WebUser 01 May 2019

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Air your views, write to us [email protected] 1 - 14 May 2019 73

properlyread an
important email from his
supplierwarning him of
a higher direct debit, but
then goes onto suggest
that his bank should
have warned him aswell.
That’s unbelievable, and not in anyway
theirresponsibility – andwould he have
read their email anyway, I askmyself!
Lastly, Barrycomplains that he gets
littlefor the monthlyfee he pays to his
bank.Then why pay it?There are plenty
of banks that don’t charge anyfees and
even some that payyou interest.
I have noconnectionto any utility
company or bank, but I do hope I know
howto look aftermyown finances.
JohnPerkins, via email

Stop telling us about
Windows 10 updates
I’m becoming increasingly annoyed that
Web Usercontinuesto publish articles
about thewonderful newfeatures in last
October’s Windows10 update and now
the Spring 2019 Update (Workshop 2,
Issue472).
As someone with a new HP laptop that
hasstillnot been offered update 1809, I’m
finding that the advice in the magazine is
becoming somewhatredundant. How
about an article whichwould be of some
use setting out why users have not
received the 1809 update from
Microsoft? It is notvery helpfulto tell
us about updates that most ofyour
readers will not get.
Jim Darroch, via email

Cloud-securitycameras need
fast broadband
Your producttest in Issue470 of the
Blink XT and theBTSmart Home Cam
left out onevery important point with
regardto using‘cloud’storage with
security cameras,
which is that they
all recommenda
minimum upload
speed of 2Mbps.
Many people
don’t have access
to ‘superfast’ fibre
broadband and have to make do witha
standard‘copper line’. My upload speed
strugglesto reach 1.5Mbpsat the best of
times, so the use of cloudstorage with
these devices is not possible.
Steve Jeffery, via email

H

OW MUCH DOYOU TRUST

CUSTOMER REVIEWS AND

RATINGS ON AMAZON?

I don’t trust themat all. Half the time,

thereviewsarefor completely

different models of a purchase. Until

they properly align thereviewswith

thecorrect product,reading them is

anexercise in futility.

Rich Grove

I include them inmyproductresearch,

but alwaystake them with a pinch of

salt. ‘Verified purchase’ doesn’t seem

to mean much any more.

Caroline Chapman@cornfedmind

I don’t shop with Amazon. I don’t trust

their delivery drivers – throwingyour

parcels everywhere or leaving them in

stupid places – let alone thereviews.

I had a parcel left undermydoormat

(hardly a safe place) bya driver.

Kevin Gadget Man Benton

Reviewsare not important. Ifyou

don’t like it, justreturn it.

Stan@Stan72699007

G

OOGLE HAS CLOSED ITS

GOOGLE+ SOCIAL NETWORK.

WILLYOU MISS IT?

Good riddanceto bad rubbish. Itwas

too difficultto use.You hadto join

circles – what on Earth?

Lance Parkington

I set up an account but never used it

• itwasn’t as user-friendly as
  Facebook. So no, Iwon’t miss it!
  Lynn Sharpe

I hated it when Google triedto

integrate Google+ withYouTube.After

that, the saying of‘don’t put allyour

eggs in one basket’ came true.

Goldmaster@imthegoldmaster

It camefar too late tothe game.

Facebook,Twitter and Instagramwere

alreadywell established. Google+

offered nothing new and therefore

had no appeal.

John Scott

D

OES THE NEWS THAT

AMAZON LISTENS TO ALEXA

RECORDINGS (bit.ly/alexa474)

PUT YOU OFF SMART

SPEAKERS?

Doesn’t surprise me. All the thingsyou

sayto smart speakers have to be sent

somewherefor the datato be

processed, so it’s only naturalfor nosy

Amazonstaffto listen in.

Paul Guest

I have anEcho Spotfor the kitchen

and twoEchoes in the bedroom and

livingroom. I sometimes have to

shoutat themto turn a light on or off!

DeanStockton

I don’t need Alexa. I search theweb

manually using Google via itswebsite.

Brian Brown

Considering how boring the things

people ask Alexa are, like “tell me the

weatherforecast” or “play a songby

EdSheeran”, I doubt therecordings

are particularly interesting.

Jane Groves

W

ILL FLICKR’S NEW PHOTO-

THEFT DETECTION TOOLS

(bit.ly/flickr474) WINYOU BACK

TO THE SERVICE?

What about the freestorage Flickr

stole from its users, will it detect that?

No chance of me going back if there

are better free alternatives.

RussellCox@RussWWFC

No, I don’t trust Flickr any more, after

thewayit’s treated itscommunity.

500px (500px.com) is much better.

Sarah Markham

Most peoplesteal photos from Google

Images not Flickr, so I doubt it’ll help.

Andrew Batts

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