14 Feb
2002
14 Feb
'02
12:58 p.m.
On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote:
I don't EXPECT them to know the tech specs. But I
DO expect them to know
that "That means that it only picks up what you aim it at" is NOT an
answer, right or wrong, to the question "what is the angle of
directionality?", and to know that "it's really good" is not an
adequate
answer to a question of the specs.
All joking about a Maxtor Gig aside, I totally agree. I realized long
ago that I get paid roughly 10 times what the drone gets paid, to know
roughly 10 times as much. It's not fair to expect a $9.00/hr
manager-trainee to know the specs of 8000 pieces of hardware.
Even so, "I dunno" and a blank stare is not good enough. "I dunno,
would you like for me to ask someone?" is entirely acceptable.
What's happening more and more, though, is a long pseudotechnical
mis-explanation of the part's function. I was looking at digital
cameras last year, and asked the salesperson at the camera counter what
3.2 megapixels translates to in terms of resolution and color depth. He
explained to me at length that megapixels was a measure of "how many
pictures you can take on one smartcard"
Not being busy that day, and being unduly irritated by his
condescension, I made him repeat himself in front of the store manager.
I don't know if the manager cared at all, but it made _me_ feel much
better.
Doc