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For me it's almost always phone/email/remote desktop.
I handle frontline support for the software I develop and 'rent/lease' to clients around the US. Over 20 years this now includes 2 major desktop apps, the 100 or so add-on modules/utilities that support them, and around 2 dozen web applications.
Devs dealing directly with the clients may be uncommon, but I believe it has benefits for both parties.
0: The developer gets to practice their people skills.
1: The client gets a direct line to the person who can most likely fix/improve something.
2: The developer sometimes gains domain knowledge.
3: Products improve quickly to eliminate those annoying client phone calls.
Regarding #3, this has been the biggest driver for me...to lessen the length of time I need to be on a call/remote to find and fix a problem. To this end, our main products have some really nice support features for submitting and receiving files for troubleshooting/fixing problems:
a: downsize/zip/upload feature for our managed sql server users to instantly post a customer database. The downsized file is in Access format. Our apps are agnostic (for the most part) so it's possible to stay online with a client while I download and hookup to his current database to find a problem.
b: download/run script files. The main apps also have the ability to download and run script files for anything from automating imports, to fixing a specific problem, to pre-configuring a new module.
c: easy to use updaters.
Having an automated deployment chain here is essential. It has occurred when an issue has been debugged, fixed, recompiled, and redeployed, (signed/sealed/delivered), and downloaded in < 10 minutes without leaving the remote. Stupid mistakes happen, but are dealt with swiftly! 
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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 that's an outstanding reply, and I congratulate you on your implementation. if only a mere mortal, like me, could create such an update facility !
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
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Thank you for the kind words!
BillWoodruff wrote: if only a mere mortal, like me, could create such an update facility
Don't underestimate your abilities...it's just moving bits! Seriously though, if you need ideas, I'd be happy to help.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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I try to maximize the time spent with the client's credit cards.
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
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At my last job I just had managers making design decisions in-perpetuity.
There were no clients.
Manager: If we build it, clients will come.
Me: What exactly are we building?
Manager: Whatever the clients want.
Me: What clients?
Manager: The ones we'll get after you're done building it.
Me: Build what exactly?
Manager: Whatever the clients want, we've been over this already.
Meanwhile, whatever we were building was already getting a price tag of 15k a piece.
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One client in town where I live, Face to face.
The others, phone and email.
Technology is wonderful, WHEN IT WORKS.
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Had another discussion about it, and the question materialized:
Would you as a developer sit/use in a self driving car?
And under what circumstances/limitations?
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Give it another twenty years.
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Nope.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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I'd be OK with it as long as there was a big red button.
Message Signature
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It would we be an awful lot safer than one driven by me!
And I think that's also true of one driven by many others. Let's face it, there are an awful lot of humans who should never be allowed behind a wheel.
Sure, the tech's in it's infancy at the moment but I'd be very surprised to see vehicles entrusted to human operators thirty years from now.
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain
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I went to Nvidia's GTC (GPU Trade Conference) this past March and self-driving cars were HUGE there. Several companies were exhibiting their work and Nvidia was also. They had their self-driving truck test bed there and were showing videos of it in action. The video was from a camera just above and behind the driver and it showed him and a passenger both just sitting there with their hands in their laps as the truck drove down the highway, observing traffic signals, exiting the road and re-entering. It was rather fascinating.
The bottom line is lots of companies and people are working on them. I would be interested in riding in one.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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That's the best place to use a self-drive car. You can nap on your way to work!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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There was an interesting article a couple of days ago in The Daily telegraph on this subject. One of the main problems is how these cars can adapt to the different road types, weather conditions, cars parked the wrong way round, roundabouts, give way signs, etc. on UK (and some European) roads. The difficulties of testing all conditions are almost endless.
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Richard MacCutchan wrote: he difficulties of testing all conditions are almost endless.
Very true, as well as the inevitable ethical issues.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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Not only no, but HELL no.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Yes, as long as they don't refer to me as beta tester. 
“The palest ink is better than the best memory.” - Chinese Proverb
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Think of how well Windows works after twenty years. A simple car shouldn't be a problem.
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I'd rather drive it myself...as long as I have my brain working.........and i can see.. and as long as they have side mirrors and the rear view and the accelerator and the brake and the lights at night and....
Caveat Emptor.
"Progress doesn't come from early risers – progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Lazarus Long
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Hell yeah, under the circumstance where I have to drive and I'd rather not so I let the car handle it which is pretty much always 
But, only in a few years when they're a bit more battle tested (and I can afford it) 
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Why? Are crash test dummies becoming too expensive?
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Within a generation, people will look at you funny if your drive yourself. Pretty soon after that, it'll be illegal to do it for safety reasons.
I'm actually amazed the people are allowed to drive at all! The things I've seen ... reading the paper, typing on a lappie, drunk as a skunk, having sex, rummaging in the glovebox, ...
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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