Fight for your right to better tech support

Editors note: This is one of several columns that I wrote for the Columbia Missourian. They were originally called Your Digital World

Just recently, my soon-to-be mother-in-law had to call her computer manufacturer because her taskbar, the gray bar along the bottom of most Windows screens that includes the Start menu and the clock, had disappeared.

The company told her to try a few simple techniques to get it back. When those failed, they told her to use their system restore CD to fix the problem.

The tech support person she talked to didn’t know – or didn’t care – about the fact that the program on the CD reformatted her hard drive in the process. She had her taskbar back, but she lost every bit of data on her computer.
Continue reading

Posted in Technology | Comments Off on Fight for your right to better tech support

Explore the digital world in the real world

Editors note: This is one of several columns that I wrote for the Columbia Missourian. They were originally called Your Digital World

Let me take my first week with you to explain why this column is called “Your Digital World.”
Continue reading

Posted in Technology | Comments Off on Explore the digital world in the real world