Put up yer dukes! It's that laptop user issue again.....

["KimBoo York" <kimboo@watermarkonline.com>]

Okay, let's start here:

> In message <7c1f4a1c.35c90b13@aol.com>, eamorical@aol.com writes:
> >1. General (Home) user
> >2. SOHO
> >3. Specialty User
> >4. Development/Technical Workstation
> >5. Business User -- Mid/Large office
> >6. Business User Systems Admin -- Mid/Large office
> >7. Laptop?
> 
> Yep, looks good. The ? is appropriate for the laptop user
> because we're going to decide if he's a separate user class
> once somebody comes up with questions for him (or fails).

My *biggest* issue with this whole matter, theology aside <g>, is 
that one can be a laptop user and ALSO be users 1 through 6. If 
laptop is going to be a seperate user def., then we HAVE to be 
prepared for respondees to define themselves as MORE than one user 
type. eg: I'm pretty much a SOHO, but then I see laptop culled out at
the bottom. Well, I do most of my business on my laptop, but I also 
have a home machine that I use as well. Maybe I've networked them -- 
who knows. Well, so I'm a #2 and a #7, so I'm going to check both. 
But the program won't let me check both? Uh oh. Then I have to choose 
-- am I more a laptop user than a SOHO? I don't know. I pick one. Now 
our survey results are skewed because the respondee is answering 
questions both as a SOHO and a laptop user, but we have classified 
them as one or another. BAD.

I'm shouting about this because having the option to pick more than 
one user type will lead to chaos. What about the sys admin (#6) who 
also runs a consulting firm from home (#2)? And has kids who 
are profile #1, but obviously aren't going to do the survey 
themselves, and the respondee knows that the computer decisions rests 
on their shoulders anyway so they factor those issues into their 
responses. Great, three user profiles in one response. We need to 
herd users to ID as one profile or another to avoid this, and hope 
that they use that qualifier as their guide in answering questions.

Back to laptops: they CAN NOT be an independant user profile. No, 
before everyone jumps on my case, let me point out that every other 
user profile we have rests on what the personal or professional 
issues are in that user's life, that is, what they are using the 
computer system FOR. No one uses a laptop for using a laptop. 

Compromise: If a laptop is kept as an independant user profile, the 
questions must basically corral them into one of the other user 
groups. That is, someone checks #7, then the first series of 
questions must ask:
 1. do you use your laptop as a General (Home) user?
 2. do you use your laptop with your SOHO?
3. do you use your laptop in conjunction with your work as a  
Specialty User?
...etc.

I don't mean to sound harsh about this, but a decision needs to be 
made, and my personal opinion is that if laptop is culled out as a 
user instead of being incorporated into  a couple of general 
questions in the survey itself, we are inviting a large number of 
logistical headaches for ourselves. And hey, I like to keep my life 
simple....

Pax......
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
KimBoo York
Staff Reporter/On-Line Editor
Waterfront Editor
Watermark Media, Inc.
kimboo@watermarkonline.com

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