Re: Garbage

From: Rob Schneider (rmschne_at_removetheones_b1e1e1b.net.net)
Date: 09/09/04 

Date: Thu, 09 Sep 2004 19:55:33 +0100

Dave wrote:
> I have read the responses to my message. First, my
> current software is not relevant. If Office had the same

It is relevant since most respondents here will try to help. Without
knowing where you are coming from, it's impossible/difficult to help but
you aren't, it seems asking for help... only wanting to winge and vent,
it seems). No wonder you have business problems.

> (or better) functionality, this would not be an issue. To
> make matters worse, Microsoft chose VB to make up for the
> lack of functionality instead of developing decent

Not really. You don't say what functionality you want or expect.

> software in the first place. All this does is add more
> complexity to using Office.

It does, if you use VB as the solution to your problems. It is not
necessarily the right solution and in general is a last resort.

>
> Second, "work arounds" are needed because the
> functionality is not there. I need to use more steps in
> Office to accomplish the same task, if it can be done at

What tasks? Compared to what application?

> all. Just because Office MAY do something in a different
> way, does not make it the "right way" to do it. I need to

You have to start to learn that you are just dealing with a computer.
It is important to learn how to use the computer and the application.
It's not rocket science, but unless you learn how to use it and stop
fighting it (it's not a person), you'll continue to be frustrated.

> be comfortable with the way something is done, not take it
> for granted that Office will do the task the way I want it
> done.

Never take this for granted.

>
> Third, my "tirade" is that there are so many users that

How many? Who? About what?

> have gotten dupped into using software that is so much
> extra work to develop a spread*** or database
> application. I just don't understand how this can

It is hard work and difficult to build spreadsheets and database
application. It requires knowledge, skill, education, and experience.
Professionally-trained and experienced people make careers at this sort
of things. Don't assume it's simple.

> happen. I always thought that the user would help govern
> what software "made it" in the marketplace. Either I am

They do. It's called who buys what. You clearly are not old enough to
know that before about 1993 or so there was no such thing as "Office"
and before about 1990 there was no such things as Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, and Access in Windows. A lot of other products were in the
market place users voted with their pocket book to move to Windows and
Office.

> naive or someone besides the user was involved.
>

You are naive.

> Fourth, as a small business, I do not have the resources
> to put into converting my spreadsheets and databases to
> Office that larger businesses have. Because of the extra

Then you are making the wrong business decision.

> work involved to develop an Office application, I am
> liable to go out of business because I cannot afford to
> keep up with it. [I would be curious to know how many

That's life. There is nothing that says business have a "right" to
exist when they don't know how to exist.

> small businesses have folded because of this.]
>

As have large businesses. Quite a few are big companies that competed
with and lost against Microsoft. Microsoft's battles are just starting.
  We'll see if they are around in the same way in 15-20 years. They may
just be a passing pheonema (based on the pattern of the industry).

>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>I am a small business owner/operator who purchased
>>Micosoft Office about a year ago for the first time. The
>>only reason is to try to be more compatible to my
>>clients. In the time I have had Office, I have attempted
>>to convert a spread*** and a database application to
>>Office and have run into more problems than if I had not
>>purchased Office in the first place.
>>
>>Functions that are part of the software do not produce
>
> the
>
>>same results as comparable functions in my current
>>software. So I am constantly trying to create "work
>>arounds" to make up for that. In many cases,
>
> capabilities
>
>>of my current software simply do not exist in Office.
>>Again, more work arounds.
>>
>>Unfortunately, it appears that the standard answer to
>
> this
>
>>type of problem is "Write a VB script". For people like
>>me, that is no help--I do not know VB and do not have the
>>time to learn it. Why should I have to write a script to
>>do something my current software will do via a menu
>>option? My business does not have the funds to pay
>>professional programmers to do conversions for
>>applications that are already working.
>>
>>I have looked as some of the messages in the various
>>Office Newgroups to see if some help is there. There
>
> seem
>
>>to be similar questions to mine, but I am seeing that no
>>responses are given in a lot of the cases after about a
>>week of checking. I cannot wait a week or more for an
>>answer to a problem. It is obvious that the "experts"
>>cannot produce an answer to some of these problems, so
>
> how
>
>>are the novices supposed to cope?
>>
>>It is bad enough that I had to pay over twice as much for
>>Office as I did for my current software. I end up with
>>less functionality which decreases my productivity. Now
>
> I
>
>>need to pay to have functionality added? Functionality
>>that should be part of the sofware in the first place. I
>>cannot wait on the "experts" for help. All of this is a
>>cost to my business and my clients. It is more cost-
>>effective for my clients to buy compatible software than
>>it is for me to spend money on converting to Office.
>>
>>I wish I had never attempted to use Office and to try to
>>convert these applications. I have stopped any work on
>>these conversions and will not deal with this garbage
>>called Office. Microsoft must have paid off the people
>>making software-purchase decisions. It is obvious to me
>>that the end-users of the software must have had no idea
>>what they were being forced into using. If they were, I
>>cannot see Office being used anywhere.
>>.
>>