josquint asks:
"Does the Computer Service/Repair field need to be regulated? This is a question I asked myself after spending a day off from my position as Lead Technician at a local computer shop, in an auto repair shop and a hair salon. In both places, I noted that all the employees had their trade credentials displayed for all customers to see. They are not only displayed as a matter of pride or to gain customer trust (as my A+ and Network Security certificate is) but as a matter of law. This regulation, to me, makes sense. If you're going to pay good money to have your automobile repaired, it better be by someone trained and proficient at doing it (otherwise I might as well do it myself!). Also, there is a matter of safety --an error in repairing a car can easily result in injury or death of quite a few people, so some accountability is needed.
The salon regulation, to me at first, seemed like the usual overkill large government regulation. However, it too is a matter of safety to the clients, as the chemicals and equipment (tanning beds especially) can also do harm if used incorrectly. Would you view regulation or mandatory certification as a good thing in the computer repair/installation/maintenance world? What kind of regulation would you like to see, if any? How and at what level would it be implemented and enforced?"
"I personally would like something that requires certain basic certifications for the techs themselves, and possibly something to do with retail shop areas (use of static mats, data backup procedures, etc). And enforced at the State level similar to most small business type codes.
I wouldn't have a problem following some such type of regulation, and probably wouldn't need to do much if anything to make code. I do a fair share of cleaning up after fly-by-night companies/consultants/johnny's-14-year-old nephew-that-really-knows-computers. It costs a lot of the local businesses serious money to replace lost data and sub-standard equipment. I just completed a total system replacement at a clinic that had the system replaced about 2 months ago. It cost them over $10,000 for a system the should have been close to $3,500, but they had to replace the first replacement due to a consultant that had no experience or knowledge in that type of system trying to put one in.
While regulation wouldn't solve everything, I think it might cut down on the riff-raff and wannabes in an industry that many businesses can't do without as they can't do without electricity."
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Then we have some people with no formal training who know there stuff and work hard and produce great work.
Similarly, we have folks who have "certifications" that are absolutely meaningless.
Same with our hardware people -- our 17-year-old interns know more about this stuff than the MCSEs.
All this does is make it harder for an independent artisan to make a living -- I don't want Intel's stamp of approval. The only approval I need is a legion of satisfied customers who tell their friends and colleagues and word spreads and reputation builds -- like in the old days before you could "buy" a certification.
While you're studying for A+ or MCSE, there's some 14-year-old with a soldering iron, learning the hard way how to fix a faulty IDE control, and a 12-year-old decompiling the NT kernel to figure out why his graphics card causes a BSoD. And in ten or fifteen years old, your certification will be obsolete, and if you're lucky, you'll be working for the now-29-year-old VP of engineering.
I agree. These things involve health and safety hazards -- chemicals, in the case of the salon, and your brakes in the case of cars.
... I don't know what the specific equivalents for services might be, but you might want to look in the Uniform Commercial Code.
Computer repair is pretty trivial, by comparison.
What you've got in those cases might be protections in the form of implied warranties of merchantability
Also, whenever I sign a freelance contract, there's often a clause in there that says something along the lines of, "the vendor (me) warrants that his services are competent" -- in other words, if I screw up completely and they can satisfy a court that I didn't really know what I was talking about from the get-go, then they don't have to pay me at all. In fact, I may owe them for what I screw up. Rather than looking for the government to pass more laws regulating independent businesses, you might want to look for more along these lines when you sign an agreement with a repair guy.
Breakfast served all day!
Where I work, we are strictly a word of mouth company. We don't have to advertise because the work I do is impeccable. When a customer comes with a broken machine, and I get it fixed quickly and save his data, I have a client for life. Furthermore, he will tell his friends, and so on, and so on.
I have more work than I can handle, and our company is growing carefully. I am ultimately responsible for any work performed on a computer, whether it is done by my boss, or my co-workers, because I take pride in what I do.
Regulation wouldn't help in this regard, but it *might* remove some of the shady/incompetent places, for example Gateway stores.
Not ten minutes ago a new customer came in crying that Gateway had formatted her hard drive to remove a virus. Data backup? What's that? Gateway didn't bother to tell her they were going to do this, they just did it.
As I said, regulation *might* remove these guys from the business, but I think word of mouth will do it faster.
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
1) How and at what level would it be implemented and enforced?
Constitutionally, the Federal Government has the authority to regulate interstate commerce, and other transactions are left to state and local governments, and to individual citizens. That's the model followed in regulating most industries: Licensing of Professional Engineers is done by each state, and it just happens for convenience that all states have chosen to recognize the standards set forth by the non-governmental American Board of Engineering and Technology. Licensing of local businesses is generally done by county or city agencies.
2) What kind of regulation would you like to see, if any?
As inclined towards libertarianism as I am, I'd tend to say as little as possible. It's a 'buyer beware' world, and if someone other than me is working on my home computer, I'm going to make sure they have a good reputation, even if they are still working their way through college, as my roommate is.
Now, if the people in your community overwhelmingly want some sort of government-imposed consumer protection in this regard, that's up to you. Get your city council or county commissioners to deal with it. But I don't want it imposed on me.
3) Would you view regulation or mandatory certification as a good thing in the computer repair/installation/maintenance world?
Not if it prevents people from entering freely into business deals of their own choosing. As I mentioned above, my roommate uses his computer-building and computer-fixing skills to help pay for college, but it's not something he plans on doing for his life once he graduates. He's damned good at building and fixing computers, and he could pass any certification test you could throw at him, and there are plenty of people who would be willing to vouch for him on personal experience with his work. But would it be worth the money a government or private accrediting agency would undoubtedly charge if it's not something he plans to use for more than a few years? Not likely.
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.
And if you think back, to when you actually had to PAY ATTENTION to who was fixing your car, because Uncle Sam was not involved in the decision, you probably got much better service for your dollar, and knew a lot more about the work.
For years I took my car to a shop far from home, because they did good work, knew me personally, even occasionally let me use their tools to do a job myself, etc. I selected them based on reputation, and service, and their record with me personally. Not some license on the wall. And just as importantly, when they started screwing up my car every time it went there, I stopped going. Despite the license on the wall.
We Americans are a lazy bunch. Hey, the gu'mmint says they're licensed, must be okay. Here, Joe, fix my car. I trust you because Uncle Sam does too.
Back in 'the day' when the consumer had to actually pay attention, I'll wager the service was a lot better. Sure there were ripoff artists, and bad stuff happened, but those shops didn't stay around for long.
Just so, today, I'd bet that the overall service is better on computers, BECAUSE there is no regulation.
--Brandon / Split Infinity Music
I was building computers when I was 16. I used to help my high school computer guy after basketball practice when I was 18. I know about 15 other people with similar backgrounds. None of us have ever even thought about getting an A+ cert. Why? Because building and troubleshooting PC hardware has always been extremely easy, straightforward, and demanded very little technical knowledge. It is a hobby for many. Such a lax and intellectually undemanding trade shouldn't require some form of regulation. Basic contractual agreements already protect a consumer enough.
A certificate is just a piece of paper that reflects a persons reputation. It does not reflect knowledge or skill.
What reputation? A certificate is simply a piece of paper stating that someone attended or completed some half-assed course he took at who-knows what establishment that makes money giving out these pieces of paper.
I don't think legally requiring some certification to repair Joe Sixpack's PC is (a) feasible, or (b) will improve anything, including responsibility. If anything, it will make simple PC repairs more expensive, and they'll make you sign off your firstborn when you take in the PC for a repair. For businesses, it makes sense to have service agreements with companies that are, e.g., Sun certified, or HP certified, etc. Private sector handles it fine. However, for mass market there are no benefits, and most of all, no incentive.
Comparing this to plumbing (like many posts do) is a disaster. Obviously, it's not well thought through. Realize that in any kind of construction, real estate job, there are many more interests involved. These are - land owners, banks and credit institutions, architects, one or more construction companies, property management companies, the city, lessors, lessees... all this is big business and a lot of liability. Legally required certification in these cases provide for defined responsibilities, reduce risk (or at least expose risk), lower deviation in prices, and create a plain field for somewhat competitive market, among other things. In a simple scenario, if a plumber screws up and ends up damaging your property, not only have you suffered, but potentially your neighbors, your property management company, the city, and the bank who gave you the mortgage. If banks cannot rely on, or know the risk and liability of property repairs (e.g. electrician burns down the whole house), they would have to incorporate that risk in their services.
No such interests exist when repairing Joe Sixpack's PC. Usually what you are dealing with is a $600 (or less) computer and a more or less simple problem. The data on the computer consists of few mp3s, couple of documents, some e-mails, and a lot of porn. In other words, nothing remotely close to a multi-billion dollar business. Therefore, no support for legislation.
I think there are tangible benefits to come of such regulations, however there are also potential drawbacks.
I do All my own maintenance and repairs on my 18 year old Audi, and on my GF's 19 year old Audi. I would definitely NOT trust Joe mechanic at the corner gas station or auto shop to fix it. If there is a task that needs completing, and I find that it's too cold outside, or I don't have time - I take it exclusively to my local independant VW/Audi Mechanic. The guy has no education or certifications to speak of, but he's been working on these cars for 25+ years out of passion for these brands. He knows more about them than any "certified" mechanic I've ever meet or heard of. Point being that a certification is not needed to produce a competant technical worker.
On the other hand, I used to work with a guy who has an MCSE (no I'm not bashing all MCSE's here) who didn't know a screw driver from a bus driver. I mean, this guy couldn't even create a simple DOS batch file, was unable to successfully implement a 2-node microsoft cluster in 2 months time, and was clueless about settings in IIS. I also knew a fellow that was an aspiring auto mechanic. Despite having 8 different industry certifications, he was an awful mechanic - and he admitted it. Point here is that a certification definitely does not equal competancy.
I think however that industry regulations would definitely weed out some of the wannabe's, though if it is an expensive or lengthy ordeal, it may deter potential talent.
Just my 2 cents.
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.