PC software companies are trying to make customers pay extra for technical support. This is a stake in the heart of personal computing. It drives the industry in the wrong direction and sets up the wrong incentives.
Imagine the scene in corporate meeting rooms across America: Customer advocates ask, ``Has our product gotten a little bloated? Should we do another round of usability testing?'' And someone with a little smile says, ``Well, perhaps we don't want our product to be too easy to use. Remember, support is a profit center for us now.''
There's also another factor. A neighbor of mine needed help in setting up her mailing list. She had no manual because she had ``borrowed'' the software. I started to give her my usual lecture, stressing that it was in her own interest to buy a legal copy. I started
to point out the vendor's legendary support, a toll-free number with unlimited free calls. Then I remembered that that company doesn't offer free support anymore. If she wants a legal copy, she will have to pay a three-digit price that hasn't changed much in three years. If you were in my place, what would you have said to her?
Daniel P. B. Smith
Norwood, MA
Flexible C++
Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it
is
theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.
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Who Profits from Technical Support?
