I'm no technophobe. I have a real problem with technology, though. It's a lot harder to grasp than it should be.

Just last week we had to replace the new phone system we installed when we moved offices. The buttons and display sure looked fancy, but to transfer a call or even dial out, you had to remember a string of commands. Companies that make these products should be forced to install them in their offices. Then they'd understand that what might appeal to an engineer in a lab simply leaves the rest of us scratching our heads.

Actually, I suspect that tech companies have their own reasons for making products few normal people can understand and use. It's not just paranoia that makes me think so. We business customers are paying dearly for technical overkill. Manufacturers can't make big margins off the hardware or software they sell anymore — the real money comes from installing the stuff and unravelling the problems clients encounter when they try to make it work. It's a beautiful model.

Incomprehensible manuals are part of this plot to make the consumer dependent on expensive tech support. I truly believe companies make them useless on purpose. Online help guides are even worse. Try figuring out a complex problem, while toggling back and forth from online help to the actual program. It'll drive you mad. Besides, you can't drag an onscreen manual to that bastion of meditation, the bathroom.

I have actually struck back in my own little way at the tech companies' tyranny. I can't afford to pay hourly technicians' rates every time I get in a bind. I also believe it's possible to figure out how a lot of this stuff works if you invest some serious time. For those reasons, I have become my company's NT administrator, database manager, software engineer, and MIS manager. I could build a resume that makes me look qualified to run a large company's technology needs.

Last week, I got a quote for a clean reinstall of the contact-manager software we use. The estimate came in at $1,500, or 10 hours of work at $150 an hour. Now, if it's going to take this trained technician that many hours to reinstall the software and make sure it works on each of my networked workstations, can you imagine how long it would take me? Nevertheless, I'm going to attempt to do this myself.

Am I going to save money? Probably not — even if I value my time at a lot less than $150 an hour. I just don't like depending on outside "experts." I must have spent 30 hours two weeks ago trying to figure out a networking issue, mostly on the weekends and nights. At one point, I even gave up and called a technician. After two hours of poking around, he offered this assessment: "It's weird. Sorry." Then he handed me a bill. After he left, I went at it again. Eventually, I cobbled together a solution. Through that process, I started developing an understanding of the technology.

I decided to learn about this stuff because I want to know everything about my business, including the machines and programs that make it run. I don't want to be helpless if everything suddenly grinds to a halt at some point in the future. Like next January, example.

George Giokas is the president and CEO of StaffWriters Plus, a specialty agency that places writers in temporary and permanent positions with corporate and other employers. It also provides editorial consulting work. His database includes 2,500 writers and editors specializing in more than 60 categories. His Web site is located at www.staffwriters.com, and you can E-mail him at george@staffwriters.com.