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Subject:RE: Business case for dual monitors From:"Nicola Harlow" <N -dot- Harlow -at- seamsltd -dot- com> To:"Peter Neilson" <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>,<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 1 May 2008 11:16:28 +0100
A company I worked at told me that I could have a new monitor and 'it
could be anything I needed'.
I asked for a TFT as normal monitors give me eye-strain.
I was refused, and a rude email went out from IT stating that no-one was
allowed TFT monitors.
Fine. I found the most expensive CRT I could find, then insisted on a
particular screen filter to protect my eyes. It took three months to get
the screen, and another two to get the filter. I refused to use the
screen properly while I didn't have a filter, and instead used a smaller
filter and reduced the screen size to fit.
This process involved my boss and various other people, I have no idea
of the cost of man-hours, but the cost alone of this 20" screen and
expensive filter (the only one I'd found to be effective) was well over
the cost of the TFT I'd requested in the first place.
And I left about a month after getting it :)
The next company gave me a laptop and TFT straight off...
I think sometimes companies are so involved in 'saving money' that they
forget the value of giving people the right equipment at the right time,
and that spending months making a decision like this reduces
productivity as well as money.
Phew!
Nicola
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+n -dot- harlow=seamsltd -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+n -dot- harlow=seamsltd -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Peter Neilson
Sent: 30 April 2008 21:15
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Business case for dual monitors
The case for dual monitors is not unlike the case for SnagIt... It costs
more to spend all the time and effort trying to justify the thing than
the actual cost. Last time I needed SnagIt, the boss applied to get it
for everyone, but it took like two months to get it approved. This was
an expense of maybe $300, total! Some of us were about to go and buy
it ourselves.
I've even seen four months spent on trying to save $10,000, with the
result being that the equipment "just as good" that was ordered failed
just after warranty and Yours Truly managed to fix in after only a day
of downtime, by finding and removing a solder splat from a motherboard.
Why not have a tech do it? They weren't any good at that sort of stuff.
Why not have the manufacturer replace it? They were too cheap, and had
gone (or nearly gone) out of business. It probably would have taken four
months to get it replaced, if at all. Bite the bullock and get the right
equipment the first time!
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