Can somebody please train personnel at tech stores?

advance, pander, shuffle

Some friends and I walk into a store that sells Nooks. I consider myself very tech sawy and I keep up with gadgets so I am not sure why one of my friends decides to ask the store dude about it instead of myself. They had two models on display, the Nook and the Nook Color. So the guy starts going off about how the nook color is much more advanced because you can fit 6000 (8GB) books rather 1500(2G) books on the original one. To what my friend replies that she can always take books out and put back in the ones she wants to read. So, I tell my friend that she doesn’t need to worry about it because if she EVER needs more than 1600 books she can always buy a cheap SD card that could easily triple the storage.

Then, the guy starts talking about how the color screen is so much better because it is easier to read. I can certainly see that device being better for children’s books and maybe magazines but not for reading books. So, I tell my friend that for reading books which is the main purpose of the e-reader, she will probably prefer the e-ink so that she could read outside and her eyes won’t get tired as much because of all the reflection in the color screen. The guy says that that is not really a problem when my friend’s husband points out that you can see all the store lights reflecting on the screen. At this point, with all the pandering, I am thinking this guy works on commission or something.

After that, my friend asks if the original Nook is a touch screen, the guy then asks a store clerk that says “Oh yeah, of course”. She starts slamming at the e-ink part of the Nook with her fingernail when she realizes “Oh, it is not a touch screen.” This is when one of my friends who is a bigger jerk than I am exclaims “You people sell this product?!” In all fairness, the Nook does have a touch screen at the bottom, but still.

My friend asks about the difference between Wi-Fi and 3G, and the guy did point out that the Nook Color does not have 3G. I jumped in and told my friend that the 3G is nice to have but she probably will not need it as several places such as restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and airports have complimentary Wi-Fi. Also, you can just make sure to download the book from your home network before leaving on a trip. The guy then says and I quote “Of course, 3G is always going to be faster than Wi-Fi.” I was hoping by now time we had shuffled off this dude.

I never ask these store people for help because they seldom are any help. Even when you just ask where a product is you might end up walking through the whole store anyways. I have heard stories like this before, but I was shocked when I experienced it first hand. Are these people trained at all to sell these products? I am hoping this is only with tech stuff because if this is the case with home/tool or car stores I will be royally screwed as I know jack about it.

Copyright 2010 Christian Rios

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