DaveMason.com
ComputerTalk with Dave Mason
The official archive of all available ComputerTalk with Dave Mason radio shows. Spend some time with Dave. Listen to a full show or explore clips by topic.
3,475 unique clips. Each clip appears in one section. Historical conversations, not current advice. Full episodes remain available separately by date.
1414 clips, strongest first.
When a caller asks whether one manufacturer makes the best high performance computer, Dr. Dave first asks what best means and how much the buyer wants to spend. His story of clients demanding the absolute best until hearing a twenty five thousand dollar possibility turns the vague request into a practical conversation about needs and budget.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A caller asks whether to replace the failed belt in an inexpensive printer. Dr. Dave explains that the belt itself may be easy to replace, but friction from a worn track may have caused it to fail, so a good repair decision considers the root cause, uncertainty, time and value of the machine.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
Al needs credible proof that he visited construction sites at night. Dr. Dave first explores photographs and voicemail, carefully noting what each fails to prove, but when Al describes a signed slip in a secured box Dr. Dave immediately says the simpler idea may be better than his own and offers to keep thinking about it.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
Robert's specialized real-estate software problem reminds Dr. Dave of decades of vendors blaming one another while the customer remains in the middle with no working system and nowhere effective to turn.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A caller repeatedly asks whether a DVR can use a wireless adapter or laptop. Dr. Dave explains the plausible options but refuses to turn them into certainty without the manufacturer's documentation and exact model.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A caller asks whether a phone can reach the complete web from anywhere. Dr. Dave explains the gap between technical capability and practical usability, mentioning the phone he finally replaced after glue and tape could no longer hold it together.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A conscientious caller wants to keep cleaning a nearly new laptop, and Dr. Dave asks whether the time spent will create a meaningful benefit. He favors simple periodic maintenance and more storage over obsessive tidying that can waste time or delete something important.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
Chris has already restored a nearly new display laptop and tried the available driver fixes, yet the sound has never worked correctly. Dr. Dave says the caller has done more than his part, the repair is no longer his battle and he should remain courteous and polite while being very firm that the manufacturer supply a working machine.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A caller has asked several employees to explain contract fine print without getting an answer. Dr. Dave says customers are not responsible for attending the company’s training or reading its internal memos, and a representative who does not know the answer should connect the customer with someone who does.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A caller describes a “USB wireless Internet” connection, and Dr. Dave refuses to guess from words that could mean dial-up, DSL, Wi-Fi or cellular service. He asks concrete questions until the hardware and account finally make sense, explaining that even a correct solution is useless if it solves a problem the caller does not have.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A business owner considers whether to struggle with Vista or pay to install XP so that old programs keep working. When the caller says he cannot afford the lost hours, Dr. Dave agrees that the value of time is the most critical business element and admits that even he often fails to count it properly.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
After a caller's disappointing ReadyBoost experience, Dr. Dave says hype does not eliminate the real benefits of technology but every choice carries a cost. Going in with open eyes preserves enjoyment without believing a device can be magic.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
When a caller reports a repeat crash after reinstalling Windows, Dr. Dave resists flailing at the machine to look busy and instead recommends collecting crash evidence and building an informed strategy.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A university caller describes feeling lost in a jungle of spreadsheet data. Dr. Dave answers that increasing capability makes simplicity more important: accept necessary complexity, but do not become immersed in tools merely because vendors produce another device or version.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
Dr. Dave applies his avoid-the-bleeding-edge principle to a major Windows release, explaining why ordinary users can benefit from letting early adopters find problems first.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A caller challenges whether a repair visit should be paid for time or results. Keep Dr. Dave’s answer in full, including both customer satisfaction and the limits of guarantees.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
Asked for a rule, Dr. Dave says a computer is obsolete when it stops doing what its owner needs rather than when a processor, operating system or age threshold says so.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A business owner wonders whether to replace a server himself. Dr. Dave and Evil Steve weigh the owner's time, the value of experience and the responsibility a professional takes on when something goes wrong.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A fellow computer consultant and Dr. Dave compare the uncertain cost of cleaning badly damaged systems with reinstalling them, while carefully acknowledging that moving data and rebuilding software can be just as complicated.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
Diane’s slow computer lets Dr. Dave explain how individually sensible protective programs can collectively consume the limited memory in an older machine.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
Dr. Dave welcomes solutions from callers and openly says listeners teach the hosts things they did not know. A concise personal statement of learning and humility.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A reported Microsoft Money outage leads Dr. Dave to a durable principle: remote services can add convenience, but people should retain dependable access to important personal information.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
A compromised personal email account, rather than broken encryption, lets outsiders hear an international law-enforcement conference call. Dr. Dave uses the incident to revisit an old consulting maxim he once thought too simple and now finds increasingly true: designers, programmers, operators and attackers are all people, and people remain the weak point.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
Using the Treo 650 as an example, Dr. Dave and Evil Steve explain that combining several devices saves space but usually means compromising each individual function. Dr. Dave says the right answer depends on the person’s actual needs rather than the impressiveness of the gadget.
Listen to the full show’s available recordings · Source recording and timing
Browse by year, then month, to find the episodes from that month.
442 proposed broadcast dates, plus 2 undated entries. Dates are based on archive filenames and may be approximate. Some broadcasts survive as separate parts or incomplete recordings.
