Would it Kill You?

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I can think of many service industries that drive me crazy (lessee... banking, health care, insurance companies of any kind really, etc.). But few industries that actually sell tangible products can get away with frustrating their customers the way high tech does and with such wild abandon.

Here's my list of "Would it kill you..."

1. Microsoft, to admit Vista is a dud. Announce a new initiative to overhaul Windows with the top priority being to slim it down, make it crash less, startup faster and design security features so that users can easily customize it to their needs. As big as you are, I've watched you scramble over the years with major initatives to overhaul your direction. Try this one!

2. Apple, to get serious about lowering the prices of your Macs to compete with PC prices.

3. Google, to allow users to download Youtube videos to our desktops so that we can access them for presentations without Internet access. Here's an old list of cheats to work around it until they do. If Apple, through iTunes, can charge us .99 cents to download a copyrighted song for unlimited use, then why can't I download an amateur video of guys disco dancing on treadmills for less than a buck, as well?

4. Printer manufactorers, to lower the prices of your ink cartridges. At the very least, update your programs that notify us when the ink is low so that they are honest and the ink is really low. Yes, I know you make more money when we replace our ink cartridges when they are still 30% full. But, think about the landfills and all those businesses out there hanging on in a bad economy. Sometimes greed is not good, Mr. Gecko.

5. Security software makers, to rewrite all those popups screens in terms that make sense to the average non-techie user. What's the difference between low and medium risk, anyway?

Renee Oricchio

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987.