Effective March 2002, the following prices will be in effect for services.
Click here
to go directly to the
Price List Menu
. Or, read on and learn as we share with you some extremely problematic factors
which contribute to this year's increase in service fees.
BACKGROUND:
There are three primary reasons for the rate increase. They are:
When we began FreeHand Design in 1998, our initial philosophy was to offer
to the Sonoma Community good quality and low priced computer support services.
We pledged then and continue to be committed to providing even beter quality
services at free or low-cost as applies to community organizations, people
and families with special needs, single-parent families, and others living
in the Sonoma Valley. Initially, many of the individuals who contacted
FHD Sonoma felt that they had adequate computer skills and, therefore, did
not elect to receive training we provide. Over time we saw that what the
new user considered "adequate" skill levels (while appropriate in a work
environment where there is either company-provided technical support or a
friendly "office guru") could prove disasterous "flying solo." Throughout
2001 there were numerous instances where we expended scores of hours to individuals
and businesses in un-doing changes and re-configurations so-called "knowledgable"
computer users wrecked on their systems. In most of these cases, neither
the individual or the business had ever attended training we offer. (Knowing
how to run your accounts receivables on a business-specific basis does not
make one a competant computer user.)
A second factor has to do with the skyrocketing rate increases we are all
experiencing at the hands of the power companies. In order for FHD
staff to maintain and improve our computer support skills, we spend hours
online in study and research. One area, that of keeping one's system current
via downloads of patches, fixes and software updates, can be measured accordingly.
I have been using the InterNet since the early 1990s. Between
1992 and 1995, I only had to go to the Microsoft site once or twice per year
to ensure my software and system was current. From 1995 through 1998, that
"updating" increased to 3-4 times per year. By 2001 and continuing
to the present, I am upgrading and downloading as often as 3-4 times per
week.
However, beginning in February 2000, and rising to an incredible crescendo
mid-summer 2001 the end of the year, attacks on individual computers, internet
service providers, public and private agencies, even the computer company
giants themselves have proven to be the most significant factor affecting
the amount of time and level of expertise necessary to perform these tasks.