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This is a rant. This is a rant about an incident that I take full responsibility for, but an incident that still warrants a few words of irrational rage.

I simply could not figure out how I wanted to approach expressing that rage. Slipping software onto someones system, even if you clearly spell out that you are doing it in the settings menu that you actively encourage users to bypass in favor of “express” settings, is unethical in my opinion.

I have to install a good deal of software in my job. Often, one of the people I work with will need a solution to a very specific problem very quickly. Many times the best way to solve this is to rummage through the software bin that is the internet to find just that right download. Audacity, Mediacoder, Clonezilla, Picpick, and Terra-copy are all pieces of software that I have discovered during one of these dumpster dives. All great utilities that give much and ask little or nothing.

Of course when you download indiscriminately you have to take precautions. Read your agreement screens carefully, look at ALL of the check-boxes and never choose the express install. Often there is a BHO/Toolbar or some other sort of “bonus” application that gets thrown in for the mix. Choosing the express install bypasses your option to un-check the checked box that indicates that you want to install the unwanted software. Sometimes if things look really sketchy I use Sandboxie or in the worst of scenarios, a virtual machine. Wear protection!

Once you get to know someone it is ok to trust them to respect your system and do an express install, right? Digsby was an application I trusted until one day they slipped in a “toolbar’ into their install package. I use other solutions now like Pigeon, Trillian Astra, and Meebo. Gain some money, lose a dedicated customer. It’s a shame since I was sold on Digsby until then. I would never have thought of switching to Trillian Astra, but now I like it better.

Some people you feel you can trust implicitly, like your doctor, your preist, or your printer company. Hewlett-Packard is like that attorney or physician that has been operating in your home town since before you were born. You trust them implicitly to sell you a printer and get you the drivers you need without any impropriety.

So after downloading and installing the “default install” (yes, I know it is my fault for not getting the bare drivers) I was confronted with this:

Oh HP, how low have you stooped. Is selling 23 cents worth of ink for 29$ just not a workable business model anymore?

One Response to “Shame on you, Hewlett Packard!”