Tales from Tech Line: Hilarious Strange-But-True Stories from the Computer Industry's Technical-Support Hotlines

I love doing site visits to companies . . . and my favorite part is talking to the people who operate the help lines. First, I like to see how busy they are. If no one is there and they have nothing to do, I assume that they are doing a great job (or the phone lines are disconnected). If there are lots of people and they are busy, I wonder what's the fuss. Second, I like to find out what these people find funny about their jobs. Over the years, I have heard some terrifically funny stories about phone calls that have come in. But nothing I heard in all these site visits compared to the stories in this book.The bottom line is that people who have never seen a personal computer before find it pretty confusing to figure out what everything is used for and how to employ them. As an example, consider the mouse stories. Some people operate them over the keys, while others use the monitor screen. Some people keep them in the plastic bag, thinking this is a dust cover.Every help desk knows that the most common problems are that computers are either not plugged in or not turned on. The stories here nicely embellish on those themes. One woman worked barefoot and kept hitting the surge suppressor switch with her big toe, turning the computer off. Some people can't find the power switch (what power switch?). One major thought that off stood for official, and wondered why his computer wouldn't conduct official business. One computer system crashed every lunch hour (a contractor had installed a plug in the ladies room, and someone unplugged it at lunch to use the hair dryer daily). Floppy disk drives present another opportunity. Some people think you just keep putting more and more floppies in, without ever taking one out. Others fail to notice that they don't have a floppy drive, and push floppies into the chassis to just sit there.Some people find the icons confusing: one woman took the whole family out of the house at 3:37 a.m. when an icon that looked like a bomb came on the screen. She didn't want anyone to be hurt by the bomb in the computer when it exploded.Of course, the software isn't always that intelligent, either. One program told the user: Cannot find keyboard. Hit F1 to continue. You will not only find this book humorous, you'll also appreciate the difficulties that other people have with computers. You'll feel better the next time you can't figure out why your computer won't cooperate. I think it's all an antidote for the one hour and forty-five minutes I spent on a weekend trying to get help from a software vendor without ever getting any useful information. At least I never tried that again. Maybe I should send in my story for the next edition!Overcome the misconception stall that everyone else has less trouble with computers than you do!Donald MitchellCoauthor of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise (available in August 2000) and The 2,000 Percent Solution([email protected]

If this book doen't make you laugh, check your pulse...you're probably dead. This is no surprise to those of us familiar with Mr. Pogue's own books. Anything he writes is hilarious, informative & great. Naturally, anything he edits is great. I have planned to give this little jewel with every holiday gift. Eileen [email protected]

This is a great book. For anyone out there who is a tech, or technical support, its just another day at work, without the normal boring stuff. You have to get it.

I have worked in tech support, and I know how very true these stories are. I have heard so many of them, circulated by e-mail, or told over lunch. But I really enjoyed having them collected into one big book. If you have anything to do with supporting users, or if you ever feel stupid as a user, read this book. It will make you laugh, and make you realise that even your silliest mistakes pale in comparision to some others'.

This book should come with a warning: belly aching laughter inside or don't try to read in a quiet place!This is a "can't put aside book".Delightfully categorized, so you can read all the modem questions or better still all the printer ones.Here is proof that truth and human foibles are funnier than fiction. What makes it even funnier is that all of us have had one of these situations at one time or another.Buy a dozen of these for stocking stuffers, but don't wait for Christmas!