Yes - The Web Makes us Experts - Even When We Don't Want to Be.

Wadda Ya Know.  We're Experts at Everything.

An interesting thing - that Internet.  Well, the World Wide Web, anyway.  It's turned us into experts...at everything.

And, sadly, we now have to be.

See, as fast as the web was able to exhibit information, instructions, suggestions and recommendations on everything from raising earthworms to the gravitational effects of Alpha Centauri, corporate operations folks got the wild idea that they could move all of their support services there, too.

They all celebrate. "Wow!  We just made available everything about our product on the web," they cheer in board rooms.  What they're really saying is, "Son of a gun.  We pushed off all of our customer service on the customers themselves.

That's why we have to be experts.  By default.  When you have to go to the web to troubleshoot a problem with your phone - or car - or, geez, even with a stale candy bar - you, by default, have to learn more than you ever wanted to about the product.

A few years back, Willie (Max Wright) asked Alf, "Can't you fix the spacecraft?" to which Alf (Paul Fusco) responded, "I dunno.  I just turn the key and it goes."

That was a great time to be alive.  If you had a question, someone connected with the product was more than happy to provide another brand contact along with what was usually a simple and instant answer to your problem.

Not no more, as they say.  We have to dig it out.  And the webmaster, designer, et. al. have told management that it's all there for the customer.  And, it ain't. So you dig till you find that answer.  Or maybe you go to their "forum."  There's quotes around it because, by and large, forums (shouldn't it be fora?) are useless.  Talk about the blind leading the blind.

 Unless you're looking for advice about how to go up an escalator, the info, coming from people who are only a step ahead on the knowledge curve.  And further to forums, think about the audacity of a company that offers a user forum instead of help.  That translates to, "Here's the product, you got a

problem? Figure it out among yourselves."  Cool, eh?

So, you finish.  You have your answer.  You fix the problem.  Step back and be proud. You now know as much about the topic as anyone.  Of course, it took two hours whereas a few years ago, a single phone call to a live person would have gotten, "OK.  Lay them out on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for 10 minutes.  Then just put 'em in a plastic bag."  And, in thirty seconds, you're done.  Of course, you miss out on all the why's and the technical theory for the cookie sheet and the rest, but you saved a lot of time.

Yes, it frustrates me.  But I have fun with it.  Highlight the problem, copy the page and send it to the company.  But cc the CEO and CIO.  Takes just a minute with Hoovers or Red Books.  You'll usually get responses.  It doesn't make the job any easier but it's the only fun part.