A few years ago, Jeff Cruson owned a computer store. He would custom-build "white box" clone PCs and sell them with whatever peripheral devices his customers needed. Jeff explains what happened when one of his customers just couldn't get her printer working.
One day an accountant came into my store and bought a new PC with speakers and an HP DeskJet printer. I spent about 30 minutes answering her questions about how to hook up the new PC and how to connect and set up the printer. I also made sure to tell her she should remember to remove the protective cover off of each ink cartridge before installing them in the printer.
Several days after she picked up her new system, I received a phone call from her. She was at her wit's end after spending countless hours trying to get her printer to work. I discussed the problem at length with her, and even walked her through the process of how to install the printer. However, we both couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong.
Finally, I requested that she bring the new PC and the printer back to my store so I could test it myself. When I took a closer look at the printer, what I found was almost too hard to believe. Instead of simply removing the protective coverings off the ink cartridges in the printer, she had used a pair of pliers to pull the copper contact plating off each cartridge! She had assumed these were the protective coverings. How she accomplished this, I don't know. I kept imagining her holding her tongue just right while she worked feverishly to remove the copper contacts with a set of pliers. I had to stifle a laugh or two while I was working with her.
I politely told her what she had done wrong, and she commented "Oh geez, I wondered why it was so hard to remove those protective coverings!"
