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

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

#41

Post by an_account »

panorama wrote: post #34

One thing I'd particularly like when dealing with my parents' issues is an _easy_ way to set up remote screenshare and access. It's one thing when the problem is that their computer isn't booting (in which this site would definitely help ;)), but another if the problem is that they can't find a file they downloaded or something like that. I'd pay for a tool like this that was easy to set up and use that didn't have t…

If you both have macs, it's built in, but sort of hidden.

Just open up messages on both computer -> go to your parents' contact -> click details -> click the button next to their name that looks like two screens (it's next to the video chat button). It'll ring on their computer, all they have to do is accept.

Edit: Apparently you can just spotlight search for the "screen sharing" application and just type in their apple id.

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

#42

Post by econnors »

djsumdog wrote: post #33
grecy wrote: post #31

I'm a software engineer, and I have no idea what "is your device up to date?" means. Does that mean do I have the latest iPhone, or do I have the latest device drivers (I think I have heard that from Windows users). Not too sure there.

My exact same thoughts. I was like, "Where's the button my parents would click?"

The thought of my mom calling me for help answering a question on the debugging tool I gave her made me laugh.

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

#44

Post by morganvachon »

chirau wrote: post #40

I can't believe that some people here think that it is better to move your relatives, who are scared/prone to malware but don't think to restart their computer first, to Linux. What a joke really. Linux is good and all, but come on people, among iOS, MacOS, Windows, Chrome and Linux, it's the least usable and least user friendly.

It depends on the user, you can't make such a blanket statement and expect to be taken seriously.

My non-techie wife wandered onto my Elementary OS installation one day while I was at work, and despite having never used anything but Windows on the desktop (not even a Mac) she navigated just fine without me there to guide her. She was able to use it to go online, find something she wanted to print, print it, and then download, edit, and save a photo she wanted for her blog. Granted, those weren't pro-level tasks, but it's typical of what your average Grandma will do with her PC. Everything the average user does these days is all done in the browser; Google grokked that, and we now have Chrome OS.

I'd love to move my mother to Elementary (I've previously considered a Chromebook for her but my new stance on Google gives me pause) just so she will not be as susceptible to drive-by malware. I think if you give folks a fighting chance, you'll find that Windows doesn't have to be the only OS for Mr. and Mrs. Average User.

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

#45

Post by eklavya »

chirau wrote: post #40

I can't believe that some people here think that it is better to move your relatives, who are scared/prone to malware but don't think to restart their computer first, to Linux. What a joke really. Linux is good and all, but come on people, among iOS, MacOS, Windows, Chrome and Linux, it's the least usable and least user friendly.

My father, sisters would disagree. I only had Linux on the home computer for last 7-8 years. There are absolutely no support requirements, because it keeps on working the same way with no surprises. They can not setup windows, macOS, linux by themselves, but once setup for them Linux is the most effective solution and least headache for me.

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

#46

Post by dsfyu404ed »

chirau wrote: post #40

I can't believe that some people here think that it is better to move your relatives, who are scared/prone to malware but don't think to restart their computer first, to Linux. What a joke really. Linux is good and all, but come on people, among iOS, MacOS, Windows, Chrome and Linux, it's the least usable and least user friendly.

I've had my parents on Linux several times as laptops were getting long in the tooth.

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

#47

Post by AnthonyMouse »

chirau wrote: post #40

I can't believe that some people here think that it is better to move your relatives, who are scared/prone to malware but don't think to restart their computer first, to Linux. What a joke really. Linux is good and all, but come on people, among iOS, MacOS, Windows, Chrome and Linux, it's the least usable and least user friendly.

> Linux is good and all, but come on people, among iOS, MacOS, Windows, Chrome and Linux, it's the least usable and least user friendly.

ChromeOS is Linux. The principal difference between ChromeOS and Ubuntu is that if you want to run something other than Chrome then on Ubuntu you may and on ChromeOS you don't.

And the likes of Ubuntu have been easier to use than Windows for five years or more. The utility of Windows is if you need Windows-exclusive software or hardware, not that it's easier to use. And if that's your problem then you can't have ChromeOS or MacOS/iOS either.

You also can't lawfully install MacOS or iOS on the computers your family already has.

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

#49

Post by [deleted] »

diziet wrote: post #15
howderek wrote: post #8

I think this needs a "I don't know" option that leads to links to support pages. I've certainly dealt with friends and family who don't know how to check if their software is up to date and update it if it's not. I also think the "Did this fix your problem?" prompts after saying "Yes" are redundant.

The "Did this fix your problem?" interrupts the flow and forces people to pay attention to the question instead of blindly clicking, and it is certainly there on purpose.

[deleted]

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

#50

Post by nathancahill »

nathancahill wrote: post #3

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…

I can't edit my comment anymore, but I should have been clear. My family is relatively tech-savy: My father is a photographer and a power user in a handful of Adobe apps. He manages backup disk arrays and can debug most common computer problems.

The real issue is that malware (adware?) is so damn convincing that he honestly believes it will make his 2 year old computer cleaner/better/faster/longer battery life. Once these apps are installed, they set themselves up in /Library/LaunchDaemons, /Library/LaunchAgents, browser addons, default search engines and several other places and they are absolutely a pain to get rid of over the phone.

So no, the solution for them is not, switch to Chromebooks. Ideally Apple would update their existing malware rules to include these "legitimate" but extremely shady apps.

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