Interesting

[Brian]

http://modernfarmer.com/2016/07/right-to-repair/

Have seen this before. Very thought provoking, glad it does not apply to our tractors!

[oehrick]

Absolutely hilarious bit of marketing Brian - JD have always had a reputation for being litigious but talk about cut your own throat Of course it takes any concept of purchasing a reliable tool with maximum operational up-time into the PC territory

Now wind the clock back a while to Brian on the service desk of JJ Wright, JD dealers
Ring Ring
'Hello Wrights, this is Brian and I will be your experience facilitator today, how can we help?'
'My 2040 has just died, its left a trail of broken gears, bearings and oil for about 50 yards up the A47 and traffic is already backed up 15 miles'
'Just one moment while I consult our database'
annoying music plays for 10 minutes
'Hello are you still there ?, we have no previous history of this fault, are you sure you have described it accurately ?'
'Yes'
'Hmnnn, have you tried switching the ignition off and then restarting it?'
'and what would that do?
'Well statistically sir it is the most effective way of curing this sort of fault'
'look can't you just send out a service engineer with a tow truck ASAP'
'I'm sorry sir, due to health and safety, data protection and various other laws we are unable to do this, besides our records indicate that you only have a RTB warranty on this equipment, you will need to send it back to our service centre in Dublin in its original packaging'
'Why in Gods name did I ever trade the old Major in for this pile of c^@p'
'theres no need to use bad language sir, have a nice day from your lifetime tillage & haulage partners for life'
Click...................

[Brian]

That is so funny and so true!!!!

I have not mentioned it before but I am in the process of compiling a book on J. J. Wright and Sons Limited with a couple of my ex- Wrights colleagues and Anthony Clare. Only this week I was remembering the thoughts of our general manager Ken Sykes as he spoke to a group of farmers back in the late 1960's. He said in the future there would be no need for service engineers, farmers were becoming their own mechanics at the time and setting up their own workshops:

"People like Brian Dye will be on call for advice over the phone to steer you through repairs and only on rare occasions will they come out to farms to carry out repairs".

That was over 40 years ago and although not quite as he saw it, its what I do on this site.

The computer packed up in early June, just four years old. I checked it through according to the fault chart on the HP web site and arrived at the conclusion I had a component fault so I rang HP.

There are no HP repair shops! Everything has to come from the factory/main base and after repeating all the tests under the instructions of a nice young lady somewhere in the world I was told that I had a component fault. So far this diagnosis had taken two days and much music. I then had to wait a week whilst HP sent me an estimate for the cost of repair and when I accepted it they would send out a mobile repair service from the factory.

I bought a new motherboard from an HP spares supplier and had it fitted in my local computer shop before HP got back to me with the estimate.

[oehrick]

I look forward to seeing that out in print Brian

Computers and perhaps even more, operating systems (and supermarkets) have educated the great masses into thinking poor reliability or service are acceptable or even the norm, the ultimate result (thread crossover warning) is the various 'leaders' on offer and the dumb options they seem to think are OK.

Just bought a pre enjoyed DSLR camera and neither temperature or humidity are helping the instructions trickle into the grey cells and stay

[Brian]

One of the best stories I came across was when I was doing some work for a Renault tractor dealer up in the Cromer area, this was before the days of the Claas tie up.

They had supplied a customer with a brand new tractor of around 120 hp and it was sent back to them after a few days ploughing, with a loud tapping noise in the engine. Because the tractor was so new they were not allowed to touch it before it had been inspected by Renault and diagnosed by them so a Renault Service Engineer was sent to their works.

He arrived in a posh car and was dressed in suit and tie which he did not remove to work on the tractor, all he did was connect his computer to the service port, start the tractor and take some readings. Nothing showed up. He told the company owner that there was nothing wrong with the engine because it did not show up on the computer and all the readings were within limits.

Kenny asked him if he was deaf as the noise was, by now, quite loud but all he could say was the computer said no fault and Renault would not pay for any investigative repair. Attempts to go over his head by talking to head office resulted in a flat refusal based on the fact that it was a German engine and these never fail, plus the readings on the computer showed oil pressure was OK.

Eventually he returned to Renault after a days testing leaving the engine knocking, a very unhappy dealer and a very very unhappy customer.

The dealer, with the customers backing, disregarded Renault's instructions to put the tractor back to work and stripped the engine to find faulty little end bearings in a tractor with less than 100 hours on the clock. They then had a battle with Renault to get them to pay for it under warranty because the problem did not show up on their computer.

This story came straight from the dealer owner and his customer when I was working on his sugar beet harvester electrics.

[ford5000y]

Upon reading this topic, which is indeed interesting, I cant help but to complain about this "computer age" sort of thing. I mean, yes, computers are good. It makes things such as making documents easier, allows us to play some games on it, it even connects people from all over the world, just like we do here in this forum. But computers ruins things sometimes. I like the modern cars like the techno-geek Ferraris as Jeremy Clarkson once said (I think), but I sort of dont like the fact that it is laden with computers, because, as they have proven once or twice, it somehow ruins the pleasure of driving, sometimes even ruining your day (I remember a road trip they have on Top Gear in which Richard Hammond's car kept on calling on people on its own accord when his phone was connected to it). That's why I also like old cars like old Bugattis and Alfas because they because it reminds us of times where everything relies on the driver. As far as I can see, things that used to be a pleasurable thing to do, to have or to see, computers step in, and they were ruined. Motor racing used to be a delightful spectacle, looking at old videos from Youtube, with drivers pulling off spectacular moves to get past a competitor, now computers came, and now it looked more like computer-programmed show, it is boring. Music charts were full of songs where the so-called singer just sang a few lines, the rest were done by the man with the mixer, or whatever that's called. Computers doesn't have to be present at every single thing that people do.

Anyway, I surfed for some computer quotes on the Internet, and I found several good ones, like this:
Modern people are only willing to believe in their computers, while I believe in myself. Alain Robert
But I have got one better (and more relevant to the topic, I think)
Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window. Steve Wozniak

[ford5000y]

Sorry, double post

[oehrick]

I'd not heard that particular quote from the late, great Woz before - if only his principles had swayed Micro$ofts ethics a bit

I think the problem is people being so shallow they neither see the larger picture nor can be bothered to learn some of the fundamentals when it comes to computers or software. They are wonderful tools as long as they do what you tell them and you know what you want!

I don't recall where I heard it but it was about the future of passenger flight which when fully computerised would be crewed by a pilot and a dog, the pilots job was to feed the dog, the dog was trained to bite the pilot if he touched any of the controls

[ford5000y]

I don't recall where I heard it but it was about the future of passenger flight which when fully computerised would be crewed by a pilot and a dog, the pilots job was to feed the dog, the dog was trained to bite the pilot if he touched any of the controls

That's a recipe for disaster. What if the pilot decided to use his iPad while waiting for the dog's feeding time, and when he turns it on a big, clear picture of a squirrel pops into the screen?

[Brian]

Now you are not being sensible!

What happens if the pilot decided to watch "Cats" on video?

I watched it the other night and all that slinking about in cat suits did cause me to reach for the little white pills. Then I realised that most of those nubile dancers are now approaching my age!

By the way 5000Y, I am gaining a daughter in law from the Philippines in February next year.

[henk]

Another country to visite!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brian]

Not for me Henk, Joanne comes from Manila where there are more people than land.

Pascal met her when he was over a couple of years ago.

[ford5000y]

Manila... there are more people than land.

That's true. Never really stayed in Manila but we've already been to my mother's hometown in the neighboring Bulacan province for vacations when we were kids, and that's crowded enough!

But if you're to look for pre-war photos of Manila, it is entirely different. The land surrounding the city used to be dotted with towns (which were later swallowed up by the Metropolitan area) and farmlands. Now, it's a big metropolis built around a dead river...

[oehrick]

I think this one is as if not more impressive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pcRRk0msas
and not to be sneezed at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMa3_tT5mKA