What are they doing right, you ask? They have lots of free slave labor to manufacture all those cheap products that WalMart gleefully sells to us unwitting saps.
It's easy to be successful when you aren't worried about labor costs.
Some tech-industry leaders are concerned that U.S. students have become complacent. ``There has to be a passion to be innovative,'' says Nicholas M. Donofrio, executive vice-president for innovation and technology at IBM (IBM ), which sponsors the ACM contest. Donofrio's father was an Italian immigrant who worked three jobs to feed his family in Beacon, N.Y., then a gritty factory town. Donofrio questions whether Americans still have that kind of drive. ``Are we hungry enough?'' he asks. ``Or are we going to amble along and take our time?"
The current US corporate culture rewards complacency and punishes quality; all in the quest for short-term profit. This culture gives nothing but mixed messages to new employees.
When I worked in tech support for a major OEM PC builder, one side of the mouth said, "Be sure to give the ultimate customer experience." But the other side of the mouth appended to that statement, "As long as it only takes 14.7 minutes average call time. Your ass is grass if it takes longer."
Unfortunately, you appear to have mistaken these people for those who actually give a shit about customers. In their eyes, customers are only a necessary evil.
As an Ubuntu user and fan, I'd just like to say: for fuck's sake, stop it with the stupid names! Breezy Badger, Dapper Drake, Edgy Eft. Seriously, I feel like a jackass enough saying "Ubuntu".
Obviously, you never woke up in the morning with a Debian Woody.
Whacking the hard drive and reinstalling isn't always the first line of attack. Particularly when the customer (at least 99.9% of them) have never backed up any data to other media.
I give the customer the option of saving some time/money by slash and burn, but also warn them that everything is going to disappear, including any data that was not backed up. You'd be surprised how many people opt NOT to wipe the drive first.
Best Buy doesn't create business for others. Lazy users create business for others.
"But I have to admit that my respect for any plumber would go down if he started trying to convince me that he's the one that actually discovered the Bernoulli Principle."
That's true. Dilbert's garbage man is the one who discovered the Bernoulli Principle.
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I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if a million Slashdotters cried out in torment and were silenced at once.
It's easy to be successful when you aren't worried about labor costs.
When I worked in tech support for a major OEM PC builder, one side of the mouth said, "Be sure to give the ultimate customer experience." But the other side of the mouth appended to that statement, "As long as it only takes 14.7 minutes average call time. Your ass is grass if it takes longer."
to the phrase, "An Army of One"
I thought you said, "constipate".
"The company also said it had no plans to use the technology in any of its products."
Just add that to the list of the world's biggest lies:
1. The check is in the mail.
2. Honest, I won't come in your mouth.
Unfortunately, you appear to have mistaken these people for those who actually give a shit about customers. In their eyes, customers are only a necessary evil.
I give the customer the option of saving some time/money by slash and burn, but also warn them that everything is going to disappear, including any data that was not backed up. You'd be surprised how many people opt NOT to wipe the drive first.
Best Buy doesn't create business for others. Lazy users create business for others.
"Hmmm, failed to dual-boot, you have."
"Uhh, he brings much joy to Slashdotters around the world."
Big F****** Deal!
PC licenses you.
Hmmm, Half Life 2, Doom 3....
What would happen if it flew over a steaming pile of cow shit?
Speaker: A motion has been made to call this new legislation the "Taylor Act". All in favor?
The Floor: AYE!!!!!!
Speaker: All opposed?
Mousy little guy in the back: Uh, how about the "Cowboy Neal Act", instead?
You mean he was an option? Damn.
Everybody thinks BSA is for "Birmingham Small Arms", but it really means "Bastard Stopped Again".
All hail to Joe Lucas, Prince of Darkness.