Devil's Advocate: The hazards of buying technology

Dealing with a number of vendors - asking questions about who supports what and how - can be a tricky business. But how frustrated did Martin Brampton get recently, when he wanted to replace his legendary Nokia Communicator?

You'd think that after many years in IT, I would be able to make a simple purchase, wouldn't you? Not wanting to cart a laptop around, I had been relying on my trusty Nokia Communicator to provide a compendium of information along with phone, fax and data facilities. But after three years, it was showing signs of failure, so it seemed time to select a replacement.

I considered Palm and PocketPC devices but they don't have a keyboard. In fact, after you've added all the gadgets needed to turn them into a general purpose companion, it meant carting round a cumbersome bag of accessories. The new Nokia was attractive but its newness made it expensive. As one who learned to touch type long ago, I also hankered after a better keyboard.

Thoughts turned to Psion, despite their stated intention to pull out of the PDA market. Then I found an alternative, the Ericsson MC218. Pretty much the same thing as the Psion 5mx but cheaper and with the added bonus of integration with Ericsson mobile phones. Would it do what I wanted?

Making a new start, I hoped to gain improved PC integration. The ACT! contact manager looked cheap and useful, including an adequate diary that linked with the contacts. I found Advansys, a software company that offered to link ACT! with the MC218. Everything seemed fine - I would buy the MC218 and the compatible Ericsson T29 World to support sometimes extensive travel.

Now, I know how easy it is to go wrong on these things, so I did a lot more checking before placing the orders. After scrutinising every word of the specification provided on the Ericsson website and downloading the PC synchronisation user manual, I wrote to Advansys asking for confirmation that their software would run with ACT! under Windows 2000. Since their website proffered support for MC218, it seemed I was home and dry, and the orders were placed.

At first, things seemed to go well. The MC218 has a cramped keyboard but it is just about possible to touch type on it. The various utilities are excellent, and a pair of AA batteries lasts a month or two. Contacts could be transferred to the phone easily. Most important, I eventually managed to synchronise everything using all my old contacts from various sources.

Then problems struck. Adding a mobile phone number to a contact in ACT! failed to update the corresponding MC218 record. Instead, a completely new record was created, containing nothing at all except the mobile phone number. It seemed like a call to Advansys support was needed. They said their software is a plug-in and depended on the synchronisation software provided by Ericsson. Now that I had the products, it had become apparent that the Ericsson software was not supported alongside Windows 2000.

No problem, said Advansys, use the Psion synchronisation software that has been updated to be compatible with Windows 2000. But that failed to solve the peculiar updating issue. Worse, Ericsson did not support use of the Psion software with the MC218. Advansys said that in that case, it could not support use of MC218 with Windows 2000, contrary to their earlier assurance.

Frustratingly, I was driven to a painful correspondence with Ericsson, on whose devices I lavished my hard-earned cash. Responses came at infrequent intervals, denying all responsibility. I pointed out that their website had talked glibly of synchronisation with Windows PCs. In November 2001, one would hardly suppose that Windows 2000 would be excluded from this description.

Not good enough, according to Ericsson. I should have checked before purchasing. Ericsson pointed to their new website, which had not existed when my decision was made, stating precisely which Windows versions are supported. Questions about how I could have obtained information prior to the existence of this page went unanswered. Asking whether Ericsson had any care for customers who invested in their devices eventually elicited evasive replies.

So I am defeated. Although the MC218 is a neat gadget, it does not do what I want. And I thought that I had checked every eventuality before the purchase.

What lessons can we learn?

One is that information needs are rarely met by a single provider and integration issues can be extremely difficult, or even impossible, to resolve. Another is that vendors who are not fully committed to the IT market cannot be relied upon to support the constant change that occurs with software versions. A final one is that buying technology is fraught with difficulties, however hard you try. Take care out there!

What do you think? Can vendors be relied upon? What problems have you had?

** Martin Brampton is a director and founder of Black Sheep Research (www.black-sheep-research.co.uk ), an independent consultancy providing research, writing and speaking services on a wide range of business and technology subjects. Martin was previously a director at Bloor Research, and has worked with IT as a user and analyst for over 20 years. He is a frequent contributor to silicon.com's Behind the Headlines TV programme and can be contacted at silicon@black-sheep-research.co.uk.