When I first started working with technology and computers it seemed that the operating systems and circuitry of the electronics were somewhat mysterious and the keys were held by arcane programmers and wizards at very closed-door corporate engineering departments.
In recent times I can think of more than a couple of instances where there were issues with the software or hardware of a manufacturer and the explanations or decoding of the problem and even suggestions as to how to remedy the problems came from the user base. I suppose this used to happen with letters to engineers that likely went unanswered and one never knew if anything came of them but the times are changing.
For example, it made national news on New Year's Eve 2008 when Microsoft's Zune (30 GB) suddenly started crashing; not just a handful but nearly every device; it seemed to be the Y2K that those of us in IT planned for but never happened was happening to the Zunes. There's a certain openness now, possibly because of a more sophisticated user base or because companies are more open about disclosing issues. David Murphy of PC World went over the root of the issue with the Zune recently and it's explained in such a way that non-programmers can readily understand it.
No comments:
Post a Comment