On the modern cruising yacht the computer has become
an increasingly integral part of daily life. It plays a key role in
communication, navigation, entertainment, and storage of critical documents,
journals, photos, music, and videos. To most, a computer is something they
just can't live without. Yet for something that plays such a critical role
in their lives, most people don't give it the respect or attention it
deserves. When you unplug your computer and take it offshore you have
entered one of the most unfriendly environments ever envisioned for a modern
computer, in the corrosive salt air, getting tossed about, and disconnected
from the internet. Unfortunately most cruisers just cross their fingers and
hope that nothing goes wrong. By now, you must have seen someone drop their
phone. Their eyes open wide and they start to sweat, wondering when they
last hot synced the contents; of a phone! Imagine the horror when someone
loses their navigation computer and all the photos from years of adventure.
Most people in the "land of the connected" don't
realize the luxury of a direct or easy connection to the internet until it's
gone. There are rarely WiFi hotspots in the destinations of paradise that we
seek. Remote and unconnected; that's what makes them so exotic right? In
Indonesia, in 2007, we went months without finding an Internet Cafe. Most
connected people can't imagine a minute without the internet, let alone two
months. When you finally do find a connection in paradise, you won’t get the
fast connection speeds you are familiar with. Most services are dial-up, and
the internet café usually won’t allow you to connect directly (with your own
laptop) because they
just don’t know how to handle it.
When you are living life disconnected there is no "Run
Now or Save to Disk?", "Windows Update", or "would you like US to check your
system?". In most cases you're on your own. It's like everything else; you
will need to become self sufficient, learn to anticipate potential problems,
and have solutions readily available. Most modern computer and software
companies can't even imagine that one of their users WOULDN'T be connected
to the internet.
I had an interesting discussion with a Microsoft
employee who answered my support call for a Windows XP licensing problem. My
machine had locked me out and they wouldn't allow me to install my USB
wireless card so that I could access the internet to resolve my problem.
Nice!! The machine assumed I had a direct connection to the internet, and
since I didn't, I had to use the phone option. Windows XP produces a HUGE, ridiculously long, code to
call into the service center, something like 50+ numbers, and then you are
given an equally long result to enter back into the computer. I didn't want to lug my computer down the dock to the payphone
(remember those), because if the computer shuts down (say, due to the
battery running out while on hold) a whole new number is
generated and you have to start all over again. So I wrote the code down and called.
The support person couldn't understand why I was calling, and certainly
couldn't understand why I wasn't sitting in front of the computer. After
about half an hour and couple of verifications of the numbers through the
strong Australian accent, I went back to the boat and it worked. Imagine if
that had happened at sea. Email wouldn't work and Microsoft certainly
doesn't have a radio operator on call to handle their support calls that
come in via HAM/SSB. That would have been one expensive Sat Phone bill, but
at least I could have been in sitting in front of the computer instead of
writing down all the numbers. The “directly connected” support model is
becoming increasing popular with companies who are moving their support overseas to save money. It means you won’t have the easy access to support, but
there are some things you can do to prepare.
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