Technology gotta love it not!

kburra

kburra

Senior Member
Location
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An elderly lady friend recently Bought a new Lenovo laptop and also a Brother Printer and ask me to set it up for her.
Unpacked it all, no cable with the printer to connect to the laptop(A new printer never has and they don`t tell you this when buying). I had a spare one.
Went to set up using the Brother CD install disk, yep you guessed it the new laptop does NOT have a CD Rom drive, again I always carry an external CD drive in my box of tricks which plugs into a USB port. She is not on the Internet yet (Going to soon), otherwise I could have downloaded the drivers, etc online.
If I did not have an external CD Rom drive would had to go home and download the drivers put them on a USB stick and come back and install from there
The question is why is everything so dam difficult these days??
 

Well, apparently it is not difficult for those that are lucky enough to have you for a friend. I have a couple of gadgets here that I have not been able to figure out yet. The son usually comes and fixes things but he has been so busy I don't keep him longer than I have to.

One thing is I bought a new garage door opener, I need to program it. In order to do that, I have to take the cover off the unit. I have to climb a step ladder, reach over my head, where I can't see and unscrew the cover. To add to that it has some kind of funky screw that I can't see, not a flat head or a phillips, so I don't know what I need. Makes me @#R%$###$$$ mad. I try to do things myself, if I can. You are very kind to help your friend. I guess they make things so hard that some of us have to call, possibly pay for assistance and most of the time it is us single/widowed ladies.
 
You shouldn't have to unscrew the cover is it like this one.?
 

kburra said:
You shouldn't have to unscrew the cover is it like this one.?
Click to expand...
Yep, looks the same except my cover has little plastic tabs that stick up and are screwed in. I even tried to pry the thing off, break it, so I could get the darn thing off. Would not budge, I could not break the heavy plastic. No, I did not try a hammer, I was afraid of damaging the unit.
I have been up on a step ladder and still can't see what I am doing. I have a six foot ladder but I am to unsteady to climb and stand on the darn thing. I have had a hip replacement and I sure don't want to fall and F that up. So, I wait on the son, he will get it done, but I have not been fussing about it. His first responsibility lies with his family and home.
 
To be honest, my wife has had two hip replacements, and no way would I even let her near a ladder, of any kind, so just put up with the inconvenience until your son or someone else removes those screws For you..keep us posted and take care. :)
 
kburra said:
An elderly lady friend recently Bought a new Lenovo laptop and also a Brother Printer and ask me to set it up for her.
Unpacked it all, no cable with the printer to connect to the laptop(A new printer never has and they don`t tell you this when buying). I had a spare one.
Went to set up using the Brother CD install disk, yep you guessed it the new laptop does NOT have a CD Rom drive, again I always carry an external CD drive in my box of tricks which plugs into a USB port. She is not on the Internet yet (Going to soon), otherwise I could have downloaded the drivers, etc online.
If I did not have an external CD Rom drive would had to go home and download the drivers put them on a USB stick and come back and install from there
The question is why is everything so dam difficult these days??
Click to expand...
It's all for your CONVENIENCE! Don't you know that yet? :ROFLMAO:
 
kburra said:
The question is why is everything so dam difficult these days??
Click to expand...
In your example kburra, I suspect that it is to gain more
profit from the sale, the price will be at least the original,
without all the bits in the box.

Mike.
 
deaver said:
I like to watch the short videos of old engines starting,the funny animal antics and some musical instrument videos.but when I click off to another site the last one starts playing in a popup media player on my computer,i have to click it off or it will play while I am trying to watch a different one.
Click to expand...

Mike said:
In your example kburra, I suspect that it is to gain more
profit from the sale, the price will be at least the original,
without all the bits in the box.

Mike.
Click to expand...
But you would think when you buy a $150.00 printer you would expect to at least have a connection to your computer, and that not being the case, why does the salesperson not tell you that a separate purchase of the printer connecting cable is needed??? Truly I give up in todays world
 
Well, I have both.......a Lenovo laptop and a Brother printer. My printer I think came with the cable because I am the one who hooked it up. I bought a new Lenovo laptop in 2020 and had to learn how to set it all up myself. I figured now that I am on my own I need to be independent. I removed Windows from it and installed Ubuntu. Just recently my printer had disappeared from it for the 2nd time, but I got it working again (somehow!). What I wish is that things would last longer or be supported longer. My printer looks brand new but on Brothers site they say they don't support it anymore. So why do they make things and then try to make us buy new ones?
 
Gosh Kat, they are never going to stop!! Just when I learn to use what I have, there is a new one. I am so tired of trying to adapt to these constant update this, change that. Sometimes we have no choice but to buy the upgrades because of technology advancement. I am happy that new things are made but that should not mean everything else will not work, we should not be forced to buy every new product just to live a simple life.
 
Seldom an issue to connect a printer.

HP printers are the gold standard, ALL the others are not good HW, costly supplies, or poor connectivity or support.

We use HPM12W B&W laser

Cables are old and seldom used nowadays, .most modern printers are a wireless connect via WiFi, with a USB B in case of WiFi fail.

Check reviews before buying.

Jon
 
Lewkat said:
Below is from the official Brother site!!

A USB cable is not included in the box with the Brother machine​


A USB cable is not included with the purchase of your Brother machine. A list of components included with the machine is printed on the outside of the carton.
Brother doesn't include USB cables with its printers, fax machines, or Multifunction Centers (MFC) because there are often multiple ways to connect these machines to a computer or network, and we are unable to anticipate which of these connection methods you will use. Including multiple cables for multiple connection types would unnecessarily contribute to environmental waste. Brother is committed to conserving the global environment.
If your Brother machine is wireless-capable and you require a USB cable to initially connect the machine to a wireless network, you may be able to 'borrow' a USB cable from another device, use it to connect your machine to the network, and then reconnect the cable to the original device.
The Brother machine has a Standard-B USB port, so you must use type A/B USB cable. We recommend the cable be 6 feet or les
Click to expand...
 
kburra said:
The question is why is everything so dam difficult these days??
Click to expand...
It all goes over my head, without wishing to sound rude, your post could have been written in a different language, some call it computer speak, I prefer gibberish. What really frustrates me is the fact that much of the science is mathematical and I always excelled in that subject. Where did I go wrong.

At work the drivers and warehouse staff have to clock in and out, nothing unusual about that, yeah right. I watched someone go to what I thought was a laptop, no, it's an Ipad, (a what?) On the screen is a menu, he tapped something, the screen asked for his number. He tapped it in, then his image appeared on the screen as he made a few more tap-taps before walking away. What happened to the card that went into a clock and was punched?
 
kburra said:
But you would think when you buy a $150.00 printer you would expect to at least have a connection to your computer, and that not being the case, why does the salesperson not tell you that a separate purchase of the printer connecting cable is needed??? Truly I give up in todays world
Click to expand...
Very few computer type devices have hardwired connections these days. The expectation from manufacturers is that Bluetooth technology will power the connection, and as that’s virtual, no physical cord is needed.

Computer hardware typically relies on software (i.e. Bluetooth) connections as their primary connection source because the majority of consumers have personal use devices, so don’t have dedicated workspaces but instead remain mobile. They use laptops on the couch, in bed, at the kitchen table etc so a virtual connection to peripherals is necessary.

ome don’t even have a computer. Their phone replaces everything you’d typically use a computer for, and they print from it as well.

I use my phone far more frequently than my computer (I’m typing this response right now from my phone) and often send things to our printer from my phone.

I admit it’s so frustrating when you’re not tech-savvy and have expectations of things being a certain way, and then they’re not. I am frequently asked to troubleshoot this type of thing for clients.

Just the other day one of my clients called me, frustrated because she couldn’t get the cover off her computer mouse to change the battery. I gently reminded her that it didn’t take batteries, it just needed to be charged. She almost ruined that mouse trying to pry the back off it with a knife!!
 
We have come a long way though. :)

akn6q2vwpy1a1.jpg
 
I am currently in a mess, ordered tickets for my DILs birthday for the ballet. I thought they woud mail them to me, I could put them in her card. NO, I get to the last screen, after I had paid, that I would print them at home. NO, I have a call into them, I do not have a printer and I also want a real ticket, not something anyone could print or copy. Come on, why are they asking me to take a chance on something people could print at home. I have a call into them now. If they can't mail the tickets, I will stop payment on my card.
 
kburra said:
An elderly lady friend recently Bought a new Lenovo laptop and also a Brother Printer and ask me to set it up for her.
Unpacked it all, no cable with the printer to connect to the laptop(A new printer never has and they don`t tell you this when buying). I had a spare one.
Went to set up using the Brother CD install disk, yep you guessed it the new laptop does NOT have a CD Rom drive, again I always carry an external CD drive in my box of tricks which plugs into a USB port. She is not on the Internet yet (Going to soon), otherwise I could have downloaded the drivers, etc online.
If I did not have an external CD Rom drive would had to go home and download the drivers put them on a USB stick and come back and install from there
The question is why is everything so dam difficult these days??
Click to expand...
kburra said:
But you would think when you buy a $150.00 printer you would expect to at least have a connection to your computer, and that not being the case, why does the salesperson not tell you that a separate purchase of the printer connecting cable is needed??? Truly I give up in todays world
Click to expand...

And I thought it was only me. Feel your frustrations, kburra. Yeah, thinking only yesterday seems like there's always a device to plug in for a charge, or there's a set of batteries in need of change. Or a set of assembly instructions to build something that should have come ready built. How did it come to this? I fail to see the efficiency of it all.

I dislike continual harping on how good the 50s and 60s were in comparison. But truly back then our time was our own and we were not tied to all this peripheral busy work. There was a simplicity and order to things seldom seen by me these days. Chaos reigns driven by continual change.
 
Lack of compatibility grows over years as numbers of different OS and peripheral types of devices and standard interfaces grows just as does the graveyard of yesterday's forgotten technology inferior standards and interfaces. Fortunately in this era, information to understand what is needed for whatever one is dealing with and how to use whatever is usually just keyboard strokes away. A responsibility of the user.


One can still buy single box comprehensive computer system solutions including software by specing a system, but piecemeal one needs to do some homework.
 
I have since learned that this is a part of the google android software for smart phones and youtube has taken advantage of this to play your selection after you click off and move on.
 
kburra said:
An elderly lady friend recently Bought a new Lenovo laptop and also a Brother Printer and ask me to set it up for her.
Unpacked it all, no cable with the printer to connect to the laptop(A new printer never has and they don`t tell you this when buying). I had a spare one.
Went to set up using the Brother CD install disk, yep you guessed it the new laptop does NOT have a CD Rom drive, again I always carry an external CD drive in my box of tricks which plugs into a USB port. She is not on the Internet yet (Going to soon), otherwise I could have downloaded the drivers, etc online.
If I did not have an external CD Rom drive would had to go home and download the drivers put them on a USB stick and come back and install from there
The question is why is everything so dam difficult these days??
Click to expand...
They probably assume you're going to use the printer's WiFi connection instead of a cable. And everything assumes you're connected to the Internet these days. That's just the way it is. If you have those things, usually it's a snap to set up computers — actually, much easier than in the past. Everything is plug-and-play these days. (Well, almost everything.)
 
All I have is my smartphone. I've considered getting a projector for comfortable YouTube viewing, but the reviews hint at compatibility problems.

The library was giving away flat-screen computer monitors, but I doubt I'd be able to hook one up to my smartphone.
 
horseless carriage said:
At work the drivers and warehouse staff have to clock in and out, nothing unusual about that, yeah right. I watched someone go to what I thought was a laptop, no, it's an Ipad, (a what?) On the screen is a menu, he tapped something, the screen asked for his number. He tapped it in, then his image appeared on the screen as he made a few more tap-taps before walking away. What happened to the card that went into a clock and was punched?
Click to expand...
To stop those who punched in and out for their friends.
Locally, a union tried to appeal the use of a biometric check-in using the thumb print. The company won.
 

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