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My current gig is my first in close to 20 years where the user gets the product
at retail or finds it wrapped and ribboned under a Xmas tree, and it's given me
a renewed perspective on why software is so often reviled by mass consumer
users. When someone is uninitiated to the point where they'll call tech support
for help locating a physical button on the device because the manual said
"select the <name> button" without an image that clearly shows it's a SW UI
element, you can't assume that same person is going to realize that "Open" is
the same as "Open..." or that they won't grumble about confusing product
instructions to 10 friends who will pass the complaint to 10 of their friends,
resulting in 100 lost potential customers.
Microsoft provides limited free tech support calls and then charges for
additional calls. Nobody pays for extended support on something they paid
$79.95 for at Best Buy. They consume call center time and then take their
purchase back for a refund if they don't like the answers they get.
Gene Kim-Eng
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Swallow" <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>
> Well, the user might click Open instead of Open...
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