Installing QuarkXpress 2017: Day Two

   

   This morning, around 7:30 am PST I received a phone call. Surprised at how early this was for a call but thinking it was the air conditioning people calling about their delivery and installation today, it was instead a woman named Pooja calling about the problems I was having with my installation of Quark. It took me a moment to register and finally understand what the call was about.

   She asked a series of questions and I explained that no matter what I did, the installation would not let me activate the program. Instead, after several hours and attempts, I managed only to get a 7-day free trial.

   The first thing she did was ask for permission to take over my desktop which I granted so after downloading a program and installing it, she took over my computer, from India, I learned later. There were a few hiccups but soon we had it installed and she was able to change and update my own information, something else I could not do yesterday.

   Next I asked her to help me install this program on my laptop as the software allows it to be used on two computers only not at the same time. So, we started all over again, after another download to take over my laptop and to download the software. That took a bit longer but soon she had it downloaded and we installed it.

   She was wonderfully patient as I was clearly out of my element. I told her that while it may seem quite simple to her, after all she does this all day, it was more and more difficult for users. The fact that it took a day to reach me meant that others were having the same problem.

    This was the long delayed email that said just about the same thing that I had to work with 

    yesterday. Companies today, especially geekie software companies, spend too much time trying 

    to avoid their customers rather than help them.

    Do I regret the letter I wrote and posted? No. In the workspace from Quark it clearly showed that it had been nearly 21 ½ hours since the work order had gone out. This is unacceptable on just about any level especially since I discovered this morning that an email had been sent timed at 11:05 am yesterday. Though I started 3 ½ hours earlier than that time, I didn't receive it until this morning. I had been promised a call, that I got only 24 hours later after the initial call and order.

   Pooja was wonderful to work with and infinitely patient. I enjoy using this software and am heartened that books about its capabilities are being written again. What is not acceptable and calls into question is their own software installation techniques, the time it takes for a response and the difficulty it is to install. Honestly, I was having second thoughts and wondered if it was this difficult to install, did I want to install it?

   I was Pooja's last customer. When we finished before 9 am here in the morning, it was around 10 pm there.

   After this call and its 90 minute installation process, I am happy again and yet also saddened. Quark was once a great, powerful desktop publishing company. Maybe success breeds contempt and after a stumble or three when Apple went to a more modern operating system, it opened the door to real competition. Adobe was able to upgrade PageMaker, a poor second in this industry, with its refurbished InDesign and take over the industry. I can only hope that Quark will be great and successful again while not forgetting who made it a success in the first place.

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where the emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! Be sure to check my re-opened ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. Many of the items talked about here are for sale there!