Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Critic-at-Arms: 1) Promise 2) Reality (Choose Only One)

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 23:22:15 -0400

Critic-at-Arms: 1) Promise 2) Reality (Choose Only One)

In that "Ozzie and Harriet" world that so many people deride, it was a
given that when someone promised something, they would follow
through on that promise -- or their failure and inability to do so would
be the story behind a whole episode. Or a product which broke led to a
long hunt for the reason behind the failure.

I'm not old enough to remember if that was really true, but I sure wish
that it was true today.

We have become accustomed to being lied to and treated unjustly. A
former landlady, for instance, promised that she would protect some of
my personal property when I moved. She didn't even offer any apology
when she informed me that the more valuable things had been stolen,
and that the rest had been ransacked and damaged, all by someone
she knows. Another landlord casually disposed of a large, expensive
item which had been loaned to his tenant, because he had been
unable to make it work when he tried to use it (turn the KNOB next
time)!

Then there are various promises that we make, meaning to carry them
out, but we just don't bother (I used to be guilty of this one, a LOT).

However, there seems to be a new ethic, or rather, an UNethic, in
American business.

Many readers will know that my current work keeps me travelling. In
order to keep in touch with important people, and to connect to the
Internet, I subscribed to Nextel. I was promised easy setup, "excellent"
coverage areas and reliable connections to the independent Internet
Service Provider that I use.

Many readers will also know that my column usually appears on
Wednesday mornings -- but sometimes it's Thursday, because I'm
unable to upload to the net in time for my Tuesday evening deadline,
because I'm in one of the vast tracts of America which are not
covered by Nextel signals.

We aren't talking about places like Little Nowhere, Montana (pop. 17),
either. Try Fort Campbell, Kentucky, jumping-off point for thousands
upon thousands of soldiers going to war. If your sweetheart comes in
on the last train to Clarksville, you'd better be waiting at the station,
because she can't call you on her Nextel phone!

A cross-country trip across Interstates 70 and 80 give me hour after
hour of peaceful driving, safe from interruption by anyone who has my
phone number. Unfortunately, there are times that it would be really
handy to make calls . . .but all is not lost, the next driver to show up
at an accident is likely to have a Cingular or Sprint phone to call the
highway patrol . . .

. . .but enough about Notel -- er, Nextel. Let's assume that you have
finally gotten into a service area, hooked up to the net, and are willing
to wait while the data oozes into your computer (between server
stalls). Now it's time for more fun.

The two top e-mail programs are as buggy as an Iraqi biowar lab. You
could probably expect that from Microsoft LookOut -- er, Outlook --
because of the MS "Close Enough, Ship It" philosophy. However, there
used to be a good alternative, the Netscape browser. Not the last
couple of versions, however, due to features that are unreliable, data
loss, and that really annoying habit of reshuffling the user settings
(and email messages) for no particular reason.

Have we become so used to broken promises that nobody cares
anymore? Software which seems never to have been tested by the
target users. American-made products which are lower in quality (but
higher in price) than Japanese, Korean and even Chinese counterparts.
Politicians who . . .well, we don't need to go there, do we?

Was there ever a Quality Ethic? How do we get it back? Maybe we
should just start providing it to others, then require it in return. Be
polite -- that is a form of quality, after all -- but don't accept junk,
and explain to store managers why you have chosen not to buy a
product. Contact the quality-control people to tell them how to
improve the products that you use but which aren't up to snuff.
Tomorrow, give someone the benefit of the doubt, at least once.

A better world only begins with you, when you decide that you
deserve one. THAT is reality.

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/07/09/critic.htm

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