Innovative Technology Raises the Ante for Technical Support

Personal computers have never been more personal, more convenient or more intuitive. For example, the Acer Iconia 6120 is a 5.8-pound laptop with a 14-inch display--and another 14-inch display where a conventional notebook puts its keyboard. The lower of the twin touch screens works as either a virtual keyboard or a window onto a Web browser, letting you view a long Web page on both screens or video chat while collaborating on a document. It's an innovative spin on multimedia multitasking.
In the tablet world, the Apple iPad 2 faces stiff competition from rival tablets such as Motorola's Xoom, BlackBerry's PlayBook, and HP's TouchPad, but this svelte 1.35-pound slab reigns as king of the category with features like FaceTime video chat, 10-hour battery life and Smart Covers that make turning a computer on and off as easy as opening and closing a book.
Yes, today's notebooks and tablets are miracles of technology. And technical support has never been more challenging.

Turning point in PC market reorients computer repair

There have been two turning points in the PC market lately. The first came in the third quarter of 2008, when global sales of laptop PCs topped those of desktop models for the first time--and never went back. This had significant implications for computer repair. For one thing, desktop PCs hardly ever get moved from place to place. Notebook PCs do. And they get dropped. So technicians who can replace busted LCD screens have had steady work for years.
For another, it takes the combined skills of a surgeon and watchmaker to work in the confined spaces of mobile design. While desktops have their share of small parts (pause for old-timers to wax nostalgic about inserting RAM chips and setting jumpers on motherboards), opening a desktop's case reveals relatively wide-open spaces. You can replace a hard drive with mittens on. By contrast, working with notebooks requires extra practice and precision, as well as familiarity with specialized, compact parts such as SODIMM memory modules and 2.5- and 1.8-inch hard drives.

Tablet revolution

The second turning point came in early 2010 with the debut of the iPad, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously declared marked the beginning of the end of the PC era. Traditional technical support skills aren't completely obsolete yet, but their days are limited.
Not only are devices smaller and lighter, but sleek, smooth-surfaced touch screens replace keyboards. Flash memory replaces disk drives. You're familiar with the desktop and laptop operating systems Windows and Mac OS? Say hello to iOS, Android and WebOS. And all of these tablet technologies have come or are coming to cutting-edge laptops like the Iconia, MacBook Air and HP's forthcoming WebOS/Windows hybrids.

Careers in computer repair and technical support

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment growth in the computer support field could reach 14 percent between 2008 and 2018. If you're a computer repair technician who specializes in today's portable technology, you should find yourself in high demand. Entrepreneurs can open their own shops, while those who like to work in uniform may join a major retailer's in-store support team, the best-known examples being Best Buy's Geek Squad and Apple's Genius Bar crew.
Either way, you should be challenged to keep up not only with ever more sophisticated notebooks, but with what lies beyond them. The latest sensation is the Motorola Atrix 4G, a smart phone that doubles as a big-screen computer and Web browser, plugging into a slim screen and keyboard frame when you need a notebook and a multimedia docking station when you want a desktop.
In a few years, of course, the Atrix may look like old hat. But the need for up-to-the-minute tech support should be as great as ever.