[Fire TV General] harlekinwashere:
Wonderful example of a thread getting highjacked and pulled up after more than half a year of inactivity by someone looking for free support on an issue, four months ago - followed by another highjack attempt of someone thinking that the internet is there to product support his purchase order, when he/she is unsure , that what theyd bought actually works for them.

But they spent money - so the internet has to help them. Really - I think its an unwritten rule.

Not like the actual rule thats stickied on top of this thread that says, that your questions don't go into this forum - simply because help solicitation became so rampant in this subforum, that a mod had to put it here as a guideline, because normal users were revolting, facing nothing but help requests in all Fire TV forums across the board.

So here is your primer on help solicitation.

- People generally like to help others, mostly in two cases. If they provide a genuinely interesting problem to be solved. And if they just learned something for themselves and are eager to share it with the world.

- People generally don't like to support lazy folks that try to get by not reading the freaking manual ("whats a manual -"), and people also don't like to support folks that show no real interest in the subject matter, just trying to pull up product support on their magic phones that connect them to the genie of the internet that jumps to solve their problems for free.

- There is a subform of this, and its connected to product evangelism, where people think, just because they bought "device" ("it said Apple on the box"), they now immediately share values with the community of people at large, who also bought the same device. This works especially well - if a device is marketed as a "character extension" - so in a "if you buy this you are cool" marketing approach.

Other reasons, why people might support you on the internet for free might include boredom, or "wanting to be of help" - but that usually wears of, as soon as they realize, that those are reasons, not even recognized by society as "sufficient enough to provide help" - even with the principle of reciprocity being at play (which is missing from internet help request solicitation entirely).

So - when you pull up a four month old thread to ask people to help you with your impulse purchase - because you already bought it, and it is on its way - after another person pulled up the same thread six months after the discussion on topic came to an actual end, to solicit an app that probably doesnt exist -

consider for a moment, that other people might read through this, because you pulled it up - under a false disguise, and find it extremely irritating to see you abusing peoples good will, for your own leanback post product purchase support - for a freaking bluetooth keyboard.

And we are not talking in depth issues, we are talking about you wanting someone else to provide you with your own personalized step by step guide to basic setup, for your model of generic 5usd peripheral.

If you don't understand the basic social code of internet forums - don't use them.

As of now - you are just making this a worse experience, well at least for me.

Also - suggest for a moment that -

- you should consider the "is this working" part of a product question, before you buy said product via mail order.

- the likelyhood that someone else bought the same BT keyboard as you and now is eager to support you in your effort not to RTFM is extremely low

- and that it is also unlikely that someone springs into action at your lazy attempt to have someone else figure out if the product you bought works, with an entire Android settings replacement app - should it be needed.

Lets get back to step one. Try having a problem first, before you ask the internet to solve it for you, while your gizmo is still in the mail. Once you have the problem - try solving it for yourself (read the manual, contact amazon product support (they are paid to tell you how to connect a keyboard, we are not)), then open your own thread - in which we can tell you interesting concepts like "if there is encryption put in by the keyboard vendor, you have to use their dongle" or "if pairing doesn't work for whatever reason, it might not work at all, ever", or (partly also to the gentleman above you -) when a hack stops working, it isn't a set thing, that you "just need a newer app - for it to work again".

Also, for a moment - consider that people participating in this environement are actual people, and not "personal assistants" or even personal shoppers -

So let me introduce myself - hi, my name is h. and I'll gladly not solve your problem for you, because I believe in you trying it for yourself - and also don't think its very interesting, entertaining, or easy to do over the internet. Also - I don't even know you.

Here is the important difference - people on the internet will usually gladly support you with information (if you ask for yourself, in the appropriate forum, and they aren't already sick of doing so), if thats what you need or seek out. To tell them that its information you are looking for, and not a "personal support session" - you have to show signs of understanding the language and values of the group you are trying to tap into.

If you are a technologically challenged individual unwilling to change that, or you are submitting your support request as a dudebro on your smartphone between Call of Duty matches, chances are, that you have not much in common with homebrew enthusiasts or the friendly Linux nerd at all, and that you know it.

Communities arent run on the believe of cosmic karma. And allthough the administration of this forum might like it to stage this as an impromptu support environment, for all android devices, sorted by brand names and model numbers - segmented into 1000 subforums for easier navigation, and sell ads against it - it really isn't.

TO part with, here is a final piece of good news for you - as a (probably) millennial that likes his support to be personable and come to him through a feed - you have other niches to turn to.

Product bloggers for example have found it a lucrative field to sell themselves as "the helpful guy" and address even the most basic personal questions from people requiring all sort of assistance, as long as there is interest from other people in watching them answering those questions - and they can sell ads against it. The last part is probably the most important one, for understanding - why "if you don't unterstand it, the technology is to complicated" is even a thing right now. Think of it as pandering to your audience for add money ("please like and subscribe...").

Also - because many people like you think, that personal support vial smartphone is, where "its at" companies have come to institute teams of people to cater to your needs - just ask your question on twitter - add a hashtag a pr department monitors, and write "how confusing this all is to you" and you are sure to get some attention in no time.

If the product support the company provides doesn't get you anywhere - well, you can always send the device back, right? Which is why you bought it without checking if it works in the first place - right?

Thank god for internet shopping legislation.

Also thank gabe for netiquette.

And may I add - i feel so much better now.