FW: YELP, HELP!

[ssalemi]

RE: Computer Help in Santa Fe

As owner and operator of one of the most successful long-term computer
establishments in Santa Fe, entering my 12th year of business, I feel
compelled to address the "bad review" I was given by Mr. Giles Bowkett on
this list.  I was sad to see this, and even more surprised by how quickly
and easily people -- even supposedly intelligent and deep-thinking people --
will accept one anecdotal, unverified piece of information as "fact" and
operate according to a kind of "group think" instead of determining the
veracity of information for themselves.

This anecdotal tale from Giles Bowkett about his experience at my shop is
UNTRUE.  I certainly know how to diagnose a dead video card, I change them
regularly (along with a thousand other types of hardware and software
repairs), and if that's what his computer needed, I would have recommended
that to him.  I've been working in the computer industry for more than two
decades, was a highly-paid technical and marketing consultant for Digital
Equipment Corporation (then the #2 Computer Company Worldwide, behind IBM)
in the 1980s in Boston, have won several awards for my work, and am quite
expert.  My employers used to fly me around in Helicopters, pay me $200 an
hour, and keep the helicopters waiting for me.  Here in Santa Fe, my
business has grown steadily over the years, and I have hundreds of satisfed
customers, any one of whom would be happy to provide a glowing review of my
skills and achievements.  As I write this, here at Christmas time, I am
surrounded by gifts -- flowers, bottles of wine, books, chocolates -- from
happy and grateful customers!!!

I'm building two high-end Intel quad-core based systems with RAID arrays,
dual gigabyte ethernet network ports, etc., edc., for a long-time customer
as we speak.  Once I build these units, I will have to support them
throughout their product lifecycle.  I am personally responsible for
servicing hundreds and hundreds of computers in Santa Fe, many of which I
built, myself, by hand.

Gosh, I really think I can diagnose a dead video card on some junky old
PC!!!  

In Mr. Bowkett's unproven complaint, he has not stated whether his computer
was a desktop or a notebook.  He has not suggested how, if the computer
would not "light up," I could have seen his Windows system and determined
that he needed antivirus software (of course, every windows computer does --
Microsoft itself insists on it -- so it could hardly be called bad advice,
if I did give it -- but all that is another story).   He says I claimed his
monitor was dead, but if he actually brought a standalone video monitor in
for me to diagnose, I would have immediately and instantly plugged it into a
known good computer system in my shop, and we'd have learned in a few
minutes whether his monitor was bad or not.  Or is he referring to a laptop
"monitor" (not the usual vocabulary for a notebook LCD screen), in which
case, how could he possibly have popped out and replaced the "video card,"
with which laptops are not ordinarily equipped???!!

In short, Mr. Bowkett's story is full of holes, makes very little sense,
bears no resemblance to how things go in my shop, and is therefore simply
untrue or based on a lack of understanding -- not unusual among ordinary
folk.  All of the diagnoses required in Mr. Bowkett's case are relatively
simple, and I have performed them hundreds if not thousands of time in my
career.  A computer technician of ordinary intelligence with a few years
experience could do it.  I am a computer technician of high intelligence (IQ
188 good enough?) and more than twenty years experience.  25, now, actually,
I'm afraid to say (shows my age).  

Perhaps Mr. Bowkett has gotten me confused with someone else; or has
confused the actual advice I gave him with what he "heard me say," as they
say?  The Six Blind Men and The Elephant...Rashoman....

I would suggest you yank this particular thread from the list unless it can
be verified.  It is untrue.  Day after day, week after week, my business
prospers.  I not only repair and upgrade computers but build elegant and
effective custom built systems for artists, financial professionals, real
estate and insurance agents, entrepreneurs, and other high-end buyers,
solving a wide variety of complex software and hardware issues.  Again, my
list of satisfied customers is huge, and grows larger every day.  Glowing
references available upon request -- come on down and share a glass of my
gifted wine!  You can even buy a copy of my computer book, "Make Peace With
Your PC."

In short, and in closing, I can certainly diagnose and replace a dead video
card on some old PC, and it is ludicrous to claim that I can't.  Perhaps Mr.
Bowkett was unwilling to pay a reasonable and customary diagnostic fee, was
unhappy that I wouldn't engage in the process of solving his problems
without compensation, and invented this story, out of whole cloth, or by
twisting around the actual facts of the matter?  Unlikely, maybe -- but
unlike Mr. Bowkett's story, this version (which is a just a guess) at least
makes sense.
 
Thanks and Regards,
 
Steven Salemi
The Computer Guru
Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA
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