Two Web services companies have also received Bob Cratchit Hall of Fame nominations from Gripe Line readers, one for excellence in innovation and the other for prompt and helpful support.
Bob C. (is that name just a coincidence?) nominated Google for being a driving force in the world of technology.
[ Send in your nominations for the Bob Cratchit Hall of Fame to christina_tynan-wood@infoworld.com | Frustrated by tech support? Get answers in InfoWorld's Gripe Line newsletter. ]
"This is a company that never stops innovating," Bob C. writes. "It never stops introducing new products (and product categories) and disrupts every market it enters. Now that it's going into the OS and telecom markets, Microsoft, Apple, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and the rest of them will be forced to work harder to keep up. They might have to start thinking about what customers want. That would be a nice change. And if the gPhone is real, next year ought to be really interesting. Sure, Google is an insatiable data hog and has too much control over where people go on the Net. And if it buys Yelp, it will exert control over our local restaurants and businesses as well. But where would we be without it?"
And K. nominated a much smaller Web presence, GreenPrint.
"GreenPrint (GP) is a nice little utility that allows you to see how many pages a web site will print and to eliminate the inevitable junk and content-free pages," he says. "I've used it since it was brand new. GP recently upgraded to ver. 2, and I had several small problems with it on Vista. Each time, I asked for support I got an answer and resolution promptly -- usually within a few hours. Once the folks there even wrote a version 2.0x just to correct a problem I identified -- in a little over 24 hours. I can't compliment GP's support folks enough, and I have told them so. But I think they deserve at least an honorable mention in the Cratchit Hall of Fame."
Is there a kind word or two you would like to say about a company, idea, or service? Send it (and your gripes) to christina_tynan-wood@infoworld.com.
This story, "Cratchit Hall of Fame: Web innovation and support," was originally published at InfoWorld.com.