My computer broke.
It shows a blue screen, blinking and rebooting all day long. First, you get the message that the OS is checking the issues. No problem. Then blinks. Then this strange page comes up and tells you that it is checking the hardware. No problem found. It restates the OS. Blinks. Back to page one…
When are we going to see real problem-solving on this?
I accessed the web, and there are so many trouble shootings guides. Reinstall the OS. Reboot the system. Take it to the computer store. Those pieces of advice are great, but those are all trouble-shooting, not problem-solving. Did I find out the root cause of the problem? Absolutely not. I don’t have any reason that is tied to this failure. I will most likely do the same activities and crush the computer again. (Other than keep watching world cup soccer live, which should end in a few weeks. And I will watch on a different device.)
How often are we doing the same at work? Just troubleshoot, not problem-solve?
Someone told me that I needed to keep my data on the cloud. I followed some advice I had before to keep data on external hard drives. But these are safety stocks. Those are like insurance. We need insurance for sure. I have my life, health, fire, auto, bla-bla-bla insurance. Isn’t most insurance coverage something natural? Is the computer part of that mother nature which we don’t fully understand?
Automobiles used to be that. Back in the early nineties, our family house was ringed. There was this guy. He starts saying, “Do you work for T? Since I changed my car to T, I don’t have any problems. I used to have two vehicles in case one didn’t start. Now, I can give one to my wife.” And, he walked away. Now, most cars are stable. We can expect it to start and deliver the service you expect. Automobile insurance is mainly for external forces applied unexpectedly, not because it suddenly decided to stop providing the service.
And most insurance is tied to preventive activities. We should exercise and eat well to keep our health. An automobile should be taken to periodic checks. A house should have fire detectors, and those should be tested. Once you perform those preventive activities, you expect to lower the insurance cost. When can we expect to have lower insurance costs on computers? It is going higher and higher. (While the price of the computer goes down.)
The safety stock in operations should be tied to some preventive actions. Machine downtime safety stock should be connected to Total preventative maintenance (TPM) activity. The TPM is a reliable scientific activity that provides stable machine performance. If not, we need to understand the problems in the TPM. In TPS, we separate repair 【修繕】and maintenance 【修理】. The true meaning of 【修理】 is to learn logic/science. What did I learn by simply replacing the computer with a new fancy one? Should I forget about this and get excited about this new device?
At least, I would like to know the proper TPM for computers. I heard so many stories, but I need to find evidence that the expected life of a computer has extended. It is just another sale of an app. The cost stacks up again.
Some might say that an automobile carries life while a computer is not. Yet, in this digital world, the computer carries so many lives. Also, it could mean digital death. Why can’t these devices guarantee a service for a defined time so I can design my TPM?