1.) Emit a high-pitched shriek. (My laser printer could wake the neighbors when it’s low on paper.) 2.) Provide a woefully inaccurate estimate of what to expect. (My laptop will say you’ve got ten minutes left on the battery, and then it shuts down one minute later.) 3.) Taunt people with a useless error message. […]

My company has been using IP phones for years. Generally, they work great. There’s just one small problem: if the clock on your phone is wrong, you can’t change it. Apparently, the people who designed the phones decided to rely exclusively on network time protocol (NTP), and removed the settings for changing the date and […]

Sometimes the simplest innovations are the most useful. To see what I mean, let me describe my recent shopping experience at Staples. I decided to pick up a replacement chair mat from the local store, instead of ordering it online. I actually went this route because retailers roll the chair mats into a tube for […]

During the past week, I submitted information request forms on two different websites. You know, the kind where you fill out your contact info and tell them what you’re looking for, and they respond with pricing and other details. The only problem is, neither company has gotten back to me yet. Maybe the inquiries got […]

Once in a while, I attend an online meeting using tools like WebEx or GoToMeeting. What always surprises me is how little thought the presenter or moderator puts into what other people can see on their screen. Instead of just sharing the window where the presentation or demo is taking place, they usually have their […]

I’ve been using a particular bill payment site for over a year, but something has always bothered me about the confirmation screen. I finally figured out the problem: the graphics don’t make sense. In particular, they’re using a diamond-shaped image to indicate a successful payment. But people are trained to associate this with a warning […]

If customers have to register for your site before they can complete certain transactions, asking for less information is usually a good thing. So when I signed up for a new account on an e-commerce site a few days ago, I was pleased to see that all they asked for was my email address and […]