The Widening Tech-Savvy Gap 713
When things malfunction, the vast majority of Americans try to fix it themselves. (And no wonder. Tech Support is synonymous with anxiety and indifference). Almost half -- 47 percent -- say the first thing they do when a piece of equipment fails is try to repair it. Another 21 percent have a friend or family member look at it. Only nine percent take a broken purchase back to the place where they bought it. Then there are the 3 percent of Americans who say that when something breaks, they simply buy a new something. This last group may be rich, but it's also smart; its members are most likely tech veterans who've spend years struggling with customer service, poring through complex warranties, waiting on hold for support and assistance, an oxymoron if ever there was one.
The survey of nearly 3000 adults, commissioned by American Demographics magazine and published in its March issue, reveals other intriguing details. Though fewer than half of Americans with computers say they fully understand how to operate them and all their features, there are differences by region. Northeasterners are the most confused, Midwesterners the most computer-confident. When attempting to learn their way around a new purchase, 89 percent consult instruction manuals, poor saps.
Adults under 35 are, not surprisingly, more skilled at confronting tech problems. For example, 77 per cent of those surveyed age 18 to 34 are confident in their ability to operate their VCR, while 54 per cent of adults older than 35 said the same. Young adults are also more proficient, says the survey, when it comes to using cell phones, stereos, remote controls, microwaves and computers. Separated, divorced and widowed Americans are more involved with high-tech than other singles and married people. This may be because they have more time, or are perhaps more focused on using tech to connect with other people.
Television, meanwhile, continues its long reign as Americans' most beloved and comprehensible technology. In fact, for years TV has not gotten its due as one of the monumentally successful technologies of all time -- cheap, reliable, easy to use. More than 80 percent of respondents across the country understood how to work a TV better than a computer, something for the computer industry to ponder long and hard.
Asian-Americans use the Net more than any other group. On any given day, says American Demographics, more than half of all English-speaking Asians (53 percent) go online, compared to a third of all English-speaking whites (33 percent) and a sixth of all English-speaking blacks (17 per cent). On the other hand, 65 percent of African-Americans say they know and understand the features of their mobile phones, compared with only 42 percent of whites and 56 percent of Hispanics. One might have predicted, though, that women are more open to reading directions than men.
The survey is significant for several reasons. It shows that responses to tech are different among different age, geographic and ethnic groups. It confirms the idea that tech industries are peopled by smart geeks still too far removed from the ordinary concerns of average Americans. It reminds us that Tech Support is a scandal. It reinforces the notion of tech elites who alone understand how the new tools of the Info Age really work, while most people struggle to use them. New tech tools from computers to cell phones may seem ubiquitous, but in fact, they are not. Tech triggers different responses in different people, depending on where they live, how old they are, and even their race and ethnic origins.
I thought it was just the opposite (Score:4, Funny)
I hope the gap is as wide as possible. (Score:3, Interesting)
That way we will all be as valueable as an astronaught, instead of be as valueable as an office clerk.
The more esoteric that our jobs are, the more difficult it will be for common joe blow to steal our jobs, the more money we will make.
As much as I'd like everyone in the world to be computer savvy, in a capitalist world,
people get paid for their knowledge, their skill, and their ability to apply it.
By giving the common man your knowledge, all they have to do is have skill and apply it, this means you'll be without a job when you are fired and replaced by joe blow.
Your salary will be 30k a year because YOU taught everyone how to do what you do making your job as valueable and making you as important as an office clerk or mc donalds burger flipper.
Re:I hope the gap is as wide as possible. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I hope the gap is as wide as possible. (Score:5, Insightful)
However, I would also submit that the gap will always be widening, even if we try to stop it. Many people look at computer software that is designed to "dumb down" the machine for the average user, and say that computers are getting simpler every day. Really, of course, this simplicity is only a sandbox, and the back end is getting more and more complex. This, not a conspiracy of technocrats, is what will keep computer gurus in their jobs. Not to worry.
Re:I hope the gap is as wide as possible. (Score:2, Insightful)
- No one has ever been "given" knowledge. Knowledge is gained through the laborious process of studying. - That someone is "given" knowledge implies that there is no effort whatsoever involved and, furthermore, that it is to be regarded as an activity that requires a healthy brain.
- I will never be scared of the "common man" taking my job. However, I'll always be scared of "the common man" suddenly demanding me to handover the fruits of my labour (through taxes). This is a solvable problem though - just move to whatever country appreciates people who are educated and productive.
Re:I hope the gap is as wide as possible. (Score:4, Interesting)
Thank you so much for providing that textbook example of elitism in action. (/me shovels some more troll food in the trough.)
If you're only pulling down $30K because world+dog is now savvy enough to crank out Java code, it's your own damn fault. Not because you taught them your trade, but because you didn't learn another trade yourself. It's called complacency. Look it up.
Re:I hope the gap is as wide as possible. (Score:3)
Maybe some people dont want to have to learn a new trade every 4 years!
I'm not going to educate the world so i'm forced to move up from helpdesk to a much more difficult job like biotech engineer or AI programmer and make the same money i'd make in helpdesk because everyone in helpDesk now will be movin up with me.
it defeats the whole point of moving up if everyone moves up with you.
I want to be one of the only few people who can do a certain job, so i can make millions and retire early.
Its about elitism yes, but thats what its all about, making as much money as you can and the only way to make it, is to make sure everyone else isnt taking your money from you.
Nope (Score:2)
Dummies Books: the real problem. (Score:4, Insightful)
The Average Joe, when faced with the illogical and user-hostile environment of Windows/MacOS/Linux/Name-your-graphical-OS, feels stupid in his attempt to use their computer. Never mind the problem is that no operating system yet has been designed from the ground-up with usability testing every step of the way. Never mind that most aspects of an operating system and the apps that run on it are designed not by usability experts but by coders whose priority is "how can I knock out this program and make the insanely unrealistic ship date that Marketing and the Suits Upstairs have decreed?" Nope, Joe User is A DUMMY. Hence, he needs our book.
"Dummies" books are part of the problem. Usability consideration from point zero is part of the solution, books that don't talk down to you and still communicate the basic information that will allow Joe/Jane User to get beyond their fear of That Beige Box In The Corner and on the road towards mastery of computer technology is the other half of the solution.
Why not, instead of putting out books "For Dummies", put out "The Smart Person's Guide" to such and such? It sounds like a triviality, but really, psychologically speaking it's an important first step. The essence of such a series would be this:
I strongly believe that a person given that kind of introduction to computing will be more inclined to dig deeper and learn more. If you tell someone straight-out that they're A DUMMY you cannot expect them to even WANT to achieve any sort of mastery of the subject. "Nope, I'm a dummy, I have my Dummy's Guide right here, that's all I need."
Yeah, it sounds like a crock of psychobabble but dammit, nobody's tried the other approach yet to see if it will help.
Re:I thought it was just the opposite (Score:3, Insightful)
I agree with you 100%. Usually I find at least a couple nuggets of "good stuff" in what Jon writes, but I feel he's way off the mark on this one.
It's hard to recall any industry which has so abused, neglected and exploited its customers and survived.
This problem is hardly attributable to the Tech industry alone. The problem is one common to most companies today. Any kind of customer support is lousy. It's an afterthought. Look at the amount of money companies spend on sales vs what they allocate to keeping the customer happy. It's pretty clear that if companies weren't forced to offer some kind of support in order to sell their products, they wouldn't bother.
Jon also describes TV as the one technology that almost everybody seems to be able to use, and then compares that to people's comfort level with newer technologies. Duh. An overwhelming majority of today's population grew up with TV. I don't have numbers to argue with, but I suspect the trend is that the longer technology is in society, the more understood and accepted it is. And if you grew up with something, you're more likely to be comfortable using it than somebody who didn't grow up with it.
Despite the proliferation of tech toys and work devices in people's lives, the gap between the tech-savvy and the techno-confused keeps growing, a monumental failure of our arrogant and elitist tech industries.
This is just pure hogwash. There are plenty of self-study materials available, not to mention adult education courses. The big problem is that as adults, we don't have time to spend learning these things. We're too busy doing a job that will ultimately be obsolete. The reason that gap keeps widening is because technology keeps advancing. Today's youth is fully immersed in all of the latest technology. They have the time to play with and learn all of the new stuff. For crying out loud, they even study it in school. Older adults, on the other hand, have spent the last thirty-some years of their life raising their children and working to put food on the table. They get about an hour of free time per evening. And guess where they'd rather be spending it? In front of the TV. They haven't had the gobs of time to spend on learning technology. Most likely, they weren't using new technology at work, so it's not likely that the knowledge to use it is just going to pop itself into their heads.
Young adults are also more proficient, says the survey, when it comes to using cell phones, stereos, remote controls, microwaves and computers.
These are all things that young adults have grown up with. Why would their proficiency be so surprising?
Separated, divorced and widowed Americans are more involved with high-tech than other singles and married people. This may be because they have more time, or are perhaps more focused on using tech to connect with other people.
This just goes to prove what I was saying. The time factor. I'd like to see the study narrow down a bit to take into account the "child" factor. My guess is that single people with children fared far worse in the study because they have even less time than a married person to spend with technology, unless they use it at work.
It confirms the idea that tech industries are peopled by smart geeks still too far removed from the ordinary concerns of average Americans.
I'd like to see the survey. Did anybody find a reference to it on the link Jon provided? I really want to see where he pulls this idea from. Sure, technology is developed by the "smart" people. But don't forget that product development, marketing and sales aren't made up of the same breed of people. They are smart in their own ways, but not normally as technology savvy.
It reminds us that Tech Support is a scandal.
I agree with this, but as I said before, this applies to other customer service areas, too. Did you ever have a problem with a vacuum cleaner and try calling their support line? It's every bit as bad as a Tech support line. And they pull the same crap, like charging more to fix a simple problem than it would cost to just buy a new vacuum cleaner.
I'm sorry, but I don't think this survey was very well thought out. Maybe it's just Jon's take on it, but it appears that the survey was written specifically to support a theory. I'm sure there are some interesting things in there. For example, the ethnic differences are interesting. One might wonder, for example, what the family background of different ethnic groups are. For example, how many generations in the US. What their education levels are. What their family is interested in. Whether they have relatives in other countries that they still need to communicate with.
it's not just the tech industry (Score:5, Insightful)
I believe one of the most fundamental differences between a tech-savvy person and a non-techie (all other things being equal) is that at the core the tech-savvy person isn't afraid of the technology.
Put a 10 year-old in front of a computer and watch them go wild, trying everything out, then put a 50 year-old in front of the same computer and marvel at their fear of breaking the thing by pressing a mouse button.
To address the gap specifically, look at cars. 30 years ago, new cars could all be worked on by most auto-savvy people. now we look around and find that there are more than a couple makers that won't allow you to turn off the check-engine light until you come in for your $5000 dealer oil change (exageration intended).
Most people accept this because cars of today have engines half the size producing twice the power and a fraction of the emissions as those from 30 years ago. It's a compromise.
Now let's apply this to the computer industry, and we can see the parallel is indeed there. The compromise lies in the fact that computers today can do quiteliterally THOUSANDS of things the Apple II could not. 40 years ago, it truly was possible for someone with motivation to be a master in the realm of computing -- now a person considers himself lucky to truly master one tiny specialised field in 5 years.
It's not abusing the consumer, it's giving people more of what they want at the expense of them not understanding *everything*.
Less is more. (Score:5, Funny)
We drink less coffee and more beer. It allows for paitence
Re:Less is more. (Score:2, Insightful)
The midwest is historically more self sufficient and better at dealing with things.. (why arent there many militias in NYC?)
Maeryk
Re:Less is more. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Less is more. (Score:2, Funny)
Don't look at me to hard though-- I'm a midwesterner transplanted to the extreme NorthWest (Alaska) at a young age and recently reintegrated to the southwest.
Re:Less is more. (Score:2, Funny)
As of late, I drink more coffee and less beer. Maybe I need to move to the east coast
We do less heroin and crack. That, or German and Swede dominant ancestries (stubborn little buggers).
contradictions a la Katz (Score:5, Insightful)
It doesn't even seem to say that. It says that midwesterners are more CONFIDENT in their abilities with technologies. Their confidence may be totally unfounded.
Re:Less is more. (Score:2, Funny)
AMISH VIRUS!!! (Score:3, Funny)
Since we do not have electricity or computers,
you are on the HONOR SYSTEM!
Please delete ALL of your files....
Thank Thee.
You have a singular knack... (Score:2, Interesting)
There is nothing new here, this has happend sence the dawn of time. The young have always been the ones to adapt, use, and have fun with the new stuff the quickest. This is just a rehash of an old theme. This is life and nature at work, this is not technology.
ant-circumvention laws (Score:2)
All the various and heinous anti-circumvention / IP protection laws also probably have something to do with it.
If you can't tinker with something, how on earth are you supposed to figure out how it works. Most tech companies and especially their lawyers and bean counters would prefer if we just clicked and drooled.
Again, this is not a problem limited to the USA. don't forget that /. has an international readership. Why frame it as an American issue? OK, that's what the stats that formed the foundation of the article pointed to, but surely the problem as a notion can be extended without too much trouble.
Re:ant-circumvention laws (Score:2)
All the various and heinous anti-circumvention / IP protection laws also probably have something to do with it.
If you can't tinker with something, how on earth are you supposed to figure out how it works?
Yeah, that's right - my Mom doesn't fully understand how to use her computer because she doesn't have the source code to Windows and Office.
And my sister has can't figure out how to turn off widescreen on the DVD player because of the DMCA, MPAA and CSS.
I smell a troll,
Jason.
Re:ant-circumvention laws (Score:2)
I see your point.
There was no troll intended. However, I think what I was hinting at but probably should have stated is a general culture of 'hands off' that encourages the divide.
The more the mechanics of a device is put into proverbial black-boxes, the less clue there will be out there. There was a time when almost anyone could fix a car... not any longer. Indeed, attempting to do so may violate the terms of your gurantee, insurance, etc.
The reason so many forums exist today for hacking / tweaking computer gear is because it's still not criminal to do so. When it does become illegal, the tech divide will grow some more as new generations aren't raised with the ability to troubleshoot a device, but will, instead, dispose of it / send it in for a replacement and so on.
Point taken though, this has little to do with 'knowing' how to use a DVD player. It does, nevertheless, explain how the MPAA can get away with bollocks like region-coding. There's not enough clue out there amongst consumers to even know what to protest.
Re:ant-circumvention laws (Score:2)
A computer is more complicated than a TV because YOU CAN DO MORE WITH IT.
please (Score:2, Offtopic)
Could we try, at least this time, to have a discussion about the post / story for a change, instead of yet another Jonkatz bashing fest? If you don't like Jon, ignore the storie and change your settings accordingly. Not that I'm a great fan of JK, but I'm getting sick and tired of hearing the same old anti-Jon BS every time he's posting something
Yes, I know I'll loose karma over this
thank you
Re:please (Score:2)
1) Hey Mom, let's talk about why the sky is blue. (mom) That's nice dear. Why don't you sit down and watch your cartoons.
2) Hey Dad, let's talk about why the sky is blue. (dad) How 'bout those Cubbies, don't they suck this year?
3) Hey playground bully, let's talk about why the sky is blue. (bully) WHACK!
4) Hey sister, let's talk about why the sky is blue. (sis) Who cares, dork.
All Jon has pointed out is that this tech gap which is obvious even at the level of the individual, also has larger structure associated with race and geography. Pretty much like everything else. Will his next article be about the knitting gap? Knitting is concentrated in old ladies, with hardly any teenage boys knowing anything about knitting. Yawn.
How about a comparative historical study? (Score:5, Insightful)
One thing that bothers me about Katz is that he seems to always operate on the assumption that what's happening now is the first technological revolution. History is full of technological revolutions, though.
Re:How about a comparative historical study? (Score:2, Insightful)
George Jetson: "I had a rough day at the button."
Doesn't the fix-it mentality (Score:2)
--if it's broken, fix it yourself.
The only problem here is corporate control of the government. When our laws were written, they didn't really have the concept of corporations as they are today, and didn't write laws for corporations to be regarded on different standards. Now corporations have (nearly) all the rights of people, without the repercussions (no jail time, etc..only fines) and therefore can get by with a lot more : If scamming people out of 5 million dollars means they'll have to pay a fine of 3 million, guess what, they still made a profit. Sure, it's bad press, but they're scammers; it doesn't matter.
Anyways, I think in time, one of two things will happen (regarding software):
1) either the government will become completely corporate controlled, as if it isn't already..
2) or, the Open Source movement will become really popular, and all things will be well..
for some reason, I have a feeling it'll be (1).
Of course, this only applies to the States, for now.
Warning for Married Techies! (Score:3, Funny)
In other words, if you want to make your marriage last STAY AWAY FROM EVERQUEST!!!
Duh! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Duh! (Score:3, Informative)
You clearly don't remember what TVs looked like in the 1960s and 1970s. Remember tubes? Remember those wonderful things like horizontal and vertical hold controls? Remember color adjustments? How about "do it yourself tube replacements?"
TV used to be a geek dream. Now it's ordinary. Likewise cars were the domain of the "automobilist" few. And don't forget the old profession of telegrapher.
Every generation has had its technical literati. Why should this one be any different? Katz, you ought to be a bit more circumspect about this stuff.
Tech-savvy? (Score:2, Insightful)
Personally, I'd like a definition of what tech-savvy means. Does it mean knowing how to cope with poorly designed electronic systems?
I work in the IT industry, and I'm responsible for designing all kinds of information flow and so on, and I keep find that the real problem in most systems is actually a lack of knowledge on the part of designers on how to really build good systems.
Personally, when it comes to design tech, I think a lot of "not-so-savvy" users probably know a lot more about how design should be than most of the designers.
</rant>abusing customers (Score:2)
um, tobacco?
Why would anyone want them to be tech savvy? (Score:2)
I mean if everyones tech savvy what will we do then? We'd be worthless.
I hope the user interface dumbs down so much that all they have to do is talk to their machines and their machines handle everything. This way when the machine breaks they wont know what the hell to do, and we will be hired in at insanely high prices to fix r eally easy problems.
Silly article based on an opinion poll (Score:5, Insightful)
But I used the "ADVANCED" Start Menu setup! (Score:4, Funny)
Like the old one (Score:4, Insightful)
Take a load of brigh people ask them to evaluate themselves.
The average rating for the not so bright will be from above average to excellent
The average rating for the bright people will be from average to above average
Put them together in a room to talk about the ratings...
Not so bright group don't change their opinions, bright group now average Excellent.
A common study on perception on reality that most psyhc students have looked at.
Re:Silly article based on an opinion poll (Score:3, Insightful)
I think Katz made too big of a leap when going from a person's opinion of themselves to their actual skills. However, I suspect that if you think you know technology, you probably have a leg up on someone who thinks they don't know technology. Someone in the latter group is not going to be driven to solve a problem. They're going to first think that they don't understand the constraints of the problem thus they can't possibly solve it. But someone who thinks that they know technology and experiences a problem with it, at the very least, is not going to be able to dismiss the problem as outside of the scope of their knowledge.
So for example, I'm not even going to know where to begin solving a problem that might occur on a 747 jet liner. I don't understand the systems involved. But I do understand how my 9-cell sabre 150 parachute works, and I can at least begin to troubleshoot any problems that I experience. Even if I don't really understand how to build one.
The point is that comfort with a system allows for people to become knowledgable about that system. So, you're right that comfort doesn't imply knowledge, but discomfort might imply lack of knowledge.
$.02
NE isn't technologically savvy? Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Who did they survey, the illiterate?
Because the digital computer was invented in Iowa? (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.cs.iastate.edu/jva/jva-archive.shtml [iastate.edu]
From that page:
The Atanasoff-Berry Computer was the world's first electronic digital computer. It was built by John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University during 1937-42. It incorporated several major innovations in computing including the use of binary arithmetic, regenerative memory, parallel processing, and separation of memory and computing functions.
On October 19, 1973, US Federal Judge Earl R. Larson signed his decision following a lengthy court trial which declared the ENIAC patent of Mauchly and Eckert invalid and named Atanasoff the inventor of the electronic digital computer -- the Atanasoff-Berry Computer or the ABC.
survey (Score:2)
When attempting to learn their way around a new purchase, 89 percent consult instruction manuals, poor saps.
I consulted an instruction manual while installing my new 20 gig Iomega Peerless Drive last night. I consulted it again to try and figure out how to turn off the blinking blue light. I installed the drive, I couldn't turn off the blue light. I'm in the northeast. I hardly consider myself a 'poor sap'.
Gap Is Not New (Score:2)
I think a precedent of such a gap between the population and practitioners of a learned art has already been set.
If you think for minute, the medical establishment has been an example of this that has existed for over a century now.
Why is this such a problem? (Score:2, Insightful)
Arrogant? You assume that technology == better quality of life. Not true. Did the possibility ever enter your head that maybe some (most?) people don't want anything to do with technology? A significant portion of the population chooses not to embrace cell phones, computers, pdas, etc. because of the hassle. I envy those that don't have to worry about their boss ringing the cell phone at 3am on a saturday to fix some firewall. Sometimes i wish i could pile all of my "tech miracles" into a big pile and set them afire. And move off to a ranch in montana.
Digital Divide (Score:2)
Re:Digital Divide (Score:2)
Come on, Jon (Score:2)
Come on, Jon.
Don't blame us for the fact that the tech sector moves so quickly. Sure, some of us are elitist, but the occasional RTFM isn't the source of all this trouble.
Everyone knows that if the automobile industry evolved at the same pace as computers have, we could drive from New York to California for like fifty cents and get there in an hour or something (this was some quote from some intangible study from some book I've read, I don't remember exactly).
So please, before you blame the kernel hackers and the hardware guys and the OO coders for the fact that the typical American has to use AOL to navigate the Internet or else they'd be totally freakin' screwed because there's a huge tech info gap between the 'in the know' and the 'not in the konw' folks, reconsider. It's hard for ALL OF US to keep up with how quickly things are changing these days, not just the average middle class American.
monolithic - adj. Characterized by massiveness and rigidity and total uniformity; Linux - n. An implementation of the Unix kernel originally written from scratch with no proprietary code [monolinux.com]
Duct tape and bailing wire (Score:2)
Re:Duct tape and bailing wire (Score:3, Funny)
20% can't use a TV, and shame on me 2nd time? (Score:2, Insightful)
Only 80%!? Come on, that's a ludicrous statistic; who is going to answer that they understand how to work a Computer 'better' than a trivially simple device like a TV. I know what _every_ button on my TV remote does, but I'm still suspicious about those "Scroll Lock", "Break", and "SysRq" keys on my PC keyboard.
Then there are the 3 percent of Americans who say that when something breaks, they simply buy a new something. This last group may be rich, but it's also smart.
Why is buying a piece of crap product that broke the first time and came with no warranty/tech support smart?
Last year I bought a ViewSonic monitor, and it failed after 2 months. I phoned their tech support, and they shipped me a new one. If they hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been stupid enough to run out and buy a new one. Shoddy Tech support (from the major manufacturers) is a Dilbert-esque cliché.
Let's examine this a bit shall we? (Score:5, Insightful)
Let me spell it out then: The problem is too complex for most people to bother spending the required amount of time to learn its answer. Just like medicine, some of the more esoteric bits of automobiles, and other inherently complex topics.
Re:Let's examine this a bit shall we? (Score:3, Insightful)
I do software beta testing as well as technical support. The people that call me want help; I want to help them fix their problem. But when John Q Public starts cussing me out, not following directions, doing extra steps without telling me, and flat out LYING (Really, I DIDN'T install anything recently!)...I can't help them.
If people want to learn, I'll teach them. If people don't want to take the time or effort, screw em. I don't need to hear people bitching me out on the phones because they have a 2MB S3 ViRGE and they wonder why DirectX won't work with their system. I explain it to them in simple terms: the program -- all pictures, documents, and data -- needs the equivalent of 8 square feet of space for all if its workload. But your video card -- the desk -- only has 2 square feet. And then they yell at me: WHY DIDN'T IT SAY SO?
Mechanics are in a very similar situation. They fix machines for an hourly wage. Some do it for fun, some do it for work, some do it to learn. But if a customer comes in raging and fuming, mechanics aren't going to take any crap. And neither will I.
THAT is where the 'elitist computer world' comes from: arrogant, pissy customers who call you up for help, but then refuse to let you help them. As one of the 'elitist computer' people, getting called twice a day for friends' and family's problems gets REALLY annoying, real fast. If you try and teach them, and they refuse to learn, it's their own fault.
Don't blame us techs for people's ignorance. It's just like blaming teachers for the educational system -- there may be some bad teachers, but learning is a two-way street.
And Katz: I used to like your articles. But truly, I think YOU are detached a bit from the tech world. I challenge you to do a month of tech support. Even a week would do. See it from our eyes. Pushed calls, 2 15-minute breaks during a day, call notes, a forced 90% utilization and more. Deal with customers who call you up for all sorts of issues that have NOTHING to do with the product supported. Deal with customers that will not be happy until they talk to a manager, even though it is their first call. Deal with unbelievable scrutiny on every single phone call, email, call note, and resolution. Deal with logging in, and seeing the phone software display 90+ calls in the queue with 50 minute hold times. Deal with all of those customers, from late December through mid-February. Deal with being on a 2 hour call that starts 5 minutes before your work day ends. Deal with a 4 hour Windows 95/98 rebuild talking to someone that doesn't know a colon from a semicolon, or a forwardslash from a backslash. And do it all for $10/hour.
Do that, then come talk to us.
You should've also looked at a few other statistics: The turnover rate for tech support. The average amount of training before being put on phones. Before you go spouting about the 'computer elite,' see how often those 'elite' end up changing jobs because of unbelievable stress.
Good Lord (Score:2)
It reminds us that Tech Support is a scandal. It reinforces the notion of tech elites who alone understand how the new tools of the Info Age really work
There's nothing wrong with the concept of tech support. Your average user doesn't NEED to know everything about computing technology, and a place to go to get their answers is a Good Thing. there will lways be tech elites that truly understand how the tools function, there will be a larger number who are power users, there will be an even larger portion that are average users and so forth.
Additionally, tech support people are not usually the ones that fully understand technology. They are trained to answer common questions and to know who to turn to when they need more complicated questions answered.
Nice job Katz, I try not to flame you needlessly, but this particular piece of tripe reads like a fifth grade essay, what grade did your kid get?
Re:Good Lord (Score:2)
Random Thoughts (Score:3, Insightful)
It puts me in a serious funk to walk into Circuit City/Best Buy/Soundtrack and realise that there ARE NO consumer electronics left for me to purchase. My pda's perking along fine, as is my cellphone, Digital Camera, computer, Xbox, home theatre, TV, blender, coffee maker, LAN, lawnmower, car lift, electric toothbrush...you get the point.
At the same time that I've got everything I want, I've got a ton of functionality I don't use. I've got an X10 touchpanel that's programmable, interrupt driven, and can literally control everything in my house. It's technically not beyond my abilities to program it. Why does it only turn on and off the Stereo tuner and control it's volume? Because I can't be _bothered_ to figure it out.
That may be the more telling issure here: Are these people stupid, or is it just not a high enough priority to learn? (OR do us midwesterners just have more dark cold winter to futz with stuff?)
Hey, my phone's a two way pager...it can surf the net, it's got an IR port to connect my pda to the internet. How many people CARE that it does more than 'look cool' and doesn't drop calls?
We've gotten to the point where more features can be crammed into a device than can be used. It it bad that I don't use EVERY feature?
Re:Random Thoughts (Score:2)
The real problem is that our lives are so full of projects and stuff to do that we don't even have time to learn our own gadgets! Crazy but true.
On the other hand, Katz has a point. I owned a Nikon Coolpix 990 that I hardly used at all - I took about 1150 pictures in a year. I hated it because the controls were so confusing. Even reading the manual didn't help; for some reason, the information just didn't 'take'.
I solved the problem by giving it to a friend and buying a Canon EOS D30, a $3,400 camera (once lens and CF card are included) that has extremely intuitive controls. I literally read through the manual once and was able to immediately grasp 95% of its features right away. Now I can manually focus, manually expose and change ASA on the fly, tasks I could never remember how to do with the old camera. In a shade over two months of ownership, I've taken 1,750-odd pictures. That's well over ten times the number I took with the Coolpix!
Another example: I had a Motorola cellphone some years back that came with Nextel's service. I liked Nextel but the phone required that you memorize three digit codes for all its functions, so as soon as I lost the manual, I was hopeless. Then I lost the phone.
My next cellphone was a Nokia. What a difference! Clear, easy to follow menus, even the equivalent of keyboard shortcuts with the ability to type menu numbers in sequence. Eventually I even memorized some of the numeric sequences thanks to the prompts. Unfortunately, none of that excellence prevented me from losing the phone anyway, but you get the idea.
In other words, excellent design makes a big difference in pretty much any kind of technical gadget.
D
Isn't it narrowing? (Score:2)
Wouldn't this suggest that the gap is narrowing?
The younger generation is adapting to the new technologies faster, meaning the gap is narrowing. Once the baby-boomers start to fad away, there will be a more tech-saavy people around.
Another point. What are we doing to help out?
Linux is always being criticized as not being user friendly. "User Friendly" is the way to narrow that gap. Make it so your grandmother can use it. I'm not criticizing linux's user friendliness, but saying its prudent to this conversation.
One last note. Don't you know that 86% of all statistics are made up?
The "cure" is the problem (Score:2, Insightful)
it is expanding because of the dummies series.
Actually it is expanding due to the Dummies series, and due to things like educational feel good agendas. Shear speculation, but most likely in the midwest the basics of education, especially in rural areas, are still being used, while in the cities all of the latest theories are being used, changing from year to year. or you have a system where the city with the most money per student has the worst scores in the State (*cough*Boston*cough*)
Money is not the answer, but methodology is.
As far as throwing money at the problem, check this out [radiofreenation.net].
It's quite simple, really (Score:2)
To me, this article was just some veiled racial comments and SOP (Standard Operating Poo-poo) for Katz.
Short memory (Score:2)
Altough industry is a bit strong, most kingdoms, religions, etc... seem to fit in your definition.
:-)
Adapt and survive (Score:3, Insightful)
It's the nature of things, one door closes and another opens. My 83 year old grandmother has learnt how to email and use the net so its possible up to a quite considerable age. Who is the oldest computer/internet/slashdot user?
I take issue... (Score:2)
Asking someone how good they are at stuff is not an accurate way of judging how good they really are. What were the actual questions?
Q1. Do you consider yourself computer savvy?
Q2. Do you know how to make a bookmark in MS Word?
Q3. Given a bunch of components could you put together your own computer and install an OS on it?
These 3 questions measure different things. The guy in Nebraska might have been using MS Word for 5 years and knows it inside out, so considers himself computer savvy, but yet couldn't for the life of him figure out how to do anything else. Do we consider that person knowledgeable?
They did a study a few years ago and determined that people who were truly incompetent didn't know they were incompetent. Also, people who really were competent tended to underestimate themselves.
Call me cynical or a skeptic, but this kind of broad survey is difficult for me to swallow. Were the questions of the "How would you rate yourself" kind, or the "What's an inode" kind. Most surveys I've seen are of the former sort and those are crap, statistically significant number of participants or not.
US Centric and Bollocks anyway... (Score:2, Troll)
Can't think of a group of people who care less about their customers ?
Here are two Jon
Tobacco and Gun companies, lob in the Defence industry, lawyers etc etc etc.
Maybe the problem is that actually its a fault of education, in the same country that has schools that don't think evolution is an idea you are suprised that technology isn't well taught. Schools censor technology because they are afraid of it, so people don't learn how to use is.
This isn't the result of big corps ignoring people, its a result of an industry that is 30 years old and has exploded in the last 10. How many people knew (or even know) how electric lights work when they came out ? Sure there is a gap between those who know and those who don't, there is that gap in terms of EVERYTHING, and most of the time it comes down to application and education.
And on the first point in the title, mobile phone usage varies across Europe, Finland leading the way. The vast generalisations from Jon apply yet again only to the US.
Tech Corps give users what they want, even if they don't understand it, that is what people want.... always remember...
They don't understand the software, they don't understand the hardware, but they can _see_ the flashing lights.
Re:US Centric and Bollocks anyway... (Score:4, Insightful)
Can't think of a group of people who care less about their customers ?
Tobacco and Gun companies, lob in the Defence industry, lawyers etc etc etc.
What a troll. Though I'm not going to try to defend the tobacco companies here, the gun, defense and legal industries do not set out specifically to harm their customers.
This is flawed logic at it's worst. Are you telling me the defense industry doesn't care about the American people? That's it whole fucking purpose, is to defend morons like you.
Leaving the decisions of politcal leaders out of it, without Colt firearms and Beoing bomber aircraft, you'd be tossing Hitlers salad along with everybody else. Every war or military action may not be justified, but there are certainly times when they are.
Also, although society has become a bit litigious, don't forgot those downtrodden defense lawyers who got your sorry ass Miranda rights. Lawyers for big companies do try to take away alot of rights from people, but other lawyers got you a lot of rights to begin with. It's a give and take... good and bad.
Anyways, you're allowed to be a dirty hippie pinko if you want, but I'm still gonna eat steak, smoke Marlboros, drink Jack Daniels, own a Glock, and live in a troubled but still free fucking country.
oh dear (Score:2, Insightful)
um no. those people tend to know the least amount about technology. a seasoned person would be able to work their way around the tech support lines and cluessless middlemen to get a fix. Smart people fix things they dont go out and contribute to the throw away society that we have developed.
The survey is significant for several reasons
god i hate when ppl try and come to conclusions abotu society from a survey or using statistics. it is impossible to do a fair survey unless you have a seperate objective view. this is why studies will never be able to predict the future and will never be able to even analyze current trends properly. yes i do believe that they are a good base for more research, but to draw conclusions from it and base an argument on purely statistical evidence and a few misplaced ideals of society ('Tech Support is synonymous with anxiety and indifference', Tech triggers different responses in different people...
sortof abotu the last point, i am so fucking tired of people doing surveys on ethnicity. this must be an american thing because up in canada i have never had to fill out my ethnicity on anything. why? because IT DOESNT FUCKING MATTER. im a white male mostly german in decent but i cannot stand when people try and match peoples behaviour to where their parents or their parents's parents came from. they american citizens, and once your government starts treating them as such instead of as an ethnic group maybe other cultures will start to like you.
It's hard to recall any industry ... (Score:2, Insightful)
"It's hard to recall any industry which has so abused, neglected and exploited its customers and survived."
This assertion is unfounded. There are other industries where there are widespread examples of similar attitudes. "You need a new frob... No, trust me. You don't want to understand, but it won't work without it." However, there are many honest mechanics and there are many honest tech service engineers. A better example of another industry which exploits and abuses its customers is the entertainment industry. While there are some examples of inexcusable behavior in the tech business, the RIAA and MPAA want to strip people everywhere of their rights to use material. In the US, this right is presently guaranteed by law. There exist other countries where this right is not presently obstructed. These member companies want to repeal or otherwise invalidate the US law and impose or strengthen obstructions of this right in other countries. It is a monumental mistake to categorically dismiss an example of more prominent and funcdamental abuse which appears weekly or even daily on Slashdot.
The most important point... (Score:2)
On a side note, this is the first story from Katz that I actually believe he has some insight into. The technically ignorant.
What's MS Word? (Score:2)
Is this some new software that runs on Linux or BSD?
Since it's not - I have no idea how one might use this program.
Guess I'm not tech savvy. So, that makes me, someone who works in IT, not Tech Savvy.
[insert comment about Jon and squirrels here]
-
Here's one reason why... (Score:2, Insightful)
About a month ago I bought a $700 (CDN) HP printer/copier/fax/whatever. It took me HOURS to get this pile working. After fighting with it for a while, I checked their support site and found a patch to supposedly fix a problem with the OS I was using. Good I thought, this ought to do it. Several more hours later, I finally got it to work. To add insult to injury, when I broke down and phoned their support line (which was not prominently advertised in the package anywhere), they seemed to want to charge me to help me install a brand new product that obviously wouldn't work due to the terrible software shipped with it.
A couple weeks later, I had the pleasure of helping a friend try and install an HP external CD writer. Once again hours past and everything in both of our technical arsenals was brought out, but in this case it never did function properly.
In my experience, it is not uncommon for specific manufacturers to be notoriously bad in similar ways. Some you know are going to be a joy to install, and others you get a bad feeling about just looking at on the shelf.
My point is, if technical computer professionals can't get this crap to work, what is the general public's experience like. It must be an unimaginable nightmare. No wonder the gap is widening.
Sanity check (Score:2)
Jon, sanity check here. Electric lights aren't high-tech, they're near a century old now. Pick a few dozen of your friends and ask them how lights work. I'll bet that at least half of them give an answer along the lines of "You flip a switch and the magic electricity flows and the bulb lights.". IOW they know how to work a light but not anything about how and why it actually lights up. They know the electric grid and generating plants work, but for all they know about how and why they work the whole process of getting electricity to a light bulb and making it glow might as well be a magic spell. It might not be obvious on the surface, since probably you understand it, but if you go probing you'll find that most people don't.
Now, if after a century we have a large percentage of people who don't understand the stuff that makes something as simple and ubiquitous as a light bulb work, why should we expect any significant percentage to understand what's behind something as complex and relatively new as a computer? That's what seperates the tech-savvy from the rest: we're the relatively small percentage who're actually interested enough to learn the whys and wherefores and whats behind using the technology. We know how the wires are connected behind the walls, how generating plants and electric grids work and what the switch actually does to the electrons, not just that flipping the switch makes the magic bulb glow. We've actually ferreted out why things work, not just how to make them work.
That's also why the gap won't go away: you can't teach curiousity. You can encourage those that have it to use it, but if they don't have it you can't force-feed it to them. Trying just annoys them, and they start asking why they need to know all this technical stuff just to use X.
This is also, IMHO, why the average savvy person's choice of reading is so different from the mainstream: we like things that make us think, the mainstream doesn't.
Can you hack your car? (Score:2)
How many of us can reprogram them? Not many.
How about your toaster - in the old days you could take them apart and fix them. Now they have fuzzy software.
Can you fix your Furby?
How about your Aibo?
Even our furnace controls are automated - but most of us can't fix those.
But the most important question is - why would we want to?
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Unskilled and unaware (Score:3, Interesting)
For a good breakdown of how people understand their own skill level take a look at this journal article [apa.org]. It does a good job of graphing people's self assessments against their actual performances.
The point is that just because a population is not confident about their skills as a computer user, does not mean that they are lacking those skills. Conversely, it is the confidant ones who lack the knowledge to be able to rate their own performance.
-pos
How is this our fault? (Score:2, Interesting)
If the people Katz seems to be trying to advocate for are really so upset that they don't understand tech, why don't they get off their butts and start figuring it out? I bet it's because they don't want to. If years go by and some people get left behind, so be it. How is that our fault?
learn from the master (Score:2)
Hey Pal (Score:2, Funny)
Now, please leave it alone.
Good vs. Good Enough (Score:3, Insightful)
This seems to me to be a modern trend in business. Businesses in all sectors have discovered that you don't have to be good or provide a good product or service, you just have to be good enough. In fact it seems that businesses can maximize profits by being subpar. Consumers will often buy a cheap product that does 90% of what they want rather than an expensive product that does 100%.
This seems to be especially true with customer service. Providing the level of customer service to help the average user (oh, I have to plug it in?) and not providing the level of service desired by the "tech savvy" saves a lot of money for these companies.
It comes down to cheap, fast, good, chose any two. The population typcially goes for cheap and fast, and not good.
TV technology (Score:2)
Well, it has been up until now. In a few years, we may screw that up with all the HDTV crap.
Computers are not made by the tech industry (Score:3, Insightful)
It's true that the overwhelming majority of Americans prefer to fix their computers than to buy new. If I made computers I would empower users to do just that. But I'm don't and Microsoft does...
When my friends have computer problems I'm powerless to help them. How do I get rid of lurking programs that pop up advertisements? How do fix there computer if something screwed up their registry? Sometimes I am able to find help online but most of the time I'm not.
Microsoft software is fragile, undocumented, unpredictable and unfixable. It's not just end users who are frustrated using Microsoft products; techincal people get frustrated and angry too.
All their features? (Score:2)
As a Junior computer science major, I know now more than ever that I don't know how to use all of the features of my computer. I guess that puts me in the non--tech-savvy half of the population.
--Ben
Sometimes a song says it better than Katz... (Score:4, Funny)
It's probably more insightful than whatever drivel Katz is spewing today.
Cell Phone Losers (Score:3, Insightful)
It's funny how people's brains seem to turn off when they get near something high-tech, or really even something unfamiliar (e.g. people are constantly confused as to where they parked at ski resorts, yet they have no problems finding their parking spot at the mall/stadium/wherever).
The beauty of Open Source (Score:3, Insightful)
Open Source software is often lambasted for being harder to use than its proprietary Windows equivalents. On the other hand, it simultaneously has far better user support available. Proprietary software, being a product-based industry, cares more about shipping out new products than it does supporting what already exists. This comes naturally with the business model. They don't make money on support so it's very tempting to slack off. Open Source based business, in contrast, is purely a service industry. By very nature it results in far closer communication between users and developers. Open Source breaks down arrogance and elitism quickly as the development community expands. A customer cannot be neglected if it is also a co-developer. As the use of OSS continues to spread and more consulting firms spring up to meet the service need, I believe we'll see a flourishing of consumer friendly technology both on and off the desktop PC.
There's a reason for that. (Score:5, Insightful)
You can't simply blame the users for not knowing how things work. You also have to blame the people creating the technology for not encouraging them to understand the stuff in the first place (M$ constantly trying to hide the file system from users is a good example of this). Any piece of equipment that could be tweaked, configured, or modified SHOULD come with books on how to do so.
Another excellent example that just sprang to mind is printers. When I purchased my first printer (A radio shack dmp130 dot matrix) it came with a book describing EXACTLY how to talk to it to use fonts, or address graphics. In other words, everything needed to write a printer driver (not really such a thing back then, but) came with the printer. You simply don't see these manuals and specs being shipped with modern day stuff, so even those who are curious about things don't have their curiosity encouraged by the manufacturers.
TV vs Computers (Score:3, Funny)
Gee, you don't say. Maybe thats because a TV has limited functionality when compared to a computer. Here is is another amazing fact "99.9% of the people surveyed understand how to work a toaster better then a Nuclear Reactor". Obviously the Nuclear reactor industry has something to learn from the toaster industry.
Not Tech's Fault (Score:3, Insightful)
I work at the local EB, and you'd be amazed at some of the customers we have in here. There are people who know absolutely nothing about the computer that they just purchased - don't know the RAM, speed, HDD space, nothing! This is on a machine that was just purchased a day ago...and all that information is available right on the box! Most people, when they go out to purchase a car, take a look at some basic information...type of transmission, MPG, airbags, ABS, number of seats...you get the idea. Most people (from what I've seen at EB) do not do the same thing with technology.
How much can you expect the tech. industry to educate/provide for the masses when they're not even willing to read the label on a package?
yrs,
Ephemeriis
Interesting piece (Score:3, Insightful)
Ok lemme stop rambling.
Did it ever occur to you Mr. Katz? (Score:5, Interesting)
Comparing TVs to the internet is also completely meaningless. TVs require virtually NO internevtion to operate it's by it's nature a passive activity. The net by it's nature is an active activity. A person does not choose one BECAUSE of the other. They choose one because of what they WANT out of it. Even if you had a computer that was 100% functional without flaws all the time, getting anything out of the net reqires one to pay more attention. It's work. Hell even 100 channels of TV are too much for some people to want to wade through.
And I'm not talking about ignorance or stupidity. I'm talking about WANT. Some people don't WANT to deal with technology on any level no matter how flawless or "easy" you make it.
YOU'RE the one whos elitest. This entire article is one giant freudian slip! You actually think that everyone on the planet HAS to be completely up to date with the latest and greatest. That's bullshit and that's your elitism showing.
This article says loads more about yourself than any other point you tried to being up.
Both sides of the spectrum are full of crap. (Score:5, Interesting)
Having worked in retail selling PCs and then having worked for a large ISP doing tech support and writing technical support content, my opinion of the matter, whatever it is worth, is that no one has realized the basic fact that support works only when both sides meet at the middle.
First of all, companies spend too much on supporting the least profitable customers. There are, unfortunately, some people who are just too stupid to use certain technologies. That may not fit in with the idealism of the present age, but it is a fact. At the same time, savvy users are often denied the online resources / self help data which is cheap to provide. No one should ever have to dig, for example, for IP, DNS, etc. setttings for their ISP. The ISP I use doesn't have a single page written with the basic numbers that I need to configure a PC, but they'll spend countless hours writing "How to use e-mail" documents and supporting users who delete their WINNT directory "because they're using Windows 2000."
Learning to use technology requires the affirmative and volitional use of brainpower. The worst disservice you can do to support a person is to tell them what keys to press, and in what order, without telling them why. This may be a short term fix to get a customer off of the phones, but it results in countless followup calls which make hold times longer, support more expensive, and therefore services for expensive. A little user education goes a long way. Consumers should be expected to open up their minds and learn about the technologies they use. If a 3 year old can use a PC - and many, many do, there is no reason why a full-grown person cannot spend a little time in the evenings educating themselves in whatever way they are most comfortable with.
"I don't have the time." What this means is, the individual would rather watch Survivor than spend 30 minutes in their evenings learning a little bit about the technology they use. Well, that's *their* problem. In the end, the decreased productivity they experience, all of the time saving measures they cannot avail themselves of, etc. far exceeds the simple initial investment of RTFM. How often I've watched people in my own office lay out little bulletins and brochures using scotch tape and scissors when they could have done it in a fraction of the time using only the most basic functions of Word. It's not as if you have to be a computer geek, just a reasonably educated computer user. Anyone who has ever put the time in ought to know that the investment pays off, frees up time, money, and resources.
Paranoia about support boundaries. Several companies I've worked for have paranoia about supporting products beyond the most rudimentary tasks. An example of this is setting up a Linux system to work with an ISP. Write the damn documentation, put it online, and then put a disclaimer on it saying, "Use this information at your own risk. We don't support it and are not responsible for anything that happens to you including spontaneous combustion if it all goes awry." Whatever the company's legal department is happy with. Some companies do this now and it makes life easier and saves a phone call, which costs companies so much money.
So much time has been spent catering to the user's ignorance that consumers are not expected to take some effort to learn about the products they buy. Every time something is dumbed down to the point a monkey can use it, inevitably two things happen:
Ideally, ample online/self-help resources ought to be provided by every company that manufactures a product, because it is cheap; in fact it costs almost nothing. You spend the time hiring some technical writers or knowledge engineers to put together a knowledge base or support web, then just have a few maintainers on. Agents can then use this information for support, and so forth. This is infinitely cheaper than doing phone support.
Then, there ought to be tiered pricing for support, depending on the issue. Phone support ought not necessarily be free. People who expect companies to bend over backwards for them have no conception of revenue models. Support is *expensive*. There is no reason, for example, a company should be forced to support someone who will not crack open a manual. What this does is drive up wait times, resulting either in customer dissatisfaction, or the company has to hire more tech support people, which costs money, cuts into profits, resulting in the expense being passed onto the consumer.
But consumers want everything dirt cheap. That's Capitalism. What they don't want is the very basic reality that you get what you pay for. Take low-margin industries like PC retail. Sure you can buy a bargain basement clone with who-knows-what in it, but somehow when it works like crap, the indignant dissastisfied-customer attitude doesn't impress me. Support and quality ought to come at a premium. If customers didn't buy technology like they buy clothes pins, like "they're all the same," maybe they wouldn't be bitten so hard by poor support and low quality.
Inevitably every customer I've dealt with has some "10 year old whiz kid" in the family who *thinks* he knows everything about computers. Occasionally this is the case, but more often my experience has been that for some perverse reason it has become *fashionable* to be a computer nerd, and so a lot of people who know how to mouse around in Windows call themselves experts for the supposed status it brings (I went to school in the 1980s and the opposite could not have been more true). All technology is not build the same. All companies are not built the same. Sometimes, yeah, you get what you pay for. Deal with it.
Learn to read manuals and use the library and especially online resources. Or else get someone to teach you. Or pay for the support that you require that so few others, who have the ability to learn on their own, do.
I had no one to teach me about computers or technology, or how to work my VCR. I had to sit down and learn it, and it didn't take up all of my free time; I didn't have to dedicate my life to figure out how to stop the damn blinking 12:00 on my VCR. It took 5 minutes. 5 minutes people are not willing to spend. And in 90% of the cases not because they are working 24/7 and don't have a single second to figure it out, but because they are lazy and would rather indulge themselves in whatever banalities pass for entertainment in the world these days. I am not sympathetic. There are so many resources available to people, and the time required to learn the basics of anything so considerably small compared to the time-saving benefits and payoffs, that I don't see why I should care about this gap.
Somewhere in America there is an idiot whining about the fact that he has to learn to cursor around the menu system on his VCR, while an 8 year old is installing FreeBSD in his free time.
Welcome to the 2000s. This is life. I wonder if people whined about having to learn to read following the invention of the printing press and the onset of the Enlightenment, and eventually the industrial revolution.
Carry your own weight, or get out of the road, maggots.
Where the gap begins... (Score:3, Interesting)
There are kids who only do what they are told to, there are kids who extrapolate on what they are told to do, then there are kids who get the other kids to do what they were told to do to do it for them (whew!)...
Anyhow, most people fall into the first and last categories. They are trapped there, by their own ignorance and apathy. Call them the Sheep and the Lazy.
In reality, they are one and the same. Whether it is how to program a VCR, work a computer, or fix a leaky faucet - not a single one of them will take the time to learn to do it themselves (which is probably a good thing - it keeps those who are in the second category gainfully employed).
Those in the middle? They are the artists, the thinkers, the tinkerers, the inventors, the mechanics, the programmers - they are the people who ask the questions, find the answers, and then apply those answers toward the search for the truth (which inevitably leads to more questions, more answers, etc).
I don't think I will ever understand completely why there are individuals without curiosity and drive to expand their knowledge about the world around them. With time on this planet so limited, it should almost be an instinct to want to know more. The travesty for anyone who does exhibit curiosity about the world around them is that they also know that one day, in what is really only a blink of time, that the quest will end - whether they want it to or not.
Computers are not "Magic TVs" (Score:3, Interesting)
One part of me thinks that bringing computers out of the garages and labs was a BIG mistake. This part of me says, "Computers are for techies, not for the general masses." Sometimes I wonder if we wouldn't be further ahead if we hadn't sold out?
..but then I supposed I wouldn't have my Palm Pilot. I dunno. It just seems a bit unrealistic to expect everyone everywhere to understand computers. They are NOT "magic TVs".
Furthermore, I do not want my computer to become a "magic TV." I want my computers to continue to be my own jumbles of circuit cards and twisted wires and strange humming noises that my wife points at and says the word "that".
I don't want to be coddled by layers and layers of metaphor and "cuteness". I want my machines to be powerful tools that I can use for work, study and pastime. I don't want them "dumbed down".
Then again, I sure like my GPS and digital camera. I don't think I'd have these toys if I still had to buy wire-wrap sockets and ICs to fix my Altair 8800. So, once again, I'm not sure.
Did we sell out?
Re:Midwest... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Midwest... (Score:2, Insightful)
I think when people are in more urban areas, with everything close together, it is much easier for most people to let someone else handle it. However, when you are farther removed from these urban areas that have a "repair shop" for everything, you become more dependant upon yourself. This can then lead to different areas (first mechanic, then PC technician) out of principle, mentality, convienance and the like.
Technophobes for sure (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know how many times I've heard "Just show me what I need to know; I don't want to learn all that other stuff" from any number of technophobes.
Technophobes? (Score:3, Interesting)
It has not much to do with loving or hating a technology; it's about cognitive mode. Most of us do reasonably well learning by seeing; only a minority handle manuals well. The current generation of computers - despite the GUIs - favor those who do well with manuals. Much of the strength of Linux is in the succinct quality of the INSTALL and README docs in most program tars. RTFM is the mantra of a technological niche built by-and-for those who do well by manuals.
But that particular sort of verbal (supplemented by diagrams) intelligence isn't the only smarts people have; it's not even the only sort of smarts that might serve a tech-lover well. For instance, do you want your high-tech battle system manned by nerds-with-manuals or by those with a good seat-of-the-pants feel for the system and quick reflexes? Some folks have both, but for the most part those good with manuals are in the ground crews, and the kid in the cockpit is smart about - and loves - tech in a different way.
___
I am Elitest and Proud (Score:2)
You have to be Elitest, thats just reality.
Sure you can teach people, but do it for a price, dont give them all your knowledge for free.
In case you didnt forget, we live in a world of capitalism, you have to pay your bills, if you teach everyone everything you know, you decrease the value of what you know x10 for each person who knows what you know.
So yes we should teach them the basic ways to operate a computer, make the computer as easy as possible, but hide the more esoteric stuff that we the technicians, programmers, sysadmins, and other tech savvy folks make a living on.
Re:I am Elitest and Proud (Score:2)
Re:are we going to fix it? (Score:2)
Yeah fix the problem and you wont be a geek anymore.
Re:A failure on the part of the companies? (Score:2)
Re:T.V. VS Computers (Score:2, Insightful)
"Yeah, I've got a (insert favorite HW+SW flavor here) in the den that I use all the time. There's something in my living room that my mom gave me for my birthday last year - it looks kind of like a computer, but the input device is too limited. I've figured out how to turn it on, but for two months I just couldn't figure out how to get anything but this black and white static. A friend came over and hooked up something he called an "antenna" but it was way bigger than the one on my cell phone. He just sat down and was getting all sorts of different stuff by pressing the buttons. Once he was gone, I tried it, but the sound was always too loud and there was no knob to turn it down. Not that it mattered 'cause I never figured out how to make all the different shows come up. I guess you have to be an expert user to get anything other than this PBS that seems to be on. I've given up and I just download the DiVX shows I like over my DSL line and burn 'em to disc so I can watch 'em whenever I want."
I'm guessing that the poll has a 20% margin of error, and it was all the way to the stops on that question.
Re:T.V. VS Computers (Score:2, Funny)
1) Program sucks, hit Channel +/-
2) Ads louder than program, hit mute
3) Cool video, hit volume +
4) Sports commentary (esp. Monday nights), hit volume -
5) Drool puddle too large, hit OFF