This is One Reason Why Spam Sucks
I bought a piece of software about 3 months ago.
At first, I tried the demo. It was fully functional except that it could not save files.
So, I tested it out and made sure it could do the things I needed to do with it.
After confirming it did, I bought it.
Well, it seems that there are issues with the way it saves files and how the resulting files work with other applications I will be using those files in.
That was the one thing I was unable to test before purchasing, because the demo version could not save files.
Okay, so I went back and forth with tech support on the issue.
The last message I sent them was about 2 months ago.
I never heard back from them again.
At first, I thought maybe they were busy or searching for a solution. And then I got busy with other things and didn’t think about it for a while.
So, I was sitting here today and thinking about it. And, I’m thinking how it’s been over two months now, and I’ve not heard a thing from them. So, you can imagine I’m a bit upset, because I have a piece of software that I paid for and cannot use because it doesn’t seem to save files in a way that plays nice with another application I use.
I fire off an eMail.
I get a response about a half hour later. They claimed to have sent me a response and were waiting to hear from me.
So, I checked my mail. Nothing.
Then I checked my junk folder. Sure enough, I had received a response the very same day I had sent out my last message to them.
It’s odd that every other message of theirs got through to me except that one.
And, this is why spam sucks. It interrupts the flow of legitimate messages.
On some days, I get about 200 messages. Most of those are spam. And those are just the ones that get past my server’s spam filters. On my eMail client, I don’t have spam messages automatically go into the junk folder. They just get marked as spam. And then I go through them manually.
I can only guess that what happened was that this particularly eMail got marked as spam and then was mixed in a batch of other spam messages so that I never noticed it. If I would have seen it, I would have unmarked it as spam. But, I obviously did not see it, so it got tossed in the junk folder.
And that’s what the spammers have done to us. We have filters to block spam, and you know that those occasionally mark legitimate messages as spam. And, if you manually go through them, you might still miss legitimate messages simply because they’ve gotten mixed in a slew of other messages that are spam.
So, either way, legitimate messages get lost in a sea of spam. I mentioned that I get about 200 messages per day. Of those, the majority are spam. On some days, it’s over 90% spam. Finding legitimate messages can sometimes be akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
When I don’t see messages I do want to receive because I’m being overwhelmed by messages I never asked to receive, that’s when you have a severe problem. Spam is really diminishing the effectiveness of eMail communications. Remember back in the day when eMail was this great new thing? You could send a message to someone across the country or even around the world. Getting an eMail was like being a kid again, when getting something in the mail was exciting.
For a while, it continued to be exciting. Then, you’d get a spam message. It was disappointing, but you just hit delete and forgot about it. Then, you’d start getting four or five spam messages a day, then you’d start to track them down and report them to their ISPs. Then, you’d be getting dozens a day, and you’d stop reporting them because it was too time-consuming. Then, you’d get more and more spam messages, so then you’d start using filters and stuff to get rid of them before they reached you. And then you got to the point where you were getting so many that you’d have to change your eMail address.
Then, you’d have clear sailing, until the spammers found your new address.
At any rate, spam clogs up the system every where. And it makes things harder for the rest of us. And it doesn’t benefit us at all. It’s just junk.
And, when it leads to legitimate messages getting missed or marked as spam, then it really, really needs to stop.
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