Geek Hell

Over the Christmas break I finally conceded defeat and bought a new computer. My old computer has been a faithful companion but, after 10 years, I have to accept that it's days are numbered. As in most countries, Swedish stores let fly with after Christmas sales the moment that everyone has finished scoffing down their Christmas dinner. You do get a bit of warning about them, with flyers packing the mail box for the 2 weeks prior. We had done a bit of research and had decided on a new model computer to buy. The computer itself wasn't any cheaper than normal, but the "Sale" price included a new monitor. We didn't really need a new monitor but took the opportunity to futureproof us. Wandering leisurely down to our local store, we were disappointed that other people had wandered a bit quicker than us, and the computer was sold out. There would be more in next week, we were told. For the same price. Fair enough. Back home we did a quick check around and found out that a neighbouring store about 90 minutes away, had the same model in stock. Good excuse for an outing, we thought. Arriving into that store we found that the last model had just been sold.  I was starting to get the message there that this computer wasn't supposed to be for us.

One week later and we wandered (a bit less leisurely this time) back to the original store to see if their new shipment had come in. As luck would have it, they had 3 models left of their new batch. We grabbed one off the shelf and hit up the nearest salesperson for our free monitor. If only life were that simple.

We'd like the monitor which goes with this computer please. No worries, here's one. Thanks. Don't mention it, that will be 1,500 kronor extra. For what ? For the monitor. This one ? That's the one. But that's supposed to be free with the computer. Ah, you're thinking of the Christmas sale computer. You mean the one like I'm holding here ? Yes, exactly that one. So this is the Christmas sale computer ? No, that is the AFTER Christmas computer. Wait on, we tried to buy a Christmas sale computer last week but they were sold out. That's right, they were really popular. The salesperson that day told us that there would be a new shipment next week. Yes, she was right. She also said that the computer with monitor would be the same price. She did ? You betcha. No, now you pay 1,500 kronor extra for the monitor. But your store in Gällivare (3 hours away, but that's not the point) is still selling the Christmas sale packet with no extra charge for the monitor. Really ? So how can you have two branches of the same store selling the same product on the same day for different prices ? Hadn't thought about that. Think about it. If I give you this monitor, will you go away ? More than likely. There you go then. Thanks, bye.

A bit more to it than that, but you get the idea. So we get this new computer (and monitor) home and go about setting the thing up. Bear in mind that the last time I did this was 10 years ago. But the principle is still the same, it's still a computer. If only life were that simple. Turning the thing on for the first time, I didn't have a clue what I was staring at. I had expected to see a computer screeen. Instead I seemed to be viewing some that looked like a scaled up version of my lastest cellphone. There wasn't even an OFF button to click. Gingerly working my way around this, whatever it was, I decided to try and install a new software package which I had purchased through my employer. It all went well until I tried to start up the programme using the activation code supplied with the purchase. That's when nothing decided to work. Two hours later, and a lengthly call to a computer support helpline, we discovered that there was actually a demonstration version of the same software already on the computer, loaded at the factory. And this was causing the problem. Exactly how was I supposed to know that ? I just wanted a computer, I didn't want any helpful suggestions from the manufacturer. Even the frickin manual was apparently electronic, buried somewhere down in the bowels of the computer where I dare not tread.

I haven't dared go much further with this beast, but I continue to be frustrated by computer people who, instead of listening to what I want, decide for themselves that this is what I need. Some people seem to make a career out of solving problems which don't actually exist. It might be 10 years out of date, but my old computer did all the things I wanted, and none of the things I didn't want. Sometimes things work well for a reason and don't need to be changed for the sake of change.