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The Computer Corner IT, phone home I recently had a technology-related experience—not necessarily computer-related—but since not one Atención reader wrote this week to ask a question I am going to go a bit off-subject. My experience involved shopping for a very complex, very confusing product. I was completely out of my area of expertise, and the experience reminded me to empathize with all those users who are confused by their computers. The less kind among you might say what I got was a taste of my own medicine. What I went shopping for was a new cell phone. My experiences in this area have never been very good. Computers I know and understand, but cell phones are so dang confusing. One of my first shopping experiences 10 years ago set the tone. I phoned several cell phone vendors in East Texas to ask whether it was possible to purchase a cell phone that would also work when I visited San Miguel. Nobody seemed to know until I called one store where the salesman told me their phones worked everywhere. I asked, “Do you have a map showing the areas covered in Mexico?” No map, he said. “Do you have a list of the cities covered?” He said yes, and I asked him to name them. “I can’t pronounce these names” he answered. I told him that was understandable if he was not a Spanish speaker and could he please spell the name. “A-L-B-U-Q-U-E-R-Q-U-E.” Is it any wonder that in the past decade I have tried to avoid going back into a cell phone store? My old cell phone, a relic of the last century, is now like so many of the computers still running Windows 98. It is obsolete, does not work really well, and it is impossible to repair or upgrade. I tell people with those old computers to continue using them as long as they work, but when the day comes that the old computer needs to be serviced, that is the day it needs to be junked and replaced with a new one. It is now time for me to apply that same advice to my cell phone, and so let the frustrations begin…. My experiences had showed me that the salespeople in the states did not know where Mexico was, much less whether the phone they sold would work here. I thought perhaps on the US–Mexico border they would know, so I spent a day going from store to store in McAllen, Texas. Much to my chagrin, what I discovered is that the salespeople there, only five minutes from the Rio Grande, did not know where Mexico was, either. They all claimed to have no knowledge about how to use a cell phone south of the border. I wanted to buy one phone to use both in the states and in Mexico. They told me flatly this was impossible; it could not be done. In the end, I learned that most of the people selling cell phones are not a good source of reliable information about how to use them. My weeks of searching during several trips to the states eventually took me to Cole Cellular in Tyler, Texas, where I renewed acquaintances with some real professionals. Not only did they know the Mexican republic is not a part of the USA, but they knew which models of “tri-band GSM” phones would work both here and there. I suppose the moral to the story, if there is one, is that when you are dealing with technology you do not understand, you have to be patient and willing to keep looking until you can find someone knowledgeable in whom you can trust. Charles Miller is a
freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and
now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-101-8528 or
email FAQ@SMAguru.com |