Comments on: A Bad Experience and a Bigger Potential Problem http://jamesrdickey.com/2009/02/a-bad-experience-and-a-bigger-potential-problem/ Social media, marketing, politics and more... Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:39:57 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: James Dickey http://jamesrdickey.com/2009/02/a-bad-experience-and-a-bigger-potential-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-151 James Dickey Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:41:12 +0000 http://jamesrdickey.com/?p=333#comment-151 I have a feeling you're right - "many small, very reasonable decisions" that led to a bad result. Unfortunately, if you're so big you can't watch everything directly you have to have everyone watching out for you, and they don't seem to have that. I hope I'm wrong and it was a rare occurrence, but I'm afraid I'm not. I too would love to hear the perspective of those involved. I have a feeling you’re right – “many small, very reasonable decisions” that led to a bad result.

Unfortunately, if you’re so big you can’t watch everything directly you have to have everyone watching out for you, and they don’t seem to have that. I hope I’m wrong and it was a rare occurrence, but I’m afraid I’m not.

I too would love to hear the perspective of those involved.

]]> By: Lawrence Kersten http://jamesrdickey.com/2009/02/a-bad-experience-and-a-bigger-potential-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-150 Lawrence Kersten Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:07:59 +0000 http://jamesrdickey.com/?p=333#comment-150 Wow James, great story. This is sad to hear. Though I'm not a fan of the Dell product, I know they've historically had a good reputation for service. I did my dissertation on customer service, so even though I didn't like their product, I appreciated their service the last time I used them (in 2002). It would be fascinating to hear all of the reasons why this happened from the players involved. It would also be interesting to hear how things have changed in the last decade from those who've been their a while. My guess is that there are many small, very reasonable decisions that have been made to streamline the operation that collectively have produced a large, inefficient, disempowering bureaucracy--but that's just a guess. Wow James, great story. This is sad to hear. Though I’m not a fan of the Dell product, I know they’ve historically had a good reputation for service. I did my dissertation on customer service, so even though I didn’t like their product, I appreciated their service the last time I used them (in 2002). It would be fascinating to hear all of the reasons why this happened from the players involved. It would also be interesting to hear how things have changed in the last decade from those who’ve been their a while. My guess is that there are many small, very reasonable decisions that have been made to streamline the operation that collectively have produced a large, inefficient, disempowering bureaucracy–but that’s just a guess.

]]> By: James Dickey http://jamesrdickey.com/2009/02/a-bad-experience-and-a-bigger-potential-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-149 James Dickey Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:13:48 +0000 http://jamesrdickey.com/?p=333#comment-149 Asad- I appreciate that - and I'd love it. My wife has a MacBook Pro that is a joy to use. Unfortunately our corporate standards do not allow me to use an Apple and I'm sure it'll be another lifetime before they change that. I appreciate your detailed points, though, and hope they help convince some others who are on the fence. James Asad-

I appreciate that – and I’d love it. My wife has a MacBook Pro that is a joy to use. Unfortunately our corporate standards do not allow me to use an Apple and I’m sure it’ll be another lifetime before they change that. I appreciate your detailed points, though, and hope they help convince some others who are on the fence.

James

]]> By: Asad Quraishi http://jamesrdickey.com/2009/02/a-bad-experience-and-a-bigger-potential-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-148 Asad Quraishi Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:26:04 +0000 http://jamesrdickey.com/?p=333#comment-148 James, I've been in charge of several IT shops in companies across industries. One of my functions was to find the best hardware and negotiate the best price for different classes of machine including servers, desktops, laptops. IBM used to make the best laptops - I've used them all, Dell, HP, Compaq, Toshiba. Then they were bought by Lenovo. 2 years later they were no longer the best. I think HP/Compaq took that spot on the PC side. Vista, which I had no intention of rolling out company-wide (A new high-end Vista laptop operated at the same speed as my then 2 year old machine!), made me question the whole Windows thing. Meanwhile I had owned an iPod for a while and loved the design and the way it just worked the way you'd expect it to. So I bought a Mac. Then I ditched my PC. I run Windows on my Mac for the odd time I need to use a Windows application (I power it up maybe once or twice a week) but I admit, I've found religion. After 23 years of PCs I had finally ditched the whole XPerience and moved on. I'm simplifying a lot. I actually spent months evaluating this decision, making sure my Mac could integrate with Microsoft Active Directory to get access to servers volumes and printers. We were running Lotus Notes which ran fine on Mac. There's Entourage on the Mac to connect to exchange and Apple has licensed MS Active Synch technology in order to 'natively' support MS Exchange as of their next operating system, Snow Leopard. It will be out this summer and you'll be able to use Apple's mail software (free) to access it. There's also MS Office 2008 for the Mac. One objection I hear often is that Macs are more expensive. It's true that you can get PCs cheaper than Macs. I did a price to feature comparison and came up with the Mac laptop being $100 more than an equivalent PC (http://quad4b.blogspot.com/2006/04/bootcamp-so-what.html). If you include the useful software that's bundled on a Mac I think it would level the field. But it is true that Apple doesn't sell low end machines. If you need a netbook, buy a Windows machine. But what most people - and I'm talking about business here - don't factor in to their calculations is the cost of lost productivity. I am WAY MORE productive on my Mac than I ever was on a PC and I've been using it for 2 years versus, at the time, 23 years on a PC. There's also what I call the 'joy factor'. How much would you pay to actually enjoy using a computer again? I love using the Mac. If you're interested drop me a line, you have me e-mail address. I'll answer any additional questions you may have. There is a learning curve and it's as shallow as your desire to move to the Mac. By the way, Apple consistently gets the highest consumer satisfaction scores: http://www.itwire.com/content/view/23352/1231/ Cheers. James,

I’ve been in charge of several IT shops in companies across industries. One of my functions was to find the best hardware and negotiate the best price for different classes of machine including servers, desktops, laptops. IBM used to make the best laptops – I’ve used them all, Dell, HP, Compaq, Toshiba. Then they were bought by Lenovo. 2 years later they were no longer the best. I think HP/Compaq took that spot on the PC side. Vista, which I had no intention of rolling out company-wide (A new high-end Vista laptop operated at the same speed as my then 2 year old machine!), made me question the whole Windows thing. Meanwhile I had owned an iPod for a while and loved the design and the way it just worked the way you’d expect it to. So I bought a Mac. Then I ditched my PC.

I run Windows on my Mac for the odd time I need to use a Windows application (I power it up maybe once or twice a week) but I admit, I’ve found religion. After 23 years of PCs I had finally ditched the whole XPerience and moved on. I’m simplifying a lot. I actually spent months evaluating this decision, making sure my Mac could integrate with Microsoft Active Directory to get access to servers volumes and printers. We were running Lotus Notes which ran fine on Mac. There’s Entourage on the Mac to connect to exchange and Apple has licensed MS Active Synch technology in order to ‘natively’ support MS Exchange as of their next operating system, Snow Leopard. It will be out this summer and you’ll be able to use Apple’s mail software (free) to access it. There’s also MS Office 2008 for the Mac.

One objection I hear often is that Macs are more expensive. It’s true that you can get PCs cheaper than Macs. I did a price to feature comparison and came up with the Mac laptop being $100 more than an equivalent PC (http://quad4b.blogspot.com/2006/04/bootcamp-so-what.html). If you include the useful software that’s bundled on a Mac I think it would level the field. But it is true that Apple doesn’t sell low end machines. If you need a netbook, buy a Windows machine. But what most people – and I’m talking about business here – don’t factor in to their calculations is the cost of lost productivity. I am WAY MORE productive on my Mac than I ever was on a PC and I’ve been using it for 2 years versus, at the time, 23 years on a PC. There’s also what I call the ‘joy factor’. How much would you pay to actually enjoy using a computer again? I love using the Mac.

If you’re interested drop me a line, you have me e-mail address. I’ll answer any additional questions you may have. There is a learning curve and it’s as shallow as your desire to move to the Mac.

By the way, Apple consistently gets the highest consumer satisfaction scores: http://www.itwire.com/content/view/23352/1231/

Cheers.

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