Do we have the same fate as TV Techs?

[PCX]

yep, I tell some people "if it's got a circuit board we do something to it.... and we always have a hammer ready " usually gets a good laugh out of them!

My tech has often times asked me if we could keep a hammer under the counter for certain laptops . . . he particularly hates working on certain HPs.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

My tech has often times asked me if we could keep a hammer under the counter for certain laptops . . . he particularly hates working on certain HPs.

oh but but but I LOVE the dv series.... it's sooo HOT!

 

[Screwloose]

oh but but but I LOVE the dv series.... it's sooo HOT!

ahah - I see what you did there

 

[PCX]

oh but but but I LOVE the dv series.... it's sooo HOT!

ahah - I see what you did there

HA! Good Times


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[SprinterTech-WI]

thought you all might enjoy that

 

[iHelp Tech Support]

The only way I think a computer tech business will dry up is if they do not learn to adapt to new technology. There is always going to be some sort of new technology and someone who will find a way to break it. There are so many avenues to generate business in this industry that the well will be around for a long time. Consider offering services to build smart homes that monitor themselves for your clients.

Home theater set up, VoiP services setup, monitoring home energy use, security, home monitoring via the internet on smart phones this is just off the top of my head. You just need to learn to adapt and you all will be fine.

 

[npinc]

I don't think the industry is going to be obsolete. I believe a lot of people in it are going to be obsolete. In other words, Tom the druck driver that took a computer course in business school because he was laid off and started a business out of his basement swapping desktop parts is probably going to become obsolete.

The IT industry is becoming so ingrained in our lives that there will always be need, at some level, to provide solutions. The ones that will survive are the resilient and flexible ones who look for new verticals and actively seek new technologies and opportunities. Those specialists that are willing and able to consistently explore, experiment and diversify. Those not afraid to rip apart an iPad for example.

 

[Xander]

I don't think the industry is going to be obsolete. I believe a lot of people in it are going to be obsolete. In other words, Tom the druck driver that took a computer course in business school because he was laid off and started a business out of his basement swapping desktop parts is probably going to become obsolete.

Actually, one of our regulars does drive truck full-time and does his jobs remotely. Sounds like he's doing alright and, when he posts, he doesn't just blow smoke.

 

[npinc]

Actually, one of our regulars does drive truck full-time and does his jobs remotely. Sounds like he's doing alright and, when he posts, he doesn't just blow smoke.

That wasn't what I meant. From the sounds of it my communication wasn't clear enough to convey my meaning. Perhaps the reference was too obscure.

What I meant was that we saw a lot of people flood the industry that were merely looking to cash in on the tech industry as a "cash cow", some because their orignal careers ended prematurely. They focused on basic things like rebuilding towers and Windows reloads because that was the limit of their skill set.

They will become obsolete as the industry reinvents itself unless they can reinvent themselves.

 

[Xander]

I understood what you meant. My point was that there's no accurate way to gauge who can and cannot pull through and succeed. We've all seen flashy businesses with a ton of certs to their names fall while some guy working out of his garage, no certs, but knows the value of solid customer service lasts years and years.

 

[AlaDes]

I don't think the industry is going to be obsolete. I believe a lot of people in it are going to be obsolete. In other words, Tom the druck driver that took a computer course in business school because he was laid off and started a business out of his basement swapping desktop parts is probably going to become obsolete.

The IT industry is becoming so ingrained in our lives that there will always be need, at some level, to provide solutions. The ones that will survive are the resilient and flexible ones who look for new verticals and actively seek new technologies and opportunities. Those specialists that are willing and able to consistently explore, experiment and diversify. Those not afraid to rip apart an iPad for example.

No, my name is not Tom, but I do happen to be a very employed truck driver that resents the fact that some people just can't help themselves when it comes to slamming others who wish to enter a different field than they were formerly employed in. Why does it make a difference what a person's current or previous employment is if they are sincere in changing their career paths and are good at what they do?

Actually, one of our regulars does drive truck full-time and does his jobs remotely. Sounds like he's doing alright and, when he posts, he doesn't just blow smoke.

Thank you very much Xander!

 

[npinc]

I understood what you meant. My point was that there's no accurate way to gauge who can and cannot pull through and succeed. We've all seen flashy businesses with a ton of certs to their names fall while some guy working out of his garage, no certs, but knows the value of solid customer service lasts years and years.

True. And service is important, but at the same time irrelevant if their skills become obsolete. Again I understand my communication to have failed. Clearly the example didn't work. I'll simplify.

It doesn't matter who you are, how good you are at what you do or how you deliver it. If there's no longer a need for your service, you won't be in business.

You can be the best console TV serviceman in the industry. You can change those vacuum tubes out with your eyes closed. You lovingly polish every tube until it gleems. You polish the cabinet with Pledge and a lint free cloth when you're finished and you only charge $30. Unfortunately nobody owns one.

So. To answer the OP, I believe there will be a good percentage of IT specialists that will become obsolete, yes. However, those that can reinvent themselves will always have work.

 

[joydivision]

It was a figure of speak I think. I don't think any offence was ever meant with the truck driver reference.

I really don't know where to turn, but with my new office I have to steer towards the future. I am hoping I can use time spent at the office to learn some new skills, maybe Ipad repair etc or maybe I will go back to my original skillset of web and software development.

One thing I am going to really push is backup systems.

 

[sassenach]

I have just finished my HND in Computing Tech Support (Grade A 95% Wooo Hoooo) and break/fix accounted for 1 module in one semester. Networking from the MS and Cisco points of view was the major part of the course.

You're never too old to learn - you just need to make sure you do so on a regular basis.

 

[fredz0003]

Having an electronic background is funny to me how people are willing to buy a whole new TV for $500 or even more, when all they need is to replace a $5 capacitor or a $65 psu, it just depends on the person, I'm all for saving the planet by not throwing a good tv or pc away for simple stuff but society doesn't think like me sadly. I don't think PC support has the same faith, TV's are one dimension they project images and that's it. Computers run everything, and not only you have to troubleshoot the pc, but peripherals as well. Sotfware bugs, updates, etc, once the TV is at home that's it, it comes on and off, no need to update, no need to check for virus, IMO, TV techs don't come close to computer techs, my brother was a TV repaiman in Mexico but that's a different market, people recycle and fix their stuff more often than let's say here in the US.

 

[PCX]

You guys got to remember that there are Smart TVs and they are becoming more popular . . . In any case, as mentioned before, if you can keep your skill set relevant, then there should not be any problem with staying in business.

 

[BDNTech]

maybe in part. but tv's don't store all your data.
Focus on data - protection, backup, and recovery. People will always pay for their kids pictures to be recovered and businesses... well they have no choice.

 

[PCX]

maybe in part. but tv's don't store all your data.
Focus on data - protection, backup, and recovery. People will always pay for their kids pictures to be recovered and businesses... well they have no choice.

Shoot, in many ways computer wont store much if any data before long. Their will always be some sort of portable data storage, but the cloud is getting pretty big and common. Regardless of that, its irrelevant. TVs are worth repairing and need repairing all day long . . . unless the screen is cracked.

 

[PcTek9]

Will cheaper computers kill computer repair?

Of course.

But computer repair is not computer network. computer repair is not database management. computer repair is not disaster recovery. computer repair is not offsite databackup.

I see computers now as low as $249. I was at walmart the other day, a big chain store in the usa, and they had cheap notebooks at $249.

For all my computer science degrees, certifications, and knowledge, a kid not even out of high school can fix a pc with 1/500 of the knowledge I have. Yesterday the news reported less than 50% of u.s. college grads are finding jobs.

The u.s.a. is in big trouble financially, Bush jr spent trillions, Obama spends trillions more. yet somehow no problems are being fixed. where is all the money going? Greece is falling, European financial markets are on the verge of collapse.

So now what?

Now we must find out where it all went. First we must find out what IT is...

I can tell you what IT is... It is creating, It is manufacturing, It is producing.

We have more people in the world than ever before... So why aren't they creating, producing, manufacturing?

Fear.

Don't spend your money. Don't go outside. 8 years of the bush administration selling fear to the american public. Al khaddai this, Al khaddai that, remember 911 and keep it holy. Terror. Terrorism. Real estate markets crashing, I see 4 bedroom, 3 bath brick homes selling for 30,000 us dollars. Financial collapse. Fear.

Television and Internet and Radio, preaching to us, day in and day out. Telling us how bad everything is, rubbing it in, 24/7, failure everywhere, corporate criminals, political crooks, programming us not to try. People disgusted. Would be entrepreneurs who have given up, b/c they do not understand the tax code, and don't want to be persecuted by the IRS when it's so much safer to do nothing and just sit on your money.

Another friend closed his business. I went there and we discussed some of it. He was paying 18 taxes. If his bookkeeper made a .50 cent mistake, the IRS would wait 5 years, then fine him 2000 dollars. The problem was that their seemed to be a stream of IRS agents fining him... Until he finally closed the doors, and said XSDEWERSDF. 18 taxes.

We listed every tax he paid, and the list was 18 taxes long. There was 951 sales & use tax, federal and state and city income taxes, taxes to pay on his employees such as DOL-4, and more and more. 18 taxes.

While I had been there on a previous visit 2 state tax agents appeared with multiple fines of over 10,000 dollars, for only 5 dollars worth of mistakes. He closed his doors, fired his employees, and sold off all the business assets, whatever was left he donated to a church charity.

Did you know that Milton Hershey of Hershey chocolate, filed bankruptcy 11 times on previous ventures?

* A Tax is a fine for doing good, a fine is a tax for doing bad...

 

[Ccomp5950]

Here is how it works...

Adapt or die.

If the market is disrupted and computer repair goes the way of buggy whip makers you will either find a new niche working on whatever replaces it or you will go out of business.

How long until general computing devices become no longer used? I don't know, probably about the time I have a display implanted in my contacts and wear my computer. Might want to start brushing up on your bio-medical degree if you absolutely must stay in business 20 years from now.