Post by Farmduck on Nov 26, 2022 14:44:48 GMT 10
WARNING: This thread will contain lots of venting, long-winded ranting and deviations from the topic.
I just posted a job on Upwork for someone to sort out my PC issues. This is about the 3rd time I've used them over the last 10 years. I used to have a forum and I got a couple of people to sort out some issues on that for me. I know they cover a range of industries besides IT but I've never looked at any of those because no need/no interest. I've got a couple of issues with my PC that I believe a competent person could sort out in less than an hour - or an incompetent person like me could spend 20 hours on, getting the same errors over and over without knowing why, consulting multiple help/support/tutorial sites, following their instructions to the letter and hitting the same brick walls, download 3 utility programmes that all claim to be able to do the thing I want and are all recommended by the tutorial/support/help sites but still leave me nowhere. Finally I lose the will to live and decide to just pay someone else to do it.
I have had good experiences previously with Upwork but I think the jobs were relatively simple. I could have learnt to do them myself but computers and coding just don't interest me that much. I've been playing guitar for 50 years and I know anyone could get a guitar, practice an hour a day for 5 years and become a very good guitarist but I don't expect everyone to do it because people have different interest and priorities. I certainly wouldn't expect anyone to do that just because they like singing one Taylor Swift song.
Part of the problem is that I use Linux and have been for maybe 4-5 years. Important distinction here: the problem isn't Linux. The problem is my inability to do anything more than basic consumer use of Linux. Then there's my inability/lack of interest to learn Linux. Another problem is that Linux is such a minority product. If I search online for Linux people in AUS who do home visits, there are only one or two and they specialise in the commercial users. (I had a similar problem years back. My last car was a Subaru Sherpa, brilliant car with a 600cc motor that ran on the whisper of petrol, had absolutely no mod-cons that could malfunction and was so light, if it did break down you could push it home. But there were so few of them that if you needed parts your best move was to buy parts from similar models, like a Daihatsu, then modify them to fit the Subaru. They only made the Sherpa for 2 years and for some reason many of the parts weren't even compatible with other Subaru models. I think maybe there had only ever been 100 in Australia.)
Anyway, one lesson from Upwork is the cost variations between countries. The hourly rate for Linux specialists is $6-$150 and I have at least 10 people to choose from at or under $30/hr. The first person I hired on there years ago was a Filipina woman and I felt embarrassed at the end when she invoiced me $10. Because of the Upwork invoice and payment system there was no way to pay her more. If I'd told her to whack a few extra hours on the bill that would have reflected on her work record - why is it taking her 5 hours to do a 30-minute job? There is also no mechanism to say, "Send me your bank details and I'll toss in another $50 because you got on the job immediately and knocked it over so quickly." I understand differences in cost of living but, in OZ, a Linux specialist won't even get out of bed and p!ss for $30/hr so it isn't charity to toss in some extra $$$. It's an acknowledgement of the market and my options. (Why is it that the fabled "invisible hand" of the market only ever seems to operate in one direction when you are the boss? Mmm ...)
Does anyone else have experience of these sites, as either a consumer or worker?
Long story I know but I'll get back on my meds this week and return to single-sentence and monosyllabic posts very soon.
I just posted a job on Upwork for someone to sort out my PC issues. This is about the 3rd time I've used them over the last 10 years. I used to have a forum and I got a couple of people to sort out some issues on that for me. I know they cover a range of industries besides IT but I've never looked at any of those because no need/no interest. I've got a couple of issues with my PC that I believe a competent person could sort out in less than an hour - or an incompetent person like me could spend 20 hours on, getting the same errors over and over without knowing why, consulting multiple help/support/tutorial sites, following their instructions to the letter and hitting the same brick walls, download 3 utility programmes that all claim to be able to do the thing I want and are all recommended by the tutorial/support/help sites but still leave me nowhere. Finally I lose the will to live and decide to just pay someone else to do it.
I have had good experiences previously with Upwork but I think the jobs were relatively simple. I could have learnt to do them myself but computers and coding just don't interest me that much. I've been playing guitar for 50 years and I know anyone could get a guitar, practice an hour a day for 5 years and become a very good guitarist but I don't expect everyone to do it because people have different interest and priorities. I certainly wouldn't expect anyone to do that just because they like singing one Taylor Swift song.
Part of the problem is that I use Linux and have been for maybe 4-5 years. Important distinction here: the problem isn't Linux. The problem is my inability to do anything more than basic consumer use of Linux. Then there's my inability/lack of interest to learn Linux. Another problem is that Linux is such a minority product. If I search online for Linux people in AUS who do home visits, there are only one or two and they specialise in the commercial users. (I had a similar problem years back. My last car was a Subaru Sherpa, brilliant car with a 600cc motor that ran on the whisper of petrol, had absolutely no mod-cons that could malfunction and was so light, if it did break down you could push it home. But there were so few of them that if you needed parts your best move was to buy parts from similar models, like a Daihatsu, then modify them to fit the Subaru. They only made the Sherpa for 2 years and for some reason many of the parts weren't even compatible with other Subaru models. I think maybe there had only ever been 100 in Australia.)
Anyway, one lesson from Upwork is the cost variations between countries. The hourly rate for Linux specialists is $6-$150 and I have at least 10 people to choose from at or under $30/hr. The first person I hired on there years ago was a Filipina woman and I felt embarrassed at the end when she invoiced me $10. Because of the Upwork invoice and payment system there was no way to pay her more. If I'd told her to whack a few extra hours on the bill that would have reflected on her work record - why is it taking her 5 hours to do a 30-minute job? There is also no mechanism to say, "Send me your bank details and I'll toss in another $50 because you got on the job immediately and knocked it over so quickly." I understand differences in cost of living but, in OZ, a Linux specialist won't even get out of bed and p!ss for $30/hr so it isn't charity to toss in some extra $$$. It's an acknowledgement of the market and my options. (Why is it that the fabled "invisible hand" of the market only ever seems to operate in one direction when you are the boss? Mmm ...)
Does anyone else have experience of these sites, as either a consumer or worker?
Long story I know but I'll get back on my meds this week and return to single-sentence and monosyllabic posts very soon.