Contemporary essays, fiction, and opinion offered regularly by author Anne Brandt.






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Technology Failure
Posted: 07/11/07
I’ve had it! Up to here! (Picture me raising my right hand to my neck in a slashing motion.) I am tired of technology that doesn’t work followed by personal service that doesn’t work either.

Last Christmas Earl bought me a Sirius radio Plug and Play for my car so that I could listen to music without commercial interruption. It’s been over six months and a myriad of frustrating telephone calls to Sirius to try and get the apparatus to work. Today, I gave up. The next time I call Sirius, it will be to tell them I don’t want to be part of its new technology. I don’t care if the company refunds any money or not; I just want out.

The idea of listening to commercial free radio was appealing, and it was thoughtful of Earl to buy the Plug and Play. I installed it myself, something Earl was skeptical about, but I also took my car and the newly installed Sirius to the local Best Buy® that installs such equipment for other less adventuresome types. “Yeah, you did it right,” the teenaged techno-whiz told me. “But you don’t have a strong enough signal. You need to contact Sirius.” Which is what I did. Several times. Different customer service personnel each time. Lots of advice. No luck.

It has crossed my mind that the problem might be me. After all, I still remember typewriters with keys that you had to punch, as there was no electricity feeding them. I remember when you had to get out of your chair to change the channel on the television set, as remotes hadn’t been invented. And I also recall talking on telephones that were tethered to a cord, which -- in turn -- was tethered to an outlet in the wall. Maybe I’m not cut out for the current trends.

However, I have moved on to a computer for my “typing” needs. I’ve mastered our remote, and I have a cell phone. Which all proves my point that Sirius has a serious technology failure. Sirius, you know where you can put your Plug and Play!


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