HP Nerfs Their Tech Support ON PURPOSE - WAN Show February 21, 2025

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode centered on bad tech-industry behavior and platform friction: HP’s attempted 15-minute hold-time policy to push self-service, NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 Ti scarcity and ROP defect issues, Apple/UK privacy tensions, and Valve’s release of the Team Fortress 2 SDK. The hosts also highlighted new Ryzen AI Max processors, iPhone 16e pricing/bugginess, support philosophy, and several lighter segments on games, mods, and absurd product design.

Main Topics: HP’s forced wait-time support policy (Priority: 5/5): The hosts criticized HP for briefly imposing a mandatory 15-minute phone-support delay to push customers toward digital self-service, arguing that support delays punish the very customers who need live help most and may simply funnel them toward paid alternatives. NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti availability, pricing, and product trust (Priority: 5/5): A long discussion focused on the difficulty of finding RTX 5070 Ti cards at MSRP, partner markups, launch inventory problems, and the reputational damage from repeated pricing/availability disappointments. The segment also touched on missing PhysX support and ROP defects in some 5090/5070 Ti units. Ryzen AI Max / Strix Halo mobile hardware (Priority: 4/5): The hosts were enthusiastic about AMD’s Ryzen AI Max 395 and related chips, emphasizing the unusually powerful integrated GPU, large unified memory configurations, and their potential for compact AI and gaming devices, despite high cost and board complexity. iPhone 16e pricing and mobile software quality (Priority: 4/5): Apple’s new iPhone 16e was discussed as a more expensive successor to the SE line, with debate over whether its cutting-edge SoC justifies the price. The hosts also used personal examples to argue that iOS, like Android, still has obvious bugs and should not be treated as perfect. Valve releasing the Team Fortress 2 SDK/source code (Priority: 4/5): Valve’s move to release the TF2 SDK was framed as exciting for modders and community developers, enabling free non-commercial game conversions and fixes, but also reopening debates about whether TF2 was better before hats and alternative weapons altered the game’s balance. Support philosophy, self-service, and customer relations (Priority: 3/5): Throughout the episode the hosts contrasted their own support tradeoffs with the behavior of major companies, arguing that customer support is part of the product contract and that hostility toward customers usually backfires. Side segments: privacy apps, chess variants, and creator tools (Priority: 3/5): The show also covered an AI-only social app, a magnet-based real-time chess project, remarks about Apple’s UK encryption changes, and listener Q&A on sponsorships, public speaking, tech literacy, and creator workflows.

Key Arguments: HP’s mandatory wait time was framed as corporate hostility toward customers, not a legitimate support strategy. Deliberately slowing support is especially harmful because people seeking help may be the least able to self-diagnose or solve problems. NVIDIA can’t control every reseller/scalper, but it can control launch inventory and therefore shares responsibility for scarcity and broken MSRP expectations. A good GPU launch should align the announced price with realistic street availability; otherwise the pricing disclosure loses meaning. AMD’s Ryzen AI Max stands out because its unified memory and large iGPU make it unusually capable for compact AI and gaming systems. The iPhone 16e is materially more expensive than the old SE line, but its advanced SoC may partly justify the increase compared with similarly priced Android phones. iOS and other “premium” platforms still contain obvious bugs; users should be honest about software quality rather than pretending any platform is flawless. Valve’s TF2 SDK release is a major win for modding, even if it may indirectly highlight long-standing community fixes that Valve never addressed. Apple should not market privacy as a core principle while also yielding to government pressure that weakens encryption for users in the UK. For customer support, text/chat/email scale better than phone support and can be more efficient without pretending the customer is a nuisance.

Data Points: Mandatory support wait time: 15 minutes - HP briefly required callers to wait before reaching phone support in order to push digital self-solve adoption. Old iPhone SE starting price: $430 - The previous iPhone SE generation’s base price was cited as the lower-end Apple reference point. Higher-storage iPhone SE price: $480 for 128GB - Used to compare the old budget iPhone tier with the new iPhone 16e. iPhone 16e starting price: $600 - The new budget-oriented Apple phone was criticized as much more expensive than the previous SE line. RTX 5070 Ti MSRP: $750 - The host contrasted MSRP with current retail prices, noting many listings were well above this level. RTX 5070 Ti retail example: $1,000 - A custom Asus TUF card on Newegg was cited as an example of launch pricing far above MSRP. RTX 5070 Ti street price premium: $80+ - An MSI Ventus listing was described as at least $80 above MSRP. AI Max memory ceiling: Up to 128GB - AMD’s Ryzen AI Max laptops can be configured with very large unified memory pools. Memory available to GPU: Up to ~96GB in Windows / ~110GB in Linux - The hosts noted that a large share of unified memory can be allocated to the GPU. Ryzen AI Max core count: 16 cores - Top-end Ryzen AI Max 395 was described as a 16-core mobile processor. Ryzen AI Max graphics cores: 40 GPU cores - The top model was described as having a very large integrated GPU. Ryzen AI Max boost clock: Up to 5.1 GHz - The high-end chip was cited as a very fast mobile processor. Ryzen AI Max power target: Up to 120W TDP - The chip’s performance comes with a relatively high mobile power budget. TF2 SDK licensing: Non-commercial only - Valve’s released SDK is free for mods, but any resulting content must remain non-commercial. TF2 player sentiment: 80% before hats - A live poll suggested most viewers preferred Team Fortress 2 before cosmetics/alt weapons changed the game. TF2 modding cap: Up to 10 players - Mentioned while discussing MageQuit, a LAN-friendly game used as a contrast for fun multiplayer sessions. Apple-backed UK encryption change: ADP disabled for new UK users - Apple stopped offering Advanced Data Protection to new users in the UK after government pressure on encrypted backups. Old iPhone SE RAM/storage: 4GB RAM / 64GB storage - The prior SE’s modest specs were cited to explain its lower price and budget positioning.

Pivotal Quotes: "“HP has added and since removed a 15-minute mandatory wait time to their phone support in order to... influence customers to increase their adoption of digital self-solve.”" — Narrator / Linus: Central criticism of HP’s support policy shift. "“What is the point of you even telling us what the price is? Why don't you just not tell us anything?”" — Linus: Frustration with NVIDIA’s announced MSRP versus actual market availability. "“If we can't serve our customers privately, we withdraw from the UK. That's the principled thing to do.”" — Linus: Response to Apple’s decision to disable Advanced Data Protection for new UK users.

Implications: Consumers should expect more honest pricing, better inventory discipline, and support models that respect users. For companies, bad support and misleading launches damage trust faster than they save money; for modders and creators, SDK releases and repairable hardware open new opportunities.