As Seen in Zoolander, Tech Support Miscommunication Can Be Frustrating

IT support is heavily reliant upon communication between both parties involved. Without both sides being on the same page, IT support miscommunications are far more likely to happen. Sometimes you just can’t help but laugh at poor communication skills, as seen in the 2001 movie Zoolander. But thankfully, these situations don’t arise too often in the non-fictional universe… right?

The plot of the movie is fairly simple: two clueless male models, Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) must expose an assassination plot by the evil Mugatu (Will Ferrell). As you might imagine, Zoolander and Hansel know everything there is about fashion, but nothing about computers or technology. Many experts in their fields are similar in the fact that they spend so much time honing their own craft that they don’t spend as much time learning about technology.

At Directive, we are devout technology professionals, and we provide our expertise to our clients. This is our niche in business, and we’re sure your company also has many skills which you could educate us about.

One of the highlights of Zoolander occurs when Hansel must access a computer to obtain incriminating evidence against Mugatu. He stares in awe at the PC, simply astounded that “the files are IN the computer.”

We might have some crazy support calls from time to time, but never something quite this bad. Thinking that files are stored in manilla folders tucked within an electronic piece of equipment filled with thousands of circuits and wires is just plain outrageous (or funny, depending on how you look at it).

In this scene, Matilda Jeffries (Christine Taylor) represents the tech support. You can hear the frustration in her voice as she’s trying to guide the clueless Hansel through operating the computer. This is a perfect representation of IT phone support. A miscommunication can happen immediately upon the call being dialed. When the only thing you can rely on to guide an inexperienced user through the issue is the user’s voice, you’re going to have a bad time.

Unfortunately for Hansel, he thought that the files were literally IN the computer.

The evidence is destroyed before Mugatu can be confronted for what he has done. While scenarios like these aren’t seen very often, this is exactly why Directive offers remote IT support. This allows our support technicians to remote into your machines and resolve the problem without needing to verbally explain the problem. To take advantage of remote IT support from Directive, give us a call at 607.433.2200.