Customers return 'confusing' Linux netbooks

[editor]

Here's one in the eye for those who think Linux is as easy to use as XP:

Carphone Warehouse is recalling its own-brand mini laptops from all of its stores, after it was discovered that customers found the unfamiliar operating system confusing.

The ‘webbook’ devices are understood to have had a high level of returns (as much as 20% in some areas), prompting a decision to call back the Linux-based devices and refit them with the more expensive Windows XP operating system.

One source close to the matter said there were no faults with the device and that it was ‘simply an issue of consumer understanding’. It is believed it will cost the retailer around £25 per unit for the extra licensing to add Windows XP. A ‘home version’ of XP for a single licence costs

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/Carphone_to_replace_Linux_with_Windows_on_mini_laptops.html£40.

 

[cliche guevara]

It's just unfamiliar to them, and they can't be bothered to spend ten minutes working it out. I know that my grandparents would be better off with a Mac, as they wouldn't have to worry so much about what they clicked on online, but it's taken them the best part of ten years to become comfortable with turning a windows machine on, opening word, typing a letter and printing it, so a whole new OS will just scare them, and they won't want to touch it. Windows has run a monopoly for so long that it's market domination (although slipping) is safe for the foreseeable future.

 

[editor]

It's just unfamiliar to them, and they can't be bothered to spend ten minutes working it out.

It's more than that, I think. Besides users shouldn't be expected to have to spend ages trying to work out how to get the laptop to work.

It's not the first time we've heard about high return rates for these reasons. TechRadar has previously investigated strong rumours of high netbook return rates to DSG stores (PC World, Dixons, Currys.digital) but was rebuffed.

And it seems that high return rates aren't only a problem this side of the pond. In an interview with Laptop Mag in the US, MSI's Director of US Sales Andy Tung admitted that people just weren't used to Linux. "Our internal research has shown that the return of netbooks is higher than regular notebooks, but the main cause of that is Linux," he said.

'Not what they are used to'

"People would love to pay $299 or $399 but they don't know what they get until they open the box. They start playing around with Linux and start realising that it's not what they are used to."

"They don't want to spend time to learn it so they bring it back to the store. The return rate is at least four times higher for Linux netbooks than Windows XP netbooks."

Consumers may be realising that you do actually get what you pay for - and that cheap netbooks don't actually come with the ability to edit video or work just like Windows. At the launch of a big-name netbook in the summer, TechRadar spoke to a product manager who admitted the big problem with netbooks was letting consumers know what they were buying.

We spoke to Ben Russell, a recent Eee PC purchaser. "I find the OS a little bit confusing coming from a PC background - and to be honest I still prefer my Windows laptop. However it is light, cheap and fine for a bit of word processing, email, etc. The biggest bugbear is getting Mobile Broadband to work. It took a long time to get up and it's still not stable or doesn't work every time. It's a real downside."

http://www.techradar.com/news/mobil...own-to-linux-netbooks-484642?src=rss&attr=all

 

[fractionMan]

er, that quote you posted is just a long winded version of "It's just unfamiliar to them" coupled with the fact that the vendors haven't bothered to get their own mobile broadband products to work with the linux netbooks they're selling. doh.

 

[Iam]

Up to one in 5 people scared of change. *shrug*

I meet technical users every day who can write code, but can't cope with moving from Office 2003 to 2007...

 

[Zachor]

This sounds like one of those situations where the problem resides between the keyboard and the chair.

 

[ChrisFilter]

My Mrs uses her Eee without a problem.. you'd have to be pretty f*cking simple if you couldn't.

"Oh, where's the web" - er, click the web button.

 

[newbie]

fear of change or inability to run core software? I've loaded OSX onto my netbook but my main applications remain windows based. I've found exactly the same to be true every single time I've ever loaded any flavour of Linux. It's all very well marketing that a Linux netbook will do everything that people want but if what they want is bits of software that are only available on Windows, they're not going to be happy- and that's nothing to do with fear of change.

 

[untethered]

This sounds like one of those situations where the problem resides between the keyboard and the chair.

Most people have enough trouble learning to work one OS let alone two.

Customers returning Linux netbooks is hardly surprising, nor is it in most cases Linux's "fault".

 

[twist]

On the other hand, I find windows hard borderline impossible to use (preferring linux[0]) and also found the bundled linux distribution on an eeepc to be a barely usable heap of crap[1] (twenty minutes with a debian iso solved this problem), so it could just be that the people putting the customised distributions together aren't very good at their jobs.

[0] usability is in the eye of the user as much as it is a characteristic of the software in question.
[1] I also played with the other netbooks (er, the acer one and another whose brand I do not remember) on the shelves in Dixons, and they seemed even worse

 

[Mr Smin]

"cheap netbooks don't actually come with the ability to edit video or work just like Windows."

Or someone can't tell the difference between hardware and OS - i'd be surprised if an XP Eee could edit video while a Linux Eee couldn't. Even giving this badly written piece the benefit of the doubt, surely an XP Eee actually *does* work "like Windows" ?

 

[purplex]

If youre going to persuade people to be different it has to be utterly simple . Most people arent technical and wont read manuals.

 

[darkfibre]

All I can say is 'Good'.

Fucking paytards.

Some people can't even manage copying and pasting links.

 

[Zachor]

Some people can't even manage copying and pasting links.

Its even worse. I had a customer moaning to me that he couldn't open a pdf document. Half an hour down the line it turned out that he hadn't installed any pdf reader software. Agggggh!

 

[untethered]

Its even worse. I had a customer moaning to me that he couldn't open a pdf document. Half an hour down the line it turned out that he hadn't installed any pdf reader software. Agggggh!

PDF reader software should be installed by default.

 

[Zachor]

PDF reader software should be installed by default.

Normally thats true but the customer may have deleted it as they didn't know what it did.

 

[boskysquelch]

familiarity breed(ers) contempt.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Jesus those people must be fucking thick. I've never used a Linux machine and tried out the Asus one in PC World recently and it was pretty straight forward, no problems at all...

 

[sim667]

I agree..... sheer laziness....

although i wouldnt be surprised if there had been some hardware problems too...... carphone warehouse are shit (fact) ....

 

[iskande]

I agree..... sheer laziness....

although i wouldnt be surprised if there had been some hardware problems too...... carphone warehouse are shit (fact) ....

basically what asus are saying

"We also put the rumour to Asus, the company behind the Eee PC. "We can categorically state that the rumour about returns is not correct as far as the Asus Eee PC range of netbooks is concerned. Again we should add that Asus, of course, cannot comment as to other manufacturers and their products who may be experiencing this 'returns' problem you have heard about.""

 

[WouldBe]

Up to one in 5 people scared of change. *shrug*

I meet technical users every day who can write code, but can't cope with moving from Office 2003 to 2007...

I'm still using Office 97.

I just can't see the point in upgrading for the sake of it.

 

[Iam]

You wouldn't get a choice, here.

 

[Jonti]

basically what asus are saying

"We also put the rumour to Asus, the company behind the Eee PC. "We can categorically state that the rumour about returns is not correct as far as the Asus Eee PC range of netbooks is concerned. Again we should add that Asus, of course, cannot comment as to other manufacturers and their products who may be experiencing this 'returns' problem you have heard about.""

I guess that's one in the eye (yet again!) for those who mindlessly repeat MS FUD, then

 

[chilango]

Hmmm.

For day to day net browsing, typing and skyping I've found the Eee's linux OS perfectly simple. Simpler than windows and certainly Open Office was a lot quicker to pick up than the switch from Word 2003 to Word 2007 (that said, I do like Word 2007).

That said, I had a bunch of problems figuring out how to update software on the Eee as those of you who read my thread on it will know.

 

[8ball]

I think if people were used to Linux and moving to XP you'd see the same thing - people when buying products often don't want to be starting a 'learn new technology' project. It doesn't mean Linux is less user-friendly necessarily. I say this as a Mac User that moved over to the Dark Side of PCs - picking up Windows ain't no snip after using Macs either.

 

[Sunray]

I think that Linux is a great server platform, but the in-fighting over the front end and distributions a has done a big fat zero for Linux as a client OS.

When I start up Linux, the 1st thing I do is look for the term window and then download and install screens or a variant of that so I don't have to have 10 term windows open, I can use just one window.

No matter what people say about Ubuntu and all the other flavours, XP and now even more so Vista, you install it and it runs on just about any hardware you care to throw at it without having to do anything at all. If Microsoft have done one thing well with Windows, this is it. Dumb old Joe Blogs can't load kernel modules and NDIS wrapper modules for network cards.

 

[8ball]

People aren't dumb just because they want technology that works right away rather than a hobbyist project.

 

[fractionMan]

It does work right away.

you click the 'internet' or 'web' button and up pops firefox.

The problem is the crappy version on some netbooks, not linux.

 

[sim667]

People aren't dumb just because they want technology that works right away rather than a hobbyist project.

We're not saying their dumb...... but was linux really the correct client platform to offer to the general public, most of whom are probably not that IT literate. I bet at least half of the people who took one just assumed it was vista and didnt even bother asking..... CPW staff wont say anything cus their on commision and i think they still get their comission regardless of whether a product is returned or not.. (that last bit could be wrong)

 

[8ball]

It does work right away.

you click the 'internet' or 'web' button and up pops firefox.

The problem is the crappy version on some netbooks, not linux.

It's not necessarily so simple if you want to do more than surf the web.

Ok, it's fairly simple for most of the geeks on here - but they're trying to sell to Muggles . .