Xref: utzoo comp.sys.hp:5644 comp.sys.apollo:5859 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ssbell!dsndata!wayne From: wayne@dsndata.uucp (Wayne Schlitt) Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp,comp.sys.apollo Subject: Re: Netpower: encourage HP to improve customer services Message-ID: Date: 18 Jul 90 15:32:32 GMT References: <1990Jul6.015817.23710@metro.ucc.su.OZ.AU> <4310127@hpindda.HP.COM> Sender: wayne@dsndata.UUCP Organization: Design Data Lines: 87 In-reply-to: danh@hpindda.HP.COM's message of 17 Jul 90 01:11:56 GMT In article <4310127@hpindda.HP.COM> danh@hpindda.HP.COM (Dan Herington) writes: > > Just so you won't think nobody at HP is listening ... i know that HP is listening and i do appreciate it. > > [ ... ] I > found out that since much of the internet is privately and/or publically > funded for non-profit purposes, it is absolutely NOT kosher to support a > commercial product using the internet. Any of the questions that get > answered here are being answered by the individuals without the support of > HP - hence the obligatory "disclaimer." i am not so sure about it being "absolutely NOT kosher to support a commercial product using the internet". uunet is a commercial enterprise and there are commercial products being distributed from it to other people via the internet. i believe the restriction is really that the end customer must be using the information or service for "internet approved activities." that is, if a professor has an HP computer for a research grant, then getting information to help him/her with the research project is perfectly ok. of course, you shouldnt just believe me, or anything anyone else says, you should really check it out. talking to the folks at uunet might be a very productive place to start though. also, do not confuse "internet" with "usenet". one of the major reasons why my company (Design Data) is on usenet is because of comp.sys.hp. we are not even on the internet and there for we dont fall under any of the internet restrictions. there are many many sites in the same situation. even if comp.sys.hp/apollo couldnt be allowed, there is the biz hierarchy that is definitely for commercial stuff. if a site doesnt think it can legally transmit the biz hierarchy, then it is up to them to not carry it. > > Anyway, we are now looking at using CompuServe. Any comments? Would you > be willing to use CompuServe to submit questions/problems for a > programmatic product? Is there anything that you would need that > CompuServe doesn't provide? i know that i would not use Compu$erve. as the sysadmin and manager here at design data, i do not have time to set up another news source like that. to me, it would be much more costly than i would think that it is worth. right now, quite a few people here read comp.sys.hp. how many people would i have to set up logins on compuserve? everyone? all of them reading during prime time hours, tieing up the modems? yech. no, compuserve, even if it were free, would not be used much here. (i would imagine things would be much worse for larger sites and universities) another thing to think about is that you dont have to go only one way or the other, you can do both. there is nothing that says that you cant have a group in Compu$erve that is the same as comp.sys.hp (or biz.sys.hp, or whatever). notes/news, in my opinion, could be one of the best ways to support a large user base. i really dont think that it would end up costing HP much, but it would help out a great deal of people. it is important to realize that no, it is not a replacement for things like software service and the response center, but software service and the response center are not a good replacement for news/notes. news is good at distributing information to a large number of people and to get information from a large number of people. software service and the response center is for one on one problem solving. the response center can get you information quickly about a problem you have now. news can get you information about a problem you dont have yet, but might have in the future. news is also good for getting lots of different ideas and options to a given problem. news can also get information to people quicker than snail mail in many cases. look at it this way: does HP support user groups? what is the difference between supporting an organized user group that meets at a physical location and supporting an electronic user group? user groups are not a replacement for software support of the response center either... anyway, just random thoughts... Wayne Schlitt Development Manager Design Data