I read a Facebook post this morning that prompted me to write this blog. The poor gal was expressing such frustration with her SNC machine. I sympathize with her, but I also want to make some comments about the capabilities of the SNC machine in the hope that it will ease some frustrations.
We will call the person who wrote the FB post Sally. Sally bought her machine online through Amazon. I have written about the pitfalls of doing such a thing in the past. I'll just remind you that there are reasons Amazon can sell machines at such a low price--they are not the same machines that dealers sell. Capabilities at the get-go are already reduced.
Sally lamented that the nearest dealer was 2 hours away. I get that. I lived on several Indian reservations and just to get to a grocery store, I had to travel 2+ hours. It isn't an insurmountable amount of time and distance though. Being 2 hours away from a dealer is better than being left in no-man's-land after buying from Amazon. The dealer can offer support. Amazon can't. The dealer can offer creative solutions for teaching you about your machine like Facetime and Zoom. Amazon can't. I'd rather be 2 hours away from a dealer than a zillion miles away from a big box store.
Finally, Sally, like so many others, seems to expect a great deal from her simple machine. The SNC does have its limitations. The less expensive the machine, the greater the limitations. But nonetheless, the SNC is not a high-powered machine. It can do a lot! But it can't do everything, and it is not high powered.
It has a very simple computer. People try to do high level computer skills with the SNC and become frustrated when it doesn't understand. It doesn't understand. It is limited. It is programmed to do as it is programmed to do, and it does get confused. Once confused, sometimes simply turning your machine off will reset its circuits, and she'll behave. But don't get mad at her for not doing something she wasn't meant to do in the first place. If others are sharing what they can do with their machines and you aren't able to do those things, consider your specific machine--the model, where you bought it, its age, etc. These all play a role in whether your machine can handle the task you are asking of it.
The SNC is easily overloaded. Again, its a great machine but not a high-powered machine. She can shut off and freeze if she isn't pulling in enough electricity. In class at the shop, we have a dozen or more machine all pulling from our electricity. They don't get enough and do shut down and freeze. That is just a limitation we have to learn to deal with.
The Wi-Fi can also malfunction on the machine if too many machines are pulling from the same source. It is just one of its limitations. It doesn't mean it is a bad machine. These, quite to the contrary, are the best on earth. They can do a lot, but they have their limitations. Cut them some slack.
You are the human. Learn your machine and what it can and can't do. Adjust your expectations according to the machine you have. I think once you do that you can start enjoying your machine and what it can do.