Tech support chap told angry customer to think inside the box – and solved the problem

ON CALL Welcome to another installment of On Call, The Register's Friday column in which readers kindly share their stories of untangling tech support situations. This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "Steve" who started his IT career doing tech support for a supermarket's own-brand mobile service. "I started in 2006, when …

[Pascal Monett]

"when many phones still had removable batteries"

Also called environment-friendly.

A notion that has gone to waste, apparently, along with a lot of other things we could have still used . . .

[Korev]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

And battery life that could be measured in days, not hours

[DJ_]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

I miss my original Nokia 6310i...

[gryphon]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Still got mine sitting in a drawer with PSU attached.

Must plug it in and see if it still works.

As others have noted it'll probably still have a charge anyway even if not used for 15 years.

[The Oncoming Scorn]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

I miss mine too, paired with a Tapwave Zodiac was very hand for solving pub trivia disputes.

[Martin an gof]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Must plug it in and see if it still works.

I dug up a couple of k800i and an Elm to see if I could charge them to remind me how good the cameras were. One did power up, but wouldn't do anything without a valid SIM. It didn't like the SIM from my current phone.

However, all the batteries were "blown" so I felt maybe I shouldn't keep trying to charge them.

I did try a half-hearted search to find new batteries without much luck.

Shame, I remember them being good cameras and someone I know is currently into rubbish keychain cameras for a project which would suit these quite well.

M.

[What? Me worry?]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

just checked mine. It works*! Five minutes of charging, slid in the battery and on it went. Happy days. Have the desktop charging stand and a spare extended battery too. *Too bad 2G and 3G were phased out in 2025. (Though Telia is keeping their 2G alive through 2027) :/

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Mine was used with a Psion 5mx, emails and Internet out on the road!!

Although I started having issues with the battery towards the end, was charging it up every two weeks

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

When everyone at my company got the first generation iPhones, one of our older colleagues stubbornly stuck with his old Sony Ericsson non-smartphone. When we poked fun at him for it he replied that at least HE still had coverage in the basement data center, and on top of that he only needed to charge it once every two weeks, max.

[vogon00]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

"coverage in the basement data center"

Quite a number of years go, the major telecoms firm I worked for was primarily known for it's cellular stuff. The powers that be decided to move us all to a brand new building on the outskirts of the city, with the promise of 'new shiny' everywhere...except for wired phones which were not in the plan, even the VoIP stuff. What, a cellular company using *wired* stuff...not done! :-) We were also issued with new state-of-the-art handsets, sort of dog-fooded from the JV between us and someone else.

However, when we get to the new building, there is little or no cellular service for said handsets, inside or outside the building. Limited coverage was available from other MNOs, but not the one chosen by the powers that be :-) We found this immediately funny and a good example of how NOT to manage the comms during a move :-) Us engineering types took every opportunity to go to the new facility for the peace and quiet!

It seems that there *was* a plan for 'leaky feeder' cellular comms throughout the building, but the building architects either forgot or removed it. The situation only improved months later when someone installed a new 'traditional' cell site on the building.

[SVD_NL]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

I remember a case where a company had somewhat shoddy cell reception in their office. This was playing out in the early-ish days of mobile telephony. They weren't the only one suffering, and the telco's took notice. Rejoice! They will build a cell tower for this part of the city! Directly on top of their office even! That should give great reception, right? ....Right???

Nope. Still shite after it went live. Turns out they don't point their antennea directly downwards. Took years for an overlapping cell tower to be built, which did solve the coverage issue.

[Phil O'Sophical]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

This, of course, is why all those parents who rant about their children being irradiated by mobile phone masts on the roof of the schools are idiots. The one place there's almost no signal is directly underneath the mast.

[gryphon]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Similar.

London portion of the company moved into a lovely new office near St. Paul's.

Problem was that every window was covered in that gold heat reflective film to stop sun and heat coming because simple blinds are so passe.

Unfortunately it made the office into a faraday cage so nobody's mobiles worked.

Had to end up getting Vodafone to fit a femto / pico cell site in the office.

Some of the staff's normal bills were in the hundreds of pounds a month range. They all had desk phones at vast expense but never used them.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Yeah, I recognize this all too well. After the pandemic, we moved to a brand new office (as in the building was new, and our floors were built from scratch to our specifications). ...except for the part where they thought that cabled networks were so 2010s, so they decided to excise all our requests for physical network ports in the whole building and instead put a wireless access point on every second ceiling-tile, because wireless is so much easier! Might look cool for when you have visitors; and the building owner can brag about reducing environmental impact from cabling...

Not, however, great for network engineers who need access to various secure networks from their desks, and may even need to move between DIFFERENT secure networks several times per day; including networks that CANNOT be made publicly available for reasons of national security. The office management people eventually agreed to a limited installation in one wing of one floor, provided that no switches or anything were ever to be put on someone's desk. (They eventually backed down from that too, when we could show upper management the price tag.)

[ChrisC]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Ah yes, the "form over function" problem that plagues so many aspects of modern life, and where those in the position of authority to make the decision are, far too often, biased in favour of the "form" answer because they don't get to then suffer from the resultant lack of "function" their decisions have created, unlike all of the poor minions under their control who just have to deal with it as best they can...

[Dagg]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

It seems that there *was* a plan for 'leaky feeder' cellular comms throughout the building, but the building architects either forgot or removed it.

More likely a "manager" type who couldn't see a need for it and could save some money!

[Korev]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

About this time I was first on scene at a car accident, I had two phones with me, a work iPhone and a personal Android. I couldn't get reception on either phone, a pensioner handed me her Nokia brick which of course had reception so I could get the poor driver some help...

[Evil Auditor]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

...and shoild the ol' Nokia brick ever run out of juice (> 2 weeks) or network connection (5th floor below ground), you could still use it as a hammer or club. Mine was a 6210.

[The Oncoming Scorn]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Had one of those too.

[james 68]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

I just miss having a phone that doesn't bend every time I sit down with it in a pocket (front or back). Can't keep it in the shirt pocket because I'm constantly lifting large objects often with pointy metal protuberances to chest height and that kills screens at a right rapid pace.

[MazeFrame]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

My father has a Siemens S3, with the extendable antenna. Thing had all the range.

[MattieD]

Basement datacentre = perfect connection

We used to work in a building that was in an area with awful mobile connectivity. Except when you were in the building's basement data centre. For reasons unknown to physics you would get a perfect full-bars connection while down there.

[KittenHuffer]

Re: Basement datacentre = perfect connection

That's because you were within range of Satan's personal cell tower!

[The Oncoming Scorn]

Re: Basement datacentre = perfect connection

My first phones were a PAYG Motorola c520 (Handed over to the ex-wife IIRC) & replaced by a Motorola m3788e on Orange.

I was on a contract job & in the comms room & while troubleshooting asked what phone I was & provider I had, as apparently I was the first person on-site that had decent (Actual) coverage.

[Denarius]

Re: Basement datacentre = perfect connection

sounds like a new datacenter I was installing Unix servers in. No coverage beyond reception by design. Whole site is mostly underground for security reasons. However, in server rack lines a couple of bars were available every 5 meters or so. Yes, the aircon ducts also guided 3G adequately for usable signals. BTW, the simpler low capacity cameras in dumb phones sometimes produced better video images of clouds forming during seabreeze front flights than current shiney shineys, complete with days of battery life.

I find I have to turn off everything to get a couple of days use now. What is puzzling is the amount of data "used" when I make no calls and only 3 SMS with data on. Leaving data off only kilobytes is used s expected.

[Anon the mouse]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

I found my old 3310 recently. I tried turning it on expecting a flat battery after 20+ years. It' powered on fine and has still got 3/4 charge.

With the 2G switch off still a few years away I'm tempted to get a charger and use it instead of a smart phone.

[IamAProton]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

A 2G nokia 1208 is what i use. Fits in pocket and battery last long time. For the limited situations when I want to have internet access I bring the work smartphone

[david 12]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

2G is long gone in Australia, otherwise I would definitely be using my old Nokia. I don't actually use any smartphone features -- just voice and sms. I'm happy to own a smartphone -- I use maps or chat a couple of times a year -- but I'd rather just leave the smartphone on the charger on the desk, and carry something more appropriate with me for daily use.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

even longer if like my old dear you only turned the phone on to make a call, which she rarely did, and then turned it off to "save the battery" Mother the battery will last a week you don't have to turn it off!

[DJO]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

...battery life that could be measured in days...

To be fair, that is as much to do with the way modern phones are used compared to early cell phones. Even a modern phone will last for days if it is only used for the occasional phone call or texting - it's all the online crap that eats the batteries.

[theDeathOfRats]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

And the screen, if I'm to believe the "Battery Use" info.

Now, this barsteward has a 10000 mAh battery, so I'm usually good for 3|4 days.

It can also be used as a hammer or an impromptu weapon, sooo...

I still miss my Nokia 6600, though...

[Niek Jongerius]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

I have wifi turned off on my smart phone, as I rarely need to do any web browsing, don't stream anything, just have work email. For all incidental interwebs stuff, my cell data plan has more than enough space. My 6-year-old iPhone (yes, I am a caveman) only needs a charge once a week. It also helps to NOT have the phone charging when it is not almost empty to keep the battery healthy (this used to be a way bigger issue back in the days of older battery tech, but it is still somewhat relevant).

-Niek.

[jailbird]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

I’m the complete opposite. When I’m home, I have the phone in airplane mode with just WiFi turned on, and I use WiFi calling. It uses a lot less battery power to talk to a local WiFi AP than it does to talk to a cell site!

[Tony W]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Same here, it's better to force WiFi calling than risk the phone trying to hand over between that and cellular and likely lose the call. I tried to automate turning on cellular when leaving the house, but my Samsung phone can only detect acquiring a WiFi network, not losing one, so I have to do this myself. I sometimes have a nice uninterrupted few hours before I remember to turn off Aeroplane mode.

[Tron]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

I only use a smartphone on holiday. For everyday use, I have a 'feature' phone. I turn it on for 2FA texts or to make a call. I work on my PC at home, communicating via e-mail on the home PC. If I'm out or gardening or busy, I'm not available. To date, the sky has not fallen in. Not sure what people stare at on their smartphones all day, but I doubt it is that interesting. How many of us really need (or really want) to be available 24/7?

[DS999]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

And battery life that could be measured in days, not hours

You're really remembering the past through rose colored glasses. Yes they had multi day (maybe as many as 7 days) battery life ON STANDBY. If you were using them for calls (since other than SMS that was all they could do) they didn't last remotely close to a day. I remember this from my early consulting days well, me and everyone else always had at least one fully charged spare battery in their laptop bag because the phones could only last 4 or 5 hours at most of actual use.

People were hunting for charging ports WAY more than they do today (to charge that second battery after they swapped it for their fresh one) because today's phones (at least the high end like iPhone Pro Max or Galaxy Ultra) really will last a whole work day's worth of calls and then some. If your battery doesn't last a full day with today's phones either you bought one that's well down the list for battery life, it is older and the battery is getting worn out, or it is because today's phones do WAY WAY WAY more than those old school Nokias - it isn't the time on calls that are running down your battery.

I wonder how long my Pro Max would last on standby. If I just let it sit there, completely untouched. I'll bet it is over half a week. Of course almost no one cares about standby time with modern smartphones because few people leave a modern smartphone sitting around untouched for days on end. My mom does, but she has to leave it on a charger because she might go WEEKS without using it, because she uses it for calling only and she has a landline and spends most of her time at home so the cell phone is basically for emergencies. So even one of those old school phones that had a week of standby wouldn't be enough for her.

[SVD_NL]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

To be fair, i think it's a good tradeoff to not have removable batteries, but have better water-proofing. Water damage was also a large reason why phones went to the e-waste pile.

That does assume that phone manufacturers actually make it easy to replace batteries... Glued batteries are especially offensive

[H in The Hague]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

"To be fair, i think it's a good tradeoff to not have removable batteries, but have better water-proofing. "

My Samsung Xcover 5 claims to be waterproof, but also has a removable battery. Looks like the Xcover 7 is similar.

[Lee D]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

I've had the XCover 5, 6 and 7 (Pro model, each time).

They're all still working, and all have removeable batteries, and I've passed them onto family.

The 7 only got rid of the headphone socket.

Best phone ever.

[H in The Hague]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

'The 7 only got rid of the headphone socket."

Due to a gravity-related incident with my 5 earlier this week I just got a 7 and I'm now listening to it on my headphones - mercifully it's still got a minijack socket.

One thing to bear in mind is that the Xcover 7 is quite a bit larger and heavier than the 5.

The 7 doesn't seem to be listed on the Samsung website and not many retailers have it in stock so perhaps it's being discontinued. Incidentally, parts availability seemed to be limited for the 5, so if your phone needs regular repairs or accessories the Xcover series is not for you.

[Denarius]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

likewise some "tradie" phones had replaceable batteries and lightweight water proofing. eg ZTE 84? Fashion seems to have passed as external batteriy top ups are a thing

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

> a good tradeoff to not have removable batteries, but have better water-proofing.

That is nonsense. Even Microsoft managed water proof smartphones (i.e. survives a meter under water for a minute) with removable battery. And I had a underwater camera (some Samsung, HD resolution) which was made to withstand 10 meter depth. Removable battery. Just come back to the surface, open the clip, and swap with the fully loaded one, close it, and back under water.

[bartsmit]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Not quite history yet. The EU is pushing a return to sensible electronic design with compulsory removable batteries: https://repair.eu/news/making-batteries-removable-and-replaceable-a-closer-look-at-the-new-eu-guidelines/ This started with stopping vendor lock-in by standardising on USB-C charge ports. It allows investing in a few good quality power supplies with Werewolf VFlex taking care of the legacy stuff.

[Sam not the Viking]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Anyone else irritated by the trend for thinner but longer and wider mobile phones?

The thin section makes it more likely to bend, er.... break, and the larger dimensions mean it doesn't fit comfortably in a pocket. And so, so shiny, they have to have a case to stop them from slipping, destroying (or enhancing!!) the bling whilst increasing every physical feature.

Oh, it's Friday --->

[theOtherJT]

Re: "when many phones still had removable batteries"

Oh god so much this. People bitching about battery life and yet every phone is advertised as being "0.1mm thinner than last year!" while at the same time having a massive camera bulge that makes it about a half inch thick *anyway* so why not just make the whole bloody thing that thick and fill the space with a decent battery?

As for the default "all devices must have at least a 6" screen diagonal" now - it's infuriating. If you have small hands it;s basically impossible to buy a phone these days where one can reach the entire keypad one-handed leaving you resorting to the sort of two-thumb typing that blackberries were actually good at and touch screens sodding aren't. Bring back the Xperia Compacts!

[DS999]

Apparently you haven't read the EU rules

There are exceptions for phones that meet three conditions. One that it provides updates for some specified number of years. Two that it is IP67 or higher. Three, I can't remember what three is exactly but I think something about providing adequate parts/support for third party battery replacement.

The net effect is that zero popular smartphones from Apple, Samsung, et al will be going to removable batteries. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[Mishak]

Not an equipment issue, but...

One of our guys did once have to make an "urgent" 8 hour round trip to use a Sharpie to write "L" and "R" on the mouse buttons.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not an equipment issue, but...

Should have been, could still be, an on call.

[theDeathOfRats]

Re: Not an equipment issue, but...

HOLLY! FSCKING!! SHITE!!!

Did he have a Clue By Four in his toolbag? Or wasn't it mandatory to have one back then (it should be mandatory).

[David 132]

Re: Not an equipment issue, but...

>Did he have a Clue By Four...

Ah, the LART. Now there's a term I haven't heard in a long, long time.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not an equipment issue, but...

An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

Only half user fail here

I mean, why does MARKETING dictate: Pack the phone in the box in such a way that vital parts, needed for operation, are hidden below the lowest layer of cardboard, so it does not have to be seen 'cause "a charger looks ugly".

[H in The Hague]

Re: Only half user fail here

"Pack the phone in the box in such a way that vital parts, needed for operation, are hidden below the lowest layer of cardboard, "

I got myself a fancy Protos safety helmet. Fitting the chin straps was a complete pain and it was unclear how you had to do that, but eventually got it done. Later, when I tore the box up to put it in the recycling, I found the fitting instructions in the bottom, hidden by other packaging.

[G.Y.]

IBM Re: Only half user fail here

When IBM tried the PC on some test-customers, the text said "take the diskette out of the envelope". Some of them took the round thing out of the square thing.

IBM rewrote the instructions

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: IBM Only half user fail here

Those are the sort of testers you need.

[Luiz Abdala]

Re: IBM Only half user fail here

Those are the sort of Instruction Writers you need.

I had my first PC back in the day, an IBM Aptiva Pentium 100, that I needed to put a new HDD in it. The sucker had an 18-page-with-pictures booklet that allowed me not just to replace my HDD but also FLASH THE BIOS to read the new drive, because it was a thing back then, the BIOS didn't carry the instructions for all HDD geometries then.

Adding on top of that, it explicitly told me to make a 2GB partition in FAT32 to place Windows 95, because at startup it would not be able to read the full 20GB of the new drive. Win95 would see the new extended 18GB partition just fine, but not boot from it.

It was almost as someone had tried to do those instructions and reviewed the procedure. The kind of people that got the task to fit a square filter peg in a round hole for the Apollo 13 and wrote everything down.

I loved that kind of precision out of a company.

[doublelayer]

Re: Only half user fail here

Because you have two options for packing a phone and charger: put them side by side in a long and thin box or put one over the other in a small but taller box. I think they usually choose between these based on efficiency of sending a lot of those packages together, but if that process selects small and taller, then they'll need the user to remove a piece of cardboard. I'm not sure it's as user-unfriendly a process as claimed, especially as the user in question seemed unaware that the empty part of the box after removing the phone was much smaller than the whole box but was able to keep buying new batteries.

[xyz123]

hundreds of customers. "my iphone (that I've had for 2years+) crashed and is only showing the apple logo"

press the button on the front.

There IS no button.

Customer was looking at the BACK of the phone. after having owned it for over 2 years. This happened HUNDREDS of times a year (different people obviously - the same one didnt keep phoning back)

[Richard 12]

The front and back looked identical

The back is shiny glass, with the Apple logo in roughly the same place and size as it would be on the front during boot.

It's not at all surprising.

The only reason that's changed is because the rear camera lenses got bigger, and then turned into a cluster.

These days, identifying the model is basically impossible. You can only figure out the brand.

[doublelayer]

Re: The front and back looked identical

That would make sense if these were new users, but using a phone which has a button on the front for years and not noticing that the button has vanished is a bit less logical. Modern iPhones have ditched the button, but camera lenses have been sufficiently prominent ever since, even on the single-camera cheap models, that I hope there aren't many people still doing this.

[Richard Gray 1]

Too many to mention them all....

When I worked for a Politically Correct Planet in the 90's a guy bought a new printer but to save money he would use his existing printer cable.

Get it home faulty printer, bring it back works fine, home, fails, back at the shop works fine. He even brought his computer in .. worked fine.

He eventually brought everything in, including the oldest rattiest printer cable I'd ever seen. Of course it wasn't bi directional so didn't work with the printer.. I think he was given a cable in the end. All that to save a fiver...

Then there is the guy who held the VGA cable up to his computer and decided it wouldn't fit (he hadn't tried it it was just "obviously wrong") so phoned in saying he had the wrong monitor. After making sure that no pins were bent, he was trying the right place (colour coded cables what a boon!) it all sounded ok, so I asked him again to try it.. after many minutes of back and forth to try it, he eventually tried it.

He said he had been silly and remembering that the customer is always right I agreed with him.

Some one bought a new Compaq computer and it had a "faulty" power supply. I (now a service engineer) drove an hour or so to his house with a new power supply, looking like all the world a prop from Ghost busters.

I went in pulled down the flap at the front and pressed the power button. it sprang to life. a few more tests, all working, I asked it was an intermittent problem. he said he'd never seen the flap and had not known where the power button was....

[GlenP]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

I once had a user phone to ask how to turn off her PC (back in the day when they had physical power switches. I did suggest that she pressed the same button as she had that morning to turn it on to which she replied, "I know that - but I can't remember where it is!" IIRC it was an HP full tower where the power switch was large, white and in the top corner so not easy to miss*.

I did install one Apricot desktop where the user could be excused not finding the power switch, it was on the back and looked exactly like a cover over an unused port - I made sure they were well educated!

*Those power switches were also annoyingly close to the floppy drive eject so we used to use tape cartridge cases to make molly guards.

[Gomez Adams]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

Ah yes! Installing the first ever Windows from multiple floppies where the Reset Button and Disk Eject button were smack bang next to each other! :/

[theDeathOfRats]

Molly guards

The missus' box has the Power and Reset buttons on the upper side because some idiot decided it didn't compromise the frontal look so it looked "cool", I guess.

We live with three cats :p

[KittenHuffer]

Re: Molly guards

Been there .... Done th[CARRIER LOST]

[David 132]

Re: Molly guards

Username checks out!

[J.G.Harston]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

Functionality is being killed by Design. Every time my neighbour asks me to do something with her PC I am stumped trying to find the power button invisibly moulded into the decorative surround. It's the same with her TV. Not only that, but what should be a rocker switch is actually something that bounces back, so when you look at it it is screaming that it's already turned on.

[Jamie Jones]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

ICL in the late 90's - their new "superservers" were stylishly coloured (in purple!) and the top of the case was all rounded and curved.

It meant there was nowhere to place the monitor in the machine room!

http://arhiva.bccservices.com/Novosti/Image11.gif

[the Jim bloke]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

I can remember various bits of gear deliberately shaped with sloping tops to prevent users from placing things on top - from battery chargers to prevent coffee cups, to silicon graphics workstations... admittedly back then, the kind of monitor to use with a silly G was a substantial structural load.. they also had very prominent power switches - at knee height when they were positioned under a desk..

[Jamie Jones]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

Ah.. That's a good point. Still, these were big boxes meant for the machine room, and of course, there was no coffee in there(!)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

a small defence company I worked at had a few Lenovo SFF tower PC's. Some genius at Lenovo decided to put the power button on the top of the tower, becasue no one ever puts things on the top of their PC right!?

[blu3b3rry]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

It's akin to the large number of laptop manufacturers that happily put the power button in among the keys on the keyboard, often where the delete key normally lives.

Who the hell thought that was a good idea?

[theDeathOfRats]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

I can't upvote you enough, so -------->

[NorthIowan]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

Well on my laptop the power button is right above the backspace key that is bigger so it is easier to find. It is also right next to the delete key but for me that hasn't been a problem. But I don't normally hold down the delete or backspace keys.

We had a laptop at church that put the power button on the side and near the screen hinge. That would seem to be OK, but if I needed to plug in a cable on the opposite side, I would often put my other hand on the opposite side as I pushed the cable in. It took me awhile to remember that, EVERY time.

[James O'Shea]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

The ThinkPad I'm using right now to type this has two Backspace keys. One is big and right next to the Delete key. One is small, in the F-key row, and next to the power button. It also sets the sleep mode, if pressed while the Fn button is also pressed. Yes, the screen is supposed to go black if you hit the wrong button...

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

"put the power button in among the keys on the keyboard"

SWMBO's "new" laptop has the power button in the function key row next to the PrtScr. The \| key sits to the right of the space bar -could be worse still as I see some newer HPs have it sitting top right near to return and backspace.

"New" was a 17" HP Pro-Book, presumably a trade-in, in remarkably good nick. Only required Devuan in place of the W11, replace the 8 gig memory by a 16 I'd bought before the Great Memory Inflation and a cable to fit her old SSD into the vacant HDD slot to turn it into a nice little piece of kit. Pity there's no optical drive or SD card slot.

[cmdrklarg]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

It is for that very reason that when setting up Windows I go to the Power settings and tell the various buttons to not Shut Down, Hibernate, or Sleep. They are set to Do Nothing because of too many accidental button pushes!

[The Oncoming Scorn]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

Back in the errr day mid 80's I worked for a company with it's own brand of modems one model had a 5 pin domino DIN connection (Same as the BBC Model B).

50/50 chance of plugging it in incorrectly & on ringing for support we told them to remove it, rotate it around 180 degrees & plug it in (In the case of the BBC it didn't matter which end you did that to).

Most people took our advice, but there was one just one that rang daily for a week insisting that we were incorrect it would only fit one way & demanding onsite service to repair it, which was offered if he paid a hefty call out fee in advance to the North of England from Exeter.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: Too many to mention them all....

"he said he'd never seen the flap and had not known where the power button was"

Place the blame on the designer stylist who thought that such nasty technical stuff as power buttons spoiled the appearance.

[MattieD]

Read things myself? Never!

Recently had a job come in from someone who believed themselves to be very important. We'd just given them a brand new work mobile and they were complaining that the charger wouldn't fit into their plug socket.

We're in the UK so we just assumed that the phone had come with a Euro-spec charger. It happens every now and then, no biggy. So we asked her to come in and we'd swap it out.

In she comes, stomping over to the team and starts off on her - no doubt well practiced - tirade about how we're useless for giving her the wrong charger, how if the phone runs out of charge her service will have to stop running, the full-on overblown histrionics loud enough that everyone nearby can hear her.

We take a look at the charger. It's a proper UK-spec three-pin plug, and as is the case nowadays, to save space the top pin slides down towards the other two pins for carrying. There's even a printed message on the charger to extend the top pin until it clicks into place before inserting it into the socket.

We show her the pin moving, the notice on the charger about the pin moving and demonstrate it being plugged into a socket and charging a phone. Somehow it was still our fault because we didn't explicitly tell her that she needed to read the instructions or that the pin might move, and that she was going to complain to our director because we'd wasted her time in having to come in.

I believe that our director laughed in her face when she complained.

[gryphon]

Re: Read things myself? Never!

May have told this story before.

Worked for a company that had contract to provide laptops, printers etc. to Scottish Court Service.

Had a call to go see the Sheriff Principal for Lothian (big boss basically and a very, very smart guy according to another Sheriff I knew) because his inkjet printer wasn't working.

Turns out he hadn't removed the sticky tab from the cartridge print head when he'd replace it. He had the good grace to go "D'oh" more or less when I pointed it out to him though.

Think his secretary might have noticed but didn't want to point it out to him. :-)

[GlenP]

Re: Read things myself? Never!

I had a friend do similar recently, then when she did remove the tab she managed to take off half the contacts on the cartridge at the same time. I think we were onto the fourth cartridge before I go the printer working!

[theDeathOfRats]

Re: Read things myself? Never!

Depending on the brand, by the second|third cartridge it would've probably been cheaper|easier to buy a new printer.

[gfx]

Re: Read things myself? Never!

Apple has a nice foldable phone charger for the UK, all three pins fold out. The european one is a bit boring.

[cyberdemon]

Re: Read things myself? Never!

Yes that is one nice piece of Apple design that I do appreciate.. Said charger even has a USB-C output!

But in an absurdity that only Apple could manage: the other end of the cable is not USB-C

[J.G.Harston]

Re: Read things myself? Never!

No such thing as a plug socket. There are plugs, and there are sockets. Do you have a penis vagina?

[cyberdemon]

Re: Read things myself? Never!

What would you call one of those Solar MC4 connectors then, which has a "plug" with a "female pin" inside, or a "socket" with a "male pin" inside?

Anyway, a "plug socket" is simply thus: A socket for a plug to go in. As opposed to a socket that attaches to a socket wrench, for example. Or a socket that I can open in UNIX..

[Missing Semicolon]

Re: Read things myself? Never!

Everybody knows that what goes into a plug socket is a plugtop.

Indeed.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: Read things myself? Never!

"Do you have a penis vagina?"

Have you ever looked into gastropod reproductive biology?

[Bebu sa Ware]

Have some sympathy for the user

If was her first mobile phone and it was 2006, so not likely an early adopter of any tech. Purchasing tech from the likes of Aldi you are not going to get much support from the point of sale staff. The people selling her the third battery in six weeks were either dodgy or more than a bit thick.

I remember ~20 years ago observing an old duck^† bringing her Braun electric toothbrush into the electrical retailer where she had purchased it a few years previously to have the (NiCd, I think) battery replaced and was upset to learn it wasn't replaceable. At the time I thought who is the silly one ? Her or the rest of the world ? I didn't think it was her.

_{† about my age now. :(}

[JulieM]

Re: Have some sympathy for the user

Braun toothbrush batteries are replaceable! There are written and video guides on the Internet.

They don't make it easy, because they'd rather sell you a whole new toothbrush; but where there's a will, there's a way.

[Missing Semicolon]

Re: Have some sympathy for the user

The twisty-pull with the charge base is a trick I keep forgetting, and trashing Braun toothbrushes as a result.

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

Re: Have some sympathy for the user

I recently (two years ago?) swapped the builtin battery of my Remington shaver. I was lucky that inside were two normal NiCd batteries, AND I was lucky that it is not a glued-crap shaver, but screwed.

[The Organ Grinder's Monkey]

Re: Have some sympathy for the user

I replace dying batteries in my devices routinely, but every time the problem is trying to source batteries of anything near the quality of the original ones. I did my Phillips razor a couple of years ago, the original batteries were a couple of tagged NiMh AAs. Best I could do was spot-weld tags to a brand new pair of Panasonic rechargeables. It still works, but the charging has gone mad. Charge light goes out after about an hour, (used to be maybe 4 hours) & if you unplug it at that point it only gives 2 or 3 shaves. Leave it on the charger for a few days & it'll give maybe 7 or 8 uses.

[CorwinX]

I used to carry around...

... three or four charged batteries for my phone back in the day. Pop the back off, slot another in.

Nowdays I carry a tiny power pack with a multi-cable but still not the same as being able to just drop in a 100% charged fresh battery.

[The Organ Grinder's Monkey]

Re: I used to carry around...

Likewise my beloved Motorola 8500s. Batteries were each about the size of a feature phone, needed three to get a full day. 99 number memory, but no alphanumeric capability so they were just stored in sequence & you had to remember which memory slot contained the desired number, or recognise it as you scrolled through. Kids of today, etc...

[J.G.Harston]

I remember an early Judge Dredd story.

* THIS CAR WON'T WORK! It worked when I bought it yesterday!

* Have you put any fuel in it?

[Luiz Abdala]

To be honest, a modern Apple phone would have no charger...

...and I wonder if the customer would dump the phone and buy a new one everytime it ran out of charge.