When Technology Fails: A New Report from Pew

The Pew Internet & American Life Project just issued a report on what consumers do when computers, Internet connections and devices fail. You can read the report at http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/267/report_display.asp. I was particularly interested in reading this report after spending the last few Saturdays helping my neighbor fix a problem with his Internet connection. The sole reason he has Internet is so that he can keep in touch with his son when he is in Iraq (fortunately, his son was in the US when this most recent Internet trouble came up.) I couldn't help but wonder what he would do if I wasn't available to help him with his computer. The tech support for his ISP was truly awful, and I doubt he ever would have been able to follow their instructions. According to the Pew report, 48% of tech users say they need help from others to get new devices and services to work. Is there a place for public libraries to assist these users? SEMLS has been bringing a Technology Sandbox to members so that library staff can get their hands on new gadgets and learn how to use them. Perhaps libraries can do similar programs for their users so that they can try some of this technology out before buying it.