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Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

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21–30 of 226 posts

Re: Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

#21
nice work.

would be cool (albeit maybe difficult), to summarize the best result instead of taking them to Google directly. i suspect anyone using this page who gets to the Google results page will have no idea where to stat when they get there.

a less interesting solution would maybe be to provide a video that explains how to Google solutions for technical issues & error messages.

Re: Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

#22
post #11
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best thing I ever found to reduce the risk of malware is to move them to a Linux distro. The risk is not zero but from a user perspective I install the software they need from package repositories remotely, and that more or less settles it. Of course this is not for everyone, but for folks who for the most only need a browser a Linux distro is a good choice.

For folks who mostly just need a browser and for whom malware is a risk, you really can't do better than an iPad. I love Linux, but there really is no beating an iPad if you need a PC-approximate that is absurdly low maintenance.

A chromebook is cheaper and, IMHO, better for most users.

Re: Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

#23
post #20
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For folks who mostly just need a browser and for whom malware is a risk, you really can't do better than an iPad. I love Linux, but there really is no beating an iPad if you need a PC-approximate that is absurdly low maintenance.

> For folks who mostly just need a browser and for whom malware is a risk, you really can't do better than an iPad. Yup, I agree, but some folks prefer a physical keyboard and an Ipad + bluetooth keyboard is not really super convenient.

A chromebook is a pretty good alternative.

Re: Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

#24

So the first 2 are rebooting and making sure it has power. The third is "up to date". I do quite a bit of tech support for my family and neither of those issues are really issues. The #1 issue for me is "this free app I installed wanted to install a browser addon and now I see ads everywhere". The #2 is "this free app I installed hijacks everything on my Mac to show ads". I've spent countless hours educating them abo…

On a Mac!? That's impossible. There's no malware on a Mac!

Re: Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

#25
post #11
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best thing I ever found to reduce the risk of malware is to move them to a Linux distro. The risk is not zero but from a user perspective I install the software they need from package repositories remotely, and that more or less settles it. Of course this is not for everyone, but for folks who for the most only need a browser a Linux distro is a good choice.

For folks who mostly just need a browser and for whom malware is a risk, you really can't do better than an iPad. I love Linux, but there really is no beating an iPad if you need a PC-approximate that is absurdly low maintenance.

An iPad is an expensive solution if they've already got a PC, and Linux is a great free way to resurrect computers that the commercial operating systems have left behind.

Re: Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

#26

nice work. would be cool (albeit maybe difficult), to summarize the best result instead of taking them to Google directly. i suspect anyone using this page who gets to the Google results page will have no idea where to stat when they get there. a less interesting solution would maybe be to provide a video that explains how to Google solutions for technical issues & error messages.

Yea that would be awesome. Maybe I can work on it in the next version.

Re: Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

#27
Neat. Personally I would say "turn it off and on again" while this says the reverse. If it's targeted at a non-technical user, it needs to be foolproof. I have helped users before that would see this and literally turn their computer on and off, and wonder why the computer isn't working while off as instructed.

Re: Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

#29
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For folks who mostly just need a browser and for whom malware is a risk, you really can't do better than an iPad. I love Linux, but there really is no beating an iPad if you need a PC-approximate that is absurdly low maintenance.

iPads are great. But what beats it is a Fire HD8. I got one for me and for my mother-in-law on CyberMonday for $56 each. That's about 1/10th the price of an iPad. I did not login to Amazon. I did install Chrome and VLC so she has music, videos, and the web - all one needs on such a device. Hopefully it gets rooted soon so I can install a generic Android ROM.

What sort of OS support updates is that getting?

Re: Show HN: Fun tool that cut my family and friends tech support time in half

#30

Neat. Personally I would say "turn it off and on again" while this says the reverse. If it's targeted at a non-technical user, it needs to be foolproof. I have helped users before that would see this and literally turn their computer on and off, and wonder why the computer isn't working while off as instructed.

Some people can't be helped.
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