Great story in the NY Times that links to tech support resources on the web. Basics - There’s Lots of Tech Help, Yes, on the Internet
If you’re like me, odds are that you’ve also found yourself with a tech problem that was made worse by the lack of ready, available — and perhaps most important — useful help. But with the Internet, there’s no need to have to wait on hold.
There are hundreds (if not thousands) of other users out there, sharing their experience and wisdom, often free. So instead of getting on the phone, get online and start crowdsourcing your tech support needs.
Here’s how.
General Tips
First, a few general rules. Many of the below sites require you to register a user name and password before you can post a question. Also, it’s a good idea to check how active a site is. Answerbag.com, for example, has more than 750,000 members. The bigger the site, the more likely you are to get an answer.
Sites with moderators are a plus because they will help weed out irrelevant or duplicate answers and keep the discussion on topic. There are also good fee-based sites like Experts Exchange (secure.experts-exchange.com/), but I’ve limited the below list to free help.
PCs
- www.fixya.com
- www.techimo.com
- PC World (tinyurl.com/3q7xm5)
- CNet (tinyurl.com/43be5q)
Macs
- www.apple.com/support
- discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=731
- www.macfixit.com
- MacFixIt tutorials (tinyurl.com/4xw9a)
- www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/faq/index.html
Smartphones
- forums.crackberry.com
- forums.crackberry.com/f29/
- www.theiphoneblog.com/iphone-help-and-how-to-guides/
- CNet’s video tutorials (cnettv.cnet.com/2001-1_53-28619.html)
- And if you still insist on speaking to a human being, go to gethuman.com (www.gethuman.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment