However, for all this praise, there is much several negative commentary. WebTV is too slow in connecting and loading pages. Many sites we used to access with ease are now no longer viewable (or loadable). At the time of this survey, MSNTV rolled out another upgrade, this time cutting the sig box capacity from 5000 bytes to 1000. This was the biggest complaint from users. That and the fact that WebTV hasn't offered us a decent upgrade in years.
"What good", one respondent stated, "is an upgrade when we can't access Yahoo mail or Ebay?"
This is understandable, and I can attest to being unable to access sites I've visited in years past. No longer can I access Disney's site, log into Yahoo's new mail page, or fully utilize Tripod's file manager. Remember when the old Zygraphics site was the cool place to make graphic headings? Not any more, not since they changed over and became Java-based. It seems while the Internet and WWW progressed over the years, WebTV remained stuck behind, unable to keep up with changing technology. While most sites are geared toward Internet Explorer 5 and 6, our LBB's are still running Version 4, or a reasonable (Or should I say "unreasonable"?) facsimile. It is akin to chopping wood, manually, into millions of little pieces while your neighbor does the same job with a souped-up chipper in a fraction of the time. How many of us get the comment, "You're still using that thing?"
Then there is customer service, or lack thereof. Many respondents had some choice words on the lack of good quality customer service. One can call 1-800-GOWEBTV, hoping to resolve a problem. However, there is a huge chance the tech on the other end is no help at all. We get "suggestions" instead of real help. The last time – and this was a year ago – I had connection problems, I called MSN customer service. The tech was very nice and changed my main local access number. The unit connected beautifully, no more problems. That is a rarity these days, to get to speak to a competent tech specialist who knows what he/she is doing. Most CS reps seem to think it's a big chore to talk to us, help us out with problems we're having with WebTV.
Of late, months after my survey closed, WebTV users have experienced suddenly slow performance and freezing of units. The status board is not working. Those little symbols that show what is functioning and what is out are no longer there. So we have no idea who's minding the store, who's working to make sure our LBB's run smoothly. Most blame MSN's inattentiveness to their users' needs, more so with its MSNTV customers.
This is not fair to us, the many loyal customers who have relied on this box. What would happen if WebTV suddenly closed down? I know those who have computers wouldn't complain too much, but what about those who truly have no interest (or the finances and patience) to own and maintain a PC? Those who responded to my survey – the ones who are shut-ins, disabled, in need of a necessary outlet just to keep in touch with the world – would be totally shut out. It seems to me MSN does not truly care about its customers or else they would (and could) give us a truly decent upgrade. Does the LBB have the capacity to upgrade to at least Internet Explorer 5? If so, why not give it to us? Why does MSN increasingly alienate a small, yet loyal, customer base? While perusing the various WebTV newsgroups I sense the feeling MSN is non-caring, therefore the exodus to Microsoft's competitors is justified. I've always felt if a business does not value its customers, said customers can go elsewhere and take their dollars where they are welcome. I have no idea exactly how many people are still on MSNTV, but if MSN thinks current users will migrate to computers and continue to use MSN's network, they are wrong.
I, like many other MSNTV users, depend on the little black box for nearly every online task. I maintain several sites, manage webrings, shop, make lesson plans and worksheets for my students, research topics of interest, play games, renew and reserve library materials, keep track of my finances, stay in touch with my school and church groups. All these tasks are very important to me, as I'm sure those tasks performed by other users are very important to them. While I use a PC for tasks I cannot perform on my LBB, I still fall back on MSNTV for the majority of my online time.
Finally, those who are reading these pages, I ask the following: