"pstallone" <> wrote in message
news:94B59CD5-80FF-4B37-9227-...
> The following is a copy of an email I submitted to the Cert Center at
> e-, I urge you to send your own email and let them know
> what you think:
>
> Dear sirs:
>
> In reference to why Microsoft does not provide paper certificates, quoting
> from your website:
>
> Q. I just became certified, why do I have to spend more time and money to
> print my certificate?
>
> A. To help reduce waste in the landfills, reduce carbon dioxide emissions
> and raw materials, along with lower energy consumption overall helps
> create a
> more sustainable global environment.
>
>
> Has Microsoft become so cheap that certificates for exams are not being
> issued on paper? You claim that it's "to reduce waste in the landfills,
> reduce carbon dioxide emissions and raw materials, lower energy
> consumption
> overall to help create a more sustainable global environment." Frankly,
> that
> is a load of crap. Who is going to send their certificate to a landfill? I
> toss more paper from junk mail every DAY than all the certificates I will
> ever possess.
>
> You couldn't even make the downloadable certificate include the name of
> the
> exam passed, or the date it was taken?
>
> I note that "being green" isn't worth more than $9.95 to you, a person can
> order a paper certificate for that amount. I'll buy paper and print my
> own.
>
> How dare you deprive students who have worked very hard studying to become
> proficient in Microsoft technologies, which furthers your product
> penetration
> and therefore increases your profits, from the certificates we deserve.
> How
> cheap you are to not only deprive us of a certificate we have earned, only
> to
> provide us with a very generic-looking downloadable certificate, while
> insulting us with the bogus reason of "being green".
>
> Signed,
>
> Peter M. Stallone, CCNA, MCP
>
I certainly sympathize with your feelings on this issue, and no, I'm not an
appologist for Microsoft.
But I do want to point out that neither Microsoft, or anyone else for that
matter, ever shows what tests you took and when you passed them on your
certificate or diploma, that is the purpose of a transcript (which you can
again print out on your own). Quite frankly, nobody has ever asked for a
copy of my certs or diplomas, but several have asked for transcripts.
Secondly, Microsoft, along with a lot of other vendors/suppliers/whatever,
have for a long time now been more and more involved in the process of
enlisting you to do their work for them. I, for example, don't even get pay
stubs anymore. If I want one, I have to log on to a website (ADP) and print
it out on my own. My mortgage company refuses to send statements to me,
again I have to log on to their website and print them. Same story with my
401K broker, etc. My bank has long since refused to return my cancelled
checks. I can get a printed image from where? Their website of course.
The fact is that they no longer have to print them, or spend money to put
them in envelopes and address them, or pay postage to mail them. They don't
have to pay employees to perform these tasks either. They don't have to
supply office space for these activities to happen. This saves them
significant money (which in a way makes them "greener". Sorry, bad pun).
I do give Microsoft credit for being creative enough to develop an excuse as
politically correct as they have, even if you and I both know it's a crock.
It's just the way of the world today. Expect it to get worse before it gets
better. Here's a dollar, go buy 1/3 of a drink.
John R.