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"I was stunned at some of the mail you received."
   technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Good fan mail beats hate mail every time


Jan. 23, 2000

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©2000, Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©2000, The Syracuse Newspapers

   I wrote last week about the hate mail that poured in when I criticized Windows in a recent article.
   I quoted from some of the letters. As I said last week, I threatened a lot of people when I pointed out the weaknesses in the product they represent. People who install and service Windows NT networks don't like to be told how bad Windows NT's security is.
   That's their problem, but they seem to think it's mine. They need to grow up.
   But I don't want you to think that all my mail is hate mail. I get wonderfully encouraging letters now and then.
   I answer 200 letters a day on the average. This takes me a couple of hours in the morning, before I leave for work, and a couple of hours in the evening, while my wife and I are relaxing at our computers. Most of my mail is just ordinary e-mail -- readers asking for help, notes from friends, newsletters I subscribe to -- mixed with the usual SPAM and junk mail. (SPAM is mail you don't want and would never want; junk mail is just mail you never asked for.)
   Here are some samples of recent letters that served as healthy antidotes to the hate mail. I'm leaving off the names of the writers because I hadn't planned to quote them and don't have permission to use their names.
   "I'm an advanced technical user with degrees in EE and CS, and over 20 years in electronics," a reader wrote. "In fact, I know way too much for my own good. But I think the information you present on your Web site is great. There are so many tips & tricks that the average (or even above-average) user doesn't know about, and they all make life in Windows Hell so much better. I even picked up a couple good ideas!"
   "The person who wrote to you regarding your opinion of Windows," wrote another reader, "need look no further than my computer for real proof of the Windows leprosy you have warned against so many times. I just stopped by to look up your instructions on reloading Windows and stumbled across the letter from this obviously deluded 'techie.' Piece by piece, bit by byte, my PC has slowly, over the last 5 years, disintegrated into what it is today. I am not a heavy user, but I normally access my PC daily for word processing, e-mail, net surfing and sometimes a little Cad design work. I now face the daunting task of reloading Win 95 because I no longer trust it. Every day it's another unique problem. Take heart, Al! Some of us are real users and understand exactly that the siren known as Windows is nothing but a black widow in disguise!"
   "Lately I have noticed that you have received some letters from some people that were rather harsh," a letter writer said. "I can understand a person not agreeing with you but I don't understand people who are verbally abusive. Al, I hope you don't take these letters too seriously and you shouldn't let them bother you. Your point about the bug in the Windows Time/Date is very true. I tried it on both my computers and what you say is correct. When you change the date or time, Windows makes the changes before you click OK in the Date/Time window! This point isn't that hard to grasp and I was stunned at some of the mail you received on this."
   Finally, I got this note recently:
   "I don't want to make this letter too long because I know you're very busy and your time is limited. I know there are many, many people out there who read your columns in the Syracuse newspapers and appreciate them as much as I do. I hope you will continue to write those articles and I will look forward every Sunday to reading them. I like your new web site and visit it often. Keep up the good work. My hat is off to you!"