I’ve been really tempted recently to start wearing t-shirts with RTFM and others of a similar direction, because there are some people who don’t even try to figure out how to use their computer and want someone to spoon feed them.
I work in a communications company. If you work here you should KNOW how to use a computer.
Most of our computers were state of the art machines, and easy to work with, with one notable exception. The computer we used to print out discharge instructions for our ED patients was an old 286 machine running Windows 3.33. Every Tuesday at 0500, when Maintenance did the generator check, the dischrage computer would crash and we would have to wait for IT to come in at 8am to reboot it and restart the software . . . when they got around to showing up. Until then, we had to write out instructions for patients by hand.
I got so sick of such a silly waste of time, that I would fix the machine myself, and typed up step by step instructions on what to do to get it running every week during the power check.
Speaking as someone who works in IT, here’s my response.
1) We ask if you’ve rebooted your computer because you’d be surprised how many times rebooting the computer fixes an issue (If we sound tired or mean its because we’re unhappy with our career choice).
2) We ask this because we’re looking for a clue as to what’s causing this issue. Is it when you reboot the machine? After you’ve installed some software? Everytime you access e-mail?
3) IT is usually understaffed. We’re an expense that doesn’t really help the company make money (at best we can prevent the company from losing money and productivity), and the higher ups are always trying to do more than less. We can’t always be at your beck and call.
4) IT support staff have pretty much no say in what kind of computer you get. It’s usually up to a team of developers to decide what’s standardized. If you want a computer that’s not the company standard, you will usually need to get it yourself and support it yourself. Most companies don’t have the kind of staff that can support every computer and every operating system under, so we have to draw the line somewhere.
Nope…
I’ve been really tempted recently to start wearing t-shirts with RTFM and others of a similar direction, because there are some people who don’t even try to figure out how to use their computer and want someone to spoon feed them.
I work in a communications company. If you work here you should KNOW how to use a computer.
Oh yes and panels 2 and 3 are what I say most often.
I have done 1 – 3
Most of our computers were state of the art machines, and easy to work with, with one notable exception. The computer we used to print out discharge instructions for our ED patients was an old 286 machine running Windows 3.33. Every Tuesday at 0500, when Maintenance did the generator check, the dischrage computer would crash and we would have to wait for IT to come in at 8am to reboot it and restart the software . . . when they got around to showing up. Until then, we had to write out instructions for patients by hand.
I got so sick of such a silly waste of time, that I would fix the machine myself, and typed up step by step instructions on what to do to get it running every week during the power check.
Sometimes, ya gotta just learn to do it yourself.
Speaking as someone who works in IT, here’s my response.
1) We ask if you’ve rebooted your computer because you’d be surprised how many times rebooting the computer fixes an issue (If we sound tired or mean its because we’re unhappy with our career choice).
2) We ask this because we’re looking for a clue as to what’s causing this issue. Is it when you reboot the machine? After you’ve installed some software? Everytime you access e-mail?
3) IT is usually understaffed. We’re an expense that doesn’t really help the company make money (at best we can prevent the company from losing money and productivity), and the higher ups are always trying to do more than less. We can’t always be at your beck and call.
4) IT support staff have pretty much no say in what kind of computer you get. It’s usually up to a team of developers to decide what’s standardized. If you want a computer that’s not the company standard, you will usually need to get it yourself and support it yourself. Most companies don’t have the kind of staff that can support every computer and every operating system under, so we have to draw the line somewhere.
well put, Ryan! As a former IT guy myself, the points you’ve put together are precisely those that I wanted to address within the comic.