I love technology.
If there is anything new, I have a urge, no desire to buy and use it.
I MUST have it.
Perhaps it is my inquiring mind, my days in the forefront of computing, perhaps it is that I am looking for solutions to solve or resolve issues and problems.
I am a great believer in VoiP (Voice over the internet Protocol). I often speak via Skype free of charge to relatives in Malaysia, friends in India, China, Italy, Canada and Turkey to discus business. I also use Skype to telephone landlines in many countries at greatly reduced rates.
The quality of VoiP is very good, the telecoms companies must change now to meet the challenge of this new technology, gone are the days when they would change very high charges for overseas calls. Mobile phone suppliers will also have to move soon to meet the challenge.
The problem with VoiP is that you need a computer switched on, hooked-up to the internet (broadband), which makes mobility, i.e. away from your desk a problem.
I have partially overcome this problem by having a mobile phone which can run Skype, and subject to being able to pick-up an free wireless internet connection, (Wi-Fi), I can make free or reduced rate calls to any part of the world from anywhere in the world.
A new product was launched by Skype, a Dualphone 3088.
This phone is connected wirelessly, via a base station, with a connection to the normal telephone line, so you can make and receive normal telephone calls. Also, the base station is connected to the internet. The telephone handset is like a computer in it’s own right, and runs Skype. No need to have a computer switched on.
This system worked well for one month, I was very pleased.
Then it stopped working.
I read the manual again. I reset the whole system. Reinstalled it. Rewired my computer layout. I did every thing I knew.
It was dead as regards making Skype calls, but OK for landlines. There was a big problem.
I decided to search the internet.
To my surprise, well not really, I find that this is a common fault with this Dualphone 3088, and has been an issue for a number of months, which is known by the manufacturer plus I would think by Skype.
Why do the manufacturer and Skype still sell this product when they know there is a very fundamental fault with the system, it breaks down.
Wait until the second generation or release.
Because technology is moving so quickly, new models, new ideas are rushed to the market before someone else gets there.
These inventions are often the brainchild of “techies”, they have a great idea, know how to create them, but have no idea of how they will be used by non technical thinking people, and how to test them in a non laboratory environment, that is the home of the end user.
I think the strategy some people take is to wait until the technophobs like me have tested them out, found the faults, which are then incorporated into new releases of the product.
It also means the product often is sold more cheaply.
Will I ever learn? No.
Trainings
I have noticed that over the years, new concepts and new ideas are launched in the field of training.
Often these new ideas are re badged, or old ideas or courses given a new name.
Having had attended some of these courses, or listened to presentations on the courses, I sit there and ask myself what planet do these people come from. There is no content in what they are doing, no value that can be taken away.
Then I listen to trainers who have been training a long time, seen a lot of water flowing under the bridge, had loads of experience, updated themselves and the courses with new ideas and concepts.
Unlike new trainers to the field, the old ones can bring into the course experience, knowledge of having done the work, implemented it, found the faults, and been able to resolve these.
Ask questions of other users of systems before buying. Ask only those who have used.
Read between the lines, as often people tell you things that they have heard from others second hand.
How often have I heard that hypnosis is dangerous. When asked, have you ever been hypnostised, they will say, NO. How do they know? Someone told them.
Remember, we only see things at the surface level.
We delete, distort, and generalise information as we are overwhelmed by information. (Miller 7 /-2).
Although totally frustrated now, I will have a break a holiday, get back to the issue and resolve it, and have satisfaction, then to have a good nights sleep.