which is frustrating). Out of the box does not mean that the computer is completely updated or even configured to update properly. It may have trial anti-virus software that is not configured the way you need it to be. Your frequently used programs like Internet Explorer are not configured out of the box and they ask really strange questions like "do you want phishing enabled"? Most people spell fishing with an "F". Routers should be used and are never set up securely out of the box. They need to be configured.

After all this is done, you can now start on phase two. I know this is may be a really bad word, but the key here is (I will say it quietly) education. If you can take some time to educate yourself in the rudimentary aspects of working with a computer, for example learning how use option in the Print properties to get the print job to look exactly how you want it to look. Sometimes you have to edit the document. Sometimes it is a combination of both. But you have to first know the program, then the options of your equipment, then set them up so they will produce what you want. Just hitting the print button will create excess stress so this is where education kicks in.

From a business standpoint, how much time is wasted when an employee has to play with programs because they have not learned the quick tips? How much time is robbed from your family because you have to work at the task over and over to get it right. We hear time and time again where clients will say "I spent all night getting this to work". Sometimes with a little education, a help file, or a phone call to someone who knows can save you the grief. Keep in mind you don't know, until you have been taught (self taught or otherwise).

Now that your computer is set up properly so that it is fast, and you have learned the quick tips, there is nothing holding you back from having a great time with your computer.

Oh, one other little trick you can try. Our tip to resolve a problem with anything is keeping a positive frame of mind. If something goes wrong, try to turn the stress of a situation from “s#!t” to saying out loud "C:):)L!" when you run into a little speed bump. I can assure you that the issue will get resolved smoothly when you don’t allow that “stupid machine” with no brains to drive your emotions over the edge.

Have a "Pleasurable" time with your computer.