The development and adoption of new technology is usually seen as very positive for the society and individuals, for obvious reasons.  New technologies save lives, improve productivity, reduce costs; minimize human involvement in repetitive, unpleasant or dangerous processes, and so forth.

Like with any other thing under the sun, however, benefits of modern technology are not coming without shadow of problems varying by their significance, costs, frequency, predictability, etc.  

From a user’s perspective, any technology that he/she did not use before is new, no matter whether it is the only device in the world with absolutely unique capabilities or just one of a billion similar devices used around the world on the daily basis. By definition, new technology is unfamiliar to the user, so their stress level is elevated and their error rate is expected to be high.  Predictably, the operator’s ability to recognize and correct errors is problematic as it requires a much deeper understanding and familiarity with the system than “regular” operations. To seek proper assistance the user has to determine which part of the system is malfunctioning (e.g. hardware or software), which is an initial part of the diagnostic process and may be challenging on its own. Even if request for help is directed towards the right source, to receive effective assistance the user has to provide correct and relevant information, to make reasonable connections between the problem and recent actions/events, to ask the right questions and to make reasonable requests which all require at least some understanding of the system and command of relevant terminology. Even if the best efforts are applied on the user’s side, assistance provided by different sources may fall well short of needs and expectations. For example, according to a 2007 Consumer Reports National Research Center survey of all Windows PC manufacturers, they solved only 59 percent of problems. Free manufacturer support was often abysmal, succeeding only 53 percent of the time. Extra-cost extended warranties had a slightly higher success rate, 62 percent, but no fewer hassles.

Technical support problems are nether new, nor country-specific. For example, a 2002 report prepared for the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) stated that “faced with unprecedented pressures on retail margins, PC manufacturers have sought to reduce the cost base of their technical support operations. It appears that, as a result, the technical support that consumers receive is getting worse.”

PC Magazine’s Michael Muchmore starts his 2008 article about tech support with the following phrase:

“The quality of support provided by the makers of computer products has been in a steady decline, with ratings in our Service and Reliability surveys going down nearly across the board from previous years…” The article conveniently provides you with the survey link … but for the faint of heart it may be better not to click it as “Needing repair” data published by PC Mag is unlikely to make any user, inexperienced users in particular, to feel any better. According to the 2008 PC Magazine report, the  average percentage of  Windows desktops  needing repair was 17%, with locally built clones (“PCs purchased from no-name or local vendors”) having  the highest, 31%, and with Dell, Gateway and HP  having 19%, 18% and 16% respectively.  Apple has the lowest number, 9%.

Data for Notebooks was not much better other than the absence of “unnamed” manufacturers reduced average number for Windows notebooks.

In its previous 2007 report, in the Percentage Needing Repair section, PC Magazine noticed: “This is getting a little ridiculous. For 6 of 12 companies listed, more than 20% of the desktops reported on needed repair!” (October 16, 2007, p58).

The 2008 PC Magazine report also stated: “When it comes to Windows PCs in general, our readers are not feeling the love: Even the average overall score for all Windows PCs is down to 7.6 from 7.8 last year.”

“For Windows, our tech-savvy readers still prefer their self-built computers and … rated those home-brew PCs an 8.4 overall, plus an 8.6 for their likelihood to recommend—second only to Apple in both categories. Not surprisingly, self-built computers receive the lowest rating for their ease of setup out of the box (58%), since, of course, it's all about the setup. Compare that with 90 percent for an Apple desktop's out-of-the-box ease of setup. The takeaway: DIY may be fun, but it's a challenge if you don't know what you're doing. Macs are easy, even for the less-technical user.”

Improvement of computer hardware and software combined with computer education and  further support infrastructure development for computers, networks and related consumer electronics will continue to be key factors for reducing the pain of acceptance and use of IT and related technologies for residential and small business users.  Current support infrastructure includes multiple local and nationwide enterprises providing remote and onsite assistance with different reimbursement models from pay per service fee to different maintenance/warranties/insurance plans. Which models and enterprises survive, especially during current very difficult economic times, remains to be seen.