Working in the IT industry, I all to well aware of internal and external bug tracking/issue management systems. I’ve seen a number of home grown solutions, including the one I co-designed and use in Lotus Notes, as well as commercial ones, some big, like Saleforce’s and small, like Fog Creek’s. Each has their merits, but some systems, just don’t make it easy and friendly to report bugs, and I can’t imagine what it is like to be on the receiving end of a bug report generated from these capture mechanisms. Sure there is the issue of a user reporting something as a bug, when it is really a feature or just a RTFM situation, but for capturing potential bug information, regardless of the accuracy of it, a solid system makes it much easier to assign, delegate, prioritize and resolve bugs.

I am going to pick on Adobe here, because just recently I had the need to report a bug in Photoshop Lightroom, but I’ve seen a number of software companies and service providers that are sorely lacking in this arena.

Make it easy to locate the link/place where you go to report bugs

I didn’t start out on the official Photoshop Lightroom page, but I did a quick search in Google and found their “Adobe Public Bug Database and Issue Reporting System” but that only had a few products listed on it, none were Photoshop related.  A further Google search found this Go Media Zine article, which lead me to the correct Adobe page for “Feature Request/Bug Report Form“. This will be the focus of the rest of the post.

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I recently purchased a MAG GML2226 22-Inch LCD Monitor.  I wasn’t so impressed by the really low stand it came with, so I went to my favorite place for all things LCD mounts, monoprice.com and found exactly what I was looking for in an adjustable LCD stand. I checked the stand’s specifications and it had the spacing specified for the VESA mount points on the monitor, at 75mm (it also includes 100mm mount points)

However, when the stand arrived, I went to attach it to my new monitor and realized, I’m gonna need my moto-tool (Dremel, rotary tool, whatever you want to call it).  The 100mm mount points, the ones I don’t need, interfere with the power connection and the VGA in, and I may also need to trim the area on the top left of the DVI-D connection.

So much for standards.  I guess neither Mag nor monoprice is to blame, but if I had to assign blame, it would be on VESA, because although they have all sorts of lovely specifications on distances and spacing and patterns, they don’t include clearance rules for the rest of the panel.

Just something to keep in mind when looking to mount your LCD, whether it be a TV or a monitor.  Neve rmind the different DVI connector styles that I was unaware of until I went to connect this monitor…

So, I returned the TomTom GO 630, and since I said I was looking to exchange it for the TomTom GO 730, they said they would waive the 15% restocking fee. However, the price on both units at Best Buy had gone up significantly.  The GO 630 went up by $80, and the GO 730 was now selling for $360.  I asked if they would match the prices of either the TomTom site itself, or another local brick and mortar.  They said they couldn’t match any price other than their own online price, which was the same, so I left with just the full refund.

I went hunting around online, and found that 6th Avenue had the TomTom GO 730 for less than I paid for the GO 730 at Best Buy.  So I drove over to my local 6th Avenue, and the price on display was $100 more than their online price.  I do not understand these brick and mortars that sell for two different prices.  I somewhat understand a little markup for the convenience of in-store shopping, and maintaining a store front, but $100 over the online price seems excessive.  When I questioned it, a manager came over, and very quickly offered to sell it at their online price.  Kudos to 6th Avenue for doing that, but I wonder about the unsuspecting consumer that wanders in without the knowledge of the online pricing scam.  What is even sillier, is that I could have ordered it online, and done an in store pickup, and gotten the online price anyway.  Silly, silly, silly.

Moving on from the purchasing experience, I got the unit home, did a full backup (as recommended by many) and went to link the device with my TomTom home software, only to be greeted by this:

TomTom Home - Switch Device Screen

So I figure, OK, this makes sense, let’s switch it. But, I get this warning:

TomTom Home - Switch Device Warning

Nope, sorry, I get this dialog box informing me I can’t without contacting customer support!?

TomTom Home - Can't switch device

Excuse me?  I can’t switch to my new device?  Why? I only had one device before.  This is my first device switch in 6 months anyway!   If someone can explain the rationale behind this message, I am all ears.

So, I go to call TomTom support “The leader in personal navigation”, only to find out that they only operate “Monday through Friday, 8:30AM-7PM and Saturday 9AM-6PM Eastern Time, our support line is now closed”.  For a global company, I expected a bit more from them.  Oh well, now I have to call them during their support hours and see about switching my device.  The journey continues…