A job for Super Computer Reseller!

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9 October 2013

My eye was caught by a story which appeared in the UK press this week based on a survey of 8,001 desktop and laptop users around the world conducted for SanDisk. Note the precision in that extra 1 on the end of 8,000. Whoever he or she is, I hope they feel special.

Anyway, according to the report on the survey by the Daily Telegraph, “Britons lose five and a half days a year from slow computers”. Pretty shocking, I’m sure you’ll agree. While there were no figures in the report for Ireland, you have to assume that the state of affairs here is probably quite similar. The Italians have the longest delays (96.8 days wasted) and the Americans the least (4.9 days).

With my channel glasses on, however, I viewed these results not as a cause for dismay but rather as an opportunity. After all, if users are so annoyed by the time wasted on their PCs that close to a third of them have admitted it put them in a bad mood for the rest of the day, you have to think they would be very happy to see someone who could help them reduce those delays. Sounds like a job for Super Computer Reseller Man/Woman.

Commenting on the results of the survey, Stefan Kratzer, senior product marketing manager at SanDisk USB & SSD, was quoted in the Telegraph as saying it was “high time PC users in the UK started getting back the time they are losing to slow computers”.

Except, well it turns out that those delays aren’t really from slow PCs after all, even if Kratzer would like them to be. According to the survey, the main reason why people were left waiting at their computers was because they were waiting for files to be downloaded or uploaded. The other big complaint concerned slow loading applications.

Both of those issues are, for the most part, not really caused by the performance of the computer itself so it’s a bit harsh to blame the delays on slow computers. It’s a bit like condemning your car for being slow when you’re caught in a traffic jam. Or accusing yourself of being slow because you’re stuck in a checkout queue at the supermarket and wondering whether you ought to go to the doctor for a check up to make yourself faster.

Facetious? Of course. But if Super Computer Reseller Man/Woman convinced someone to change his or her ‘slow PC’ because it was taking too long to download or upload files, they wouldn’t really be that super after all (although I suppose you could argue that they were from a sales perspective because they had persuaded someone to buy a new PC that he or she didn’t really need).

Anyway, the survey did reveal a potential sales opportunity when it came to what it termed as ‘gadgets’. Apparently, almost a fifth of people in the UK vented their frustration at ‘slow’ gadgets by throwing them against the wall or standing on them (again, I’m sure the figures in Ireland can’t be that different). I think you’ll agree this sounds like a job for Super Gadget Repair Man/Woman. And if he or she can’t do it, I suggest they put in a call to Super Gadget Replacement Man/Woman instead.

Of course, they could take a closer look at why download and upload speeds are slower than they’d like or why particular applications take longer to load even if it’s much easier to vent their spleen at the screen in front of them. And maybe their trusted IT adviser could help people see past the PC or gadget to the real issues behind and beyond it.

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