Should I start this business with my brother?

[chidog]

There is nothing to stop anyone with a pdf manual printing it all out in paper form. At the end of the day provided the pdf manual is OEM there is no difference between the two forms regarding the information they contain.

I have had manuals copied before, at a printing outfit, and yes that is an option. I miss the old days when the photos in manuals seemed like real photos and not a dark photo copy that shows little to nothing. The best manual I have ever seen is for a certain brand sewing machine, all photo's very sharp and detailed, in color, detailed instructions as well, didn't say remove this or that, it shows it. Makes equipment and automotive manuals look like crap.

 

[JD955SC]

I definitely understand the premise. I use a similar thing for routine doc visits that I just need a simple treatment or advice for but there are a couple hitches…

Your independent guys likely don’t have the time with self employment demands

Your dealership guys like me are forbidden from this (it’s moonlighting)

DieselLaptops already has independent tech support similar to this and I have no idea about their quality.

Some manufacturers already have this service.

Trying to assist over the phone or video chat is horrible as well. I’ve had to help customers and it doesn’t work very well because it’s hard to relate stuff over a phone with this.

 

[Jack the Repair Guy]

Well . . . dealer techs? About 10% of those guys are really any good, the rest just kind of drift along the corporate river. 5 years? That's about when the guy can be counted on to carry out low level tasks without screwing something up on a daily basis.
I hate talking to computers. I suspect a lot of the guys around here would agree. I have shop rags for the greasy fingers. Grease gives the keyboard character anyway.
Anybody that needs AI to tell them what to torque the bolt they are holding should probably go work for Penske of something. Reportedly the service guys go through the service with headsets with an AI voice telling them what to do next . . . lol

Most of the friction in the day comes from customers, service writers, salesmen and managers. Got any solutions for that? Maybe a robot that stands guard by the toolbox and wards off the aforementioned individuals?

If I could build that i'd already have done it...

Enough people have **** all over the "talk to a tech" idea that I won't belabor it - thanks for the feedback man.

On the voice idea; is the problem with not liking the idea of talking to your computer, or just that it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist because you don't spend a lot of time looking for schematics or specs?

 

[JD955SC]

Look we ain’t crapping on your ideas so much as saying that they are not the way to go.

The problem with an AI system is it has no idea what you are truly looking at and trying to get an answer for and the owning company will be feeding it service information that is oftentimes already hard to understand (the Engrish translations you get with cheap consumer goods also happens to an extent at higher levels). My dealer’s prime OEM is infamous for writing their manuals in strict Engineerish as well. While I’d appreciate a simpler system I also don’t trust a third party to correctly convey the information, especially given the mistakes and such I’ve seen in the parent information.

As a dealer mechanic solving complex system issues I spend a lot of my time with schematics, system operation write ups, and parts diagrams. Your AI or talk to a tech ideas might sound good to you but being there in person is about the only way to truly investigate a problem and learn a system. I can tell you translating a hydraulic diagram to what’s actually on the machine is not easy and is not going to be grasped by someone miles away and is damn sure not going to be grasped by an AI system. Most of my day to day stuff is very hands on for a reason.



We also often work in loud environments and trying to have phone conversations doesn’t work well. And I can tell you from trying to get anything done with my phone’s Siri and my house’s Alexa not only would I not pay for such a service if my boss told me I had to use it I’d probably quit. I have enough rage, I don’t need more.

The diagnostic software idea mentioned earlier has far more merit especially if you add in an optional service to remote in. Your issues would be doing a ton of programming to crack it and then you’d most likely lack volume for sales, which is a big barrier. The reason you can buy $30 code readers for automotive is the standardized systems and the sales volume is extremely high

The most in demand stuff I know has pirated copies floating around. You may also run into regulatory issues concerning emissions.

 

[Acoals]

If I could build that i'd already have done it...

Enough people have **** all over the "talk to a tech" idea that I won't belabor it - thanks for the feedback man.

On the voice idea; is the problem with not liking the idea of talking to your computer, or just that it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist because you don't spend a lot of time looking for schematics or specs?

I don't like talking to computers. Siri, Alexa, the Verizon phone tree or any other chatbot. They never really have a good answer, they misunderstand you half the time, ect. I don't think Mankind is doing itself any favors with AI, but that is another topic for a different place. What JD said above is right, you aren't going to get a computer to solve complex problems. If you could I wouldn't want anything to do with it anyway.

 

[chidog]

I don't like talking to computers. Siri, Alexa, the Verizon phone tree or any other chatbot. They never really have a good answer, they misunderstand you half the time, ect. I don't think Mankind is doing itself any favors with AI, but that is another topic for a different place. What JD said above is right, you aren't going to get a computer to solve complex problems. If you could I wouldn't want anything to do with it anyway.

Personally I wish computers were never invented, they have in some cases done more harm than good.
Best use for them is CNC that is it.

 

[Jack the Repair Guy]

Look we ain’t crapping on your ideas so much as saying that they are not the way to go.

The problem with an AI system is it has no idea what you are truly looking at and trying to get an answer for and the owning company will be feeding it service information that is oftentimes already hard to understand (the Engrish translations you get with cheap consumer goods also happens to an extent at higher levels). My dealer’s prime OEM is infamous for writing their manuals in strict Engineerish as well. While I’d appreciate a simpler system I also don’t trust a third party to correctly convey the information, especially given the mistakes and such I’ve seen in the parent information.

As a dealer mechanic solving complex system issues I spend a lot of my time with schematics, system operation write ups, and parts diagrams. Your AI or talk to a tech ideas might sound good to you but being there in person is about the only way to truly investigate a problem and learn a system. I can tell you translating a hydraulic diagram to what’s actually on the machine is not easy and is not going to be grasped by someone miles away and is damn sure not going to be grasped by an AI system. Most of my day to day stuff is very hands on for a reason.



We also often work in loud environments and trying to have phone conversations doesn’t work well. And I can tell you from trying to get anything done with my phone’s Siri and my house’s Alexa not only would I not pay for such a service if my boss told me I had to use it I’d probably quit. I have enough rage, I don’t need more.

The diagnostic software idea mentioned earlier has far more merit especially if you add in an optional service to remote in. Your issues would be doing a ton of programming to crack it and then you’d most likely lack volume for sales, which is a big barrier. The reason you can buy $30 code readers for automotive is the standardized systems and the sales volume is extremely high

The most in demand stuff I know has pirated copies floating around. You may also run into regulatory issues concerning emissions.

It's good advice man, I really do appreciate it. A bunch of "this sucks" now will spare us a bunch of "this sucks" after spending time and money building something people don't want.

Last thought - what if it's not complex stuff, but pretty basic info retrieval? If you're looking up "what's the torque spec", it's a single answer that doesn't require the AI to do anything fancy or make any guesses. Are there enough small questions like that to make something useful, so you don't have to find manuals, search within them, or deal with hotspots or logins?

 

[Welder Dave]

I think most of those type of questions can be answered on here already. Less common machines can be hard finding some of that info but would rarely be needed. However being a source for hard to find info on less common or older machines (or the manufacturer is no longer around) that are still being used could be a good platform people might be willing to pay for. For example if someone had an older crawler and the undercarriage is no longer made. If you did research and could find what someone else has done to adapt more common undercarriage to keep their machine working could be really beneficial or what would work as a replacement hydraulic pump, easiest engine swap, etc.