While waiting for the wonderful techies at my university to figure out why my PowerBook wouldn't log on to their network, I heard these gems come out of the mouths of some of the other customers there getting their laptops worked on:
1) "Can't I just download a copy off the internet?" (mostly in reference to MS Office)
2) "Can't I just use my friend's registration code? He gave me the program discs." Often followed up by "Oh, okay, then I'll just download a crack from the internet."
3) "Operating system? It's Internet Explorer (or Microsoft, or PC, or Office, or Dell, take your pick)."
3a) "Operating system? My dad built the laptop, so how should I know?"
4) "How could I get a virus from Limewire?" similarly "How could I get a virus from filesharing?"
5) "You have to reformat the hard drive to get rid of the virus?!? I'll lose everything I didn't have backed-up? You can't! I'm not friends with the person who gave me all my music anymore!" (also heard something similar said about programs)
6) "What do you mean the trial period is over and I have to buy Office if I'm going to use it? It's already installed on my computer!"
7) "What do you mean the battery's dead. Isn't it supposed to last for at least a year?"
Most of these I heard more than once while I was there. I was amazed at the patience of the techies as they explained the same basic computing procedures again and again and again. It's too bad, but I don't think they really got through to some of the people about the illegality of pirating software.
1) "Can't I just download a copy off the internet?" (mostly in reference to MS Office)
2) "Can't I just use my friend's registration code? He gave me the program discs." Often followed up by "Oh, okay, then I'll just download a crack from the internet."
3) "Operating system? It's Internet Explorer (or Microsoft, or PC, or Office, or Dell, take your pick)."
3a) "Operating system? My dad built the laptop, so how should I know?"
4) "How could I get a virus from Limewire?" similarly "How could I get a virus from filesharing?"
5) "You have to reformat the hard drive to get rid of the virus?!? I'll lose everything I didn't have backed-up? You can't! I'm not friends with the person who gave me all my music anymore!" (also heard something similar said about programs)
6) "What do you mean the trial period is over and I have to buy Office if I'm going to use it? It's already installed on my computer!"
7) "What do you mean the battery's dead. Isn't it supposed to last for at least a year?"
Most of these I heard more than once while I was there. I was amazed at the patience of the techies as they explained the same basic computing procedures again and again and again. It's too bad, but I don't think they really got through to some of the people about the illegality of pirating software.
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