ProService Magazine October 2011 : Page 4
ISCET President's Article by Dan Mundy CET/CSM/MST • ISCET President W Beta Testing like a blind squirrel looking for a nut, does fix a problem, they likely don’t want a technician involved but expect granny to load her own software. A recent news article I saw said that some Android HTC smart phones had a flaw in the operating system that would expose the phone to hackers anytime an app accessed the Internet, and that is almost 100% of the apps. The problem is embedded so deep in the system that they are not sure how to fix the problem. Earlier I said that manufacturers would fix problems when they got a round “TO IT” so I thought I would help ev-eryone out by including one. You can print this out and save it, and when someone says they will do something when they get around to it you can hand them one and say “Here, now get busy!” We are all beta testers in some way, shape or form. As the push to get product out to market squeezes profit margins, manufacturers will put a product out that hasn’t been thoroughly tested. Of course they will correct it as soon as they get around to it, but the point is, years ago, people would volunteer to be a beta tester knowing that the product wasn’t complete. Now we willingly plunk down money for software, cell phones, TV’s and other devices that are “upgradeable.” That is a fancy word for, “You can fix the problems we didn’t think you would notice.” HDMI is one of the worst offenders. A customer buys a receiver and hooks it up to his TV, only to find that the TV won’t recognize the receiver. Problem with the receiver? Turns out the TV manufacturer, when they put the prod-uct out several years ago, never thought the set would be hooked up to a receiver through HDMI, so never loaded the software for the receivers to the HDMI chip. Another manufacturer is constantly fighting a battle with HDMI dropping picture for several seconds and then go-ing on like nothing happened. You update the software and that doesn’t solve it. You change the main board and that doesn’t solve it. Turns out the problem is not the cable box or the TV, but the standard itself. I guess in this case if you wanted to blame anyone you could blame Congress for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Customers don’t want to hear that the set is working, espe-cially if they can see the problem. And if a manufacturer, TO IT 2012 PROSERVICE DIRECTORY & YEARBOOK NOW IN PRODUCTION If you are a member of NESDA and have not updated your membership profile, we invite you to take a look at what we have about your company and correct any errors, if necessary, before the information goes into the yearbook. Please visit the NESDA locator at http://www.TVRepairPros.com. Your locator page lists everything except your fax number and the name of the owner. If your information is NOT current, please visit the online form at http://www.nesda.com/servicers/memberupdate.html and complete it to let us know what should be changed. It is NOT necessary to complete the entire form if you have already done so. You do not need to email us if your info is correct. 4 Pro Service October 2011
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