The Impact of Technophobes 802
fsharp writes "Most of us have experience with average folks requesting technical support. I have friends and family members that would be lost without my support. I opt for a sliding scale payment plan, usually dinner. At any rate, The New York Times has a nice piece on the impact of technophobes on the Internet (vis-a-vis MyDoom and other email-borne viruses) and their technologically adept friends and family."
It's not just the 'technophobes' . . . (Score:5, Funny)
A little knowledge... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A little knowledge... (Score:3, Interesting)
unconscious incompetence
conscious incompetence
conscious competence
unconscious competence
Learning attitude (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, Some Buzzword complient person that has no real understanding of the underlaying issues it pretty annoying. The kind of person that buys P4's to Make the Internet go faster TM Intel with his 56K dial-up.
However what tend to irritate me more is someone that has no interest in finding out what was wrong. Meaning that even if it is a absolutely simple issue that person will have no qualms asking for help with same problem a week later.
People that complains
Re:It's not just the 'technophobes' . . . (Score:3, Interesting)
Bought an HP package deal - Celeron 2.7 GHZ machine. The power kept going out on it. I called technical support - they sent me through 15 different tests and then finally agreed with me that it was the power supply. They send me a box to ship it to California to do the work. "Be sure to note what is wrong with it on the supplied sheet", they say.
I get the box, load the pc, and put "Power supply bad; please replace power supply".
4 w
Good! (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm coin operated baby!
Sometimes less valuable (Score:3, Informative)
For instance, I have several family members with computers: if I ask them if they have a firewall or have current virus definitions they look at me like whats that? and So what?
Hell most of them don't even chec
Re:Sometimes less valuable (Score:3, Insightful)
Not a personal dig, as I've done the exact same thing, I'm just highlighting a point. Most users with problems don't even have the language or knowledge to properly describe said problem.
-Ben
solution (Score:3, Funny)
Re:solution (Score:3, Funny)
So I'm standing in a checkout line, and the cashier says "Oh! You fix computers?!? Well, my computer at home is . . . " and my eyes glaze over with the self inflicted irony.
Oh well, them's the breaks (Score:5, Interesting)
The fact of the matter is, most people treat computers like a glorified appliance. A computer should more aptly be treated like a motor vehicle; yeah, you can go have some fun in it but you'd better drive defensively and know how to operate the thing properly. You don't just take it out of the box and start pressing buttons
Can we really blame the users though? After having dealt with plenty of computer illiterates in my day, I've come to realize that advertising and computer companies are at least as responsible as the users themselves. Inasmuch as they may be advertised to be so, a computer is not "plug and play". It requires maintenance and careful attention! Computer companies have put the average consumer into a "PRES BUTAN TO INTERNET!!!" mindset, and it's a bit hard to get them out of it.
Frankly, though, I can't say that it bothers me too much. Computer illiterates are my best source of favors. You need all that spyware removed and windows reinstalled? Yeah, well I need some vodka. Of course the fact that they do a nice job of filling my inbox with crap (both viruses themselves, and spam from hijacked machines) certainly gets on my nerves, but I've got my fingers crossed waiting for the next breed of mail protocol which should solve these problems altogether.
Sometimes things just work out
blaming the users? (Score:5, Insightful)
Can we really blame the users though?
Yes. Yes, we can.
I often use the analogy of the car when describing tech tasks: no one expects to buy a car and have it run forever (and remain safe) without maintenance. Most people understand the need to check tires (treadwear, air pressure), get the oil changed, etc. Draw parallels to these items for technically-challenged folks and they seem to understand. YMMV.
No one should purchase potentially problematic machines (computers, blenders, cars, etc.) without understanding in a general sense how these things work. I would like to think that would be common sense, but common sense is often neither common nor sense. Discuss.
Re:blaming the users? (Score:5, Insightful)
What stops him from dying every time he makes a left turn? Knowing, based on some combination of training, experience, and observation, that he can't do that.
Yet the same person will sit in front of a computer for hour after hour, making the same mistake over and over again, and blame (a) the computer (b) the software vendor (c) the Training Department, for "not giving him good training" (d) the "techies", for "not giving him good support" (e) the "techies", for "talking down to him" {well, they are: from the 4th time on} (f) pretty much anyone except himself.
Well, it makes him feel good (or less "uncomfortable") I guess, which is something. It doesn't help him get anything done, though, which is particularly a bit of a problem in profit-making organizations.
sPh
Re:blaming the users? (Score:5, Funny)
So, you are advocating making screwing up on a computer lethal?
Okey, I'm for that. It doesn't seem like such a bad idea.
Re:blaming the users? (Score:3, Funny)
Puts a whole new light on this Blue Screen of Death business, doesn't it
Re:blaming the users? (Score:4, Funny)
We were talking about that at work. First you need a copper or aluminum mouse and keyboard...
Re:blaming the users? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:blaming the users? (Score:3)
Not the best comparison... (Score:4, Insightful)
Car makers have done a WAY better job in usability and reliability than PC/software makers. Even east-European and South Korean cars made today are better than almost all PCs on the market today. I've heard the argument that people ought to have computer operators licenses--after all, we all learn the rules of the road and obey them to avoid fatal accidents...well, MOST of the time...But ponder what it would be like if Microsoft and Intel made cars and see how many people would die on the highways:
1. You'd have to take your car in for monthly service to remove tar-like deposits from your engine and have the ignition control system 'defragmented'.
2. The location of the gas, brake and clutch would change with each new model year, and each model would be different as well. Also, the steering wheel would be a different size or shape and the gears on the gearshift would chage orders.
3. The leading carmaker would make their new cars use a different fuel, and using the wrong fuel in the wrong car would make the engine catch fire. The new fuel is meant to "increase performance and relibility" of their new models but conveniently destroys competitors models and their own older models.
4. You will be forced to buy a brand new car after 5 years because they stop making parts for it, and use legal tactics to keep anyone else from using their precious obsolete IP to make replicas.
5. Cars spontaneously crash much less than they did a few years ago, but they still often stall on the side of the road for no apparent reason, you cant turn on the headlights while using cruise control and it's common knowledge that when the turn signals stop working, you must fully shut of the car and all occupants must exit and shut the doors behind them, wait 30 seconds then get back in and re-start the car. These problems have existed for 20 years but are of such low priority that they linger on.
6. Every car is required by the manufacturer to be equipped with OnStar-style tracking system "for safety reasons". It's handy when your call stalls so frequently and it costs nothing extra. However, the OnStar system is polluted with marketers broadcasting spam to all the cars, which make your radio tune to stations you don't like and interfere with vital engine systems, reducing your top speed to 50 km/h and increasing gas consumption 400%. Time to "get the engine defragged" again...
glorified appliance (Score:3, Insightful)
If there is email in her box it should be:
1)her email
2)the system should be smart (or dumb) enough not to provide her with something that is going to infect itself.
Expand these 2 rules to any other application that her appliance should do.
Re:glorified appliance (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, nobody's forcing anything. Too bad that, for one of the two genders on Earth, having the biggest, fastest, most powerful of anything is a means of establishing alpha status. This goes for computers as well as cars, televisions, houses, and so on.
Imagine the following conversation around the water cooler: "I went out and bought a 3 GHz Pentium 4 with a 100 gig hard drive and the latest video card, and then I got a
Re:Oh well, them's the breaks (Score:5, Insightful)
Right! This is exactly the analogy I had in mind. The difference is there's very little people can do to be malicious to a car in the same way as a virus wreaks havoc on your PC, short of letting the air out of the tires or other foolish stunts. Perhaps a better comparison would be if someone went around randomly dumping sugar in the gas tank of anyone whose car didn't have a security system installed.
From the article...
"Go out, get a book," suggests Zack Rubenstein, 28, who has for years provided free technical support for his extended social network. "You went to college and you got a degree, you obviously can learn something. Play around with it; it's not going to kill you."
Hmm...I wonder if he tinkers with his car? Me, I know the basics of how a car engine works, and sure, I understand electronics and wiring and so forth. But I have no clue what goes on in today's modern multi-processor-controlled engine -- it might as well be a black box to me. Actually, it is -- my car is a tool, a device to get me from point A to point B in reasonable comfort.
But I happen to know that there are certain rules of the road to be obeyed, and, if those are not obeyed, then the consequences could be rather painful and/or expensive. What are those rules? Why, I had a nice little booklet that laid the fundamentals out. Had to prove I understood it, too, by taking a test. Oh, and I also had to be passed by an examiner who observed me driving for half an hour before I was allowed on the roads by myself.
And I also know that, on a regular basis, that car needs certain maintenance -- oil changes, fan belt replacements, that sort of thing. If I can't or don't want to do it myself, I have to take it to someone and pay them to do it. Fine by me -- I can earn more by working for half an hour than it costs me to pay someone to have the oil changed, and I'd just as soon not get my hands dirty.
Make sense? After all, isn't a modern PC, with all the complexities of a modern OS and a modern suite of applications, just as internally nebulous to the casual user as is a car? The difference is we pay heaps for cars and are told repeatedly we have to take care of them on a regular basis or that money will be wasted. Oh, and we're carefully checked for basic skills and knowledge before being turned loose in a car.
Computers, though -- they're sold at a (relatively) cheap price and the vendors never advertise that, hey, guess what, you actually need to take care of the thing. (And geeks like Zack Rubenstein perpetuate the myth that anyone can fix a PC with little effort. Come on, a show of hands of all those whose learning-by-experience includes a few good late night sessions of try to fix, break, try to fix again, break even worse, before you finally figure it out. I sure wouldn't risk doing that with a car.)
Re:Oh well, them's the breaks (Score:3, Insightful)
God, I see this argument everywhere, and it enrages me to no end. Know what goes on in today's chip controlled engine? The same things that used to go on with ANALOG controls in older engines. Monitoring and control of the mixture of gasoline. Monitoring of heat and vibration. You know, stuff that people used to screw up all the time, stuff that would screw up on its own and the car would need to get tuned up -- carbur
Computers SHOULD be glorified appliances (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem is that computers are designed by geeks for geeks. They need to be designed by skilled industrial designers for complete morons.
And for us gearheads there should be the option to buy complex and tempramental computers/OSes, just like people can still buy cars with manual transmissions.
The age of "you must be a computer nerd" are over and it's time that software designers recognized that fact.
Computers SHOULD NOT be glorified appliances (Score:3, Insightful)
No, because then it's no longer a computer, it's a glorified appliance.
Then maybe they shouldn't use a computer.
Considering that no one has ever been "taught" but humans inherently have to put effort into learning, then, ye
Re:Oh well, them's the breaks (Score:3, Insightful)
People tend to react emotionally to things they don't understand. If you understand why foo is happening, you'll feel equanimous about it. If you don't, you'll fret.
When people ask. (Score:5, Funny)
When people ask me what I do know. I am a janitor. If they push, I am a high tech janitor.
The moment a prase like "I work computers" comes out of your mouth. Or "I work on Cisco stuff" you get a nice carpet bombing of questions and requests for help.
Just lie, it is not worth the fight. Fun/Pain ratio is way out of wack on this one.
Re:When people ask. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:When people ask. (Score:4, Funny)
Occasionally though, I get "Hey, you know something, I have this sick tree in my yard..."
Um... hullo? Profit? (Score:5, Funny)
Here's a thought: consider the possibility of spending $30 on business cards. When this feared carpet bombing of questions comes, hand out business cards & tell them to call you during office hours. If/when the phone rings, start the "billable hours" clock and get a lease on a Porsche.
At least, that's the way it worked when *I* was getting started.... What? It's not the mid-90's?? Oh, never mind... maybe you really should be a janitor; you'll have better job security.
--Mid
my parents (Score:5, Funny)
----------
Battlewang [battlewang.com] Where the large win big
Re:my parents (Score:5, Funny)
The girlfriend thinks computers are like her? (Score:5, Informative)
Miriam Tauber, 24, makes no apologies for her lack of computer knowledge. To her, computers are like "moody people" who behave illogically.
Uh oh. Computers, by definition, are cold and logical. They don't have personalities. They don't have moods.
If users think computers do have mood swings just like the typical female human, we've got serious user education problems. They clearly don't know the basics of what a computer does, and that makes it much harder to explain how to properly operate a computer.
Re:The girlfriend thinks computers are like her? (Score:3, Insightful)
One of my computers at home has Windows XP Pro. It works beautifully on some nights and awful on others. Sometimes it boots to BSOD. Other times it runs like a Cray.
I can understand why she thinks that. It's not user education. It's the fact that computers don't always run well. I'm glad they don't - I make tons of money off the fact that I know how to fix most of their problems and they don't.
Re:The girlfriend thinks computers are like her? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The girlfriend thinks computers are like her? (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally, I've found this "I'm ignorant and proud of it!" attitude to be a fairly common reaction to being unable to get one's head around something new. Of course, it's a lot more pathetic when it's a 24 year old (what 24 year old can't use a computer, fer chrissake?!?)
At one point, I sort of assumed that anybody could sit down and figure out a computer if they got past the intimidation factor and just took time to understand the basic paradigm by which things happen. I don't think that anymore -- instead, I've glommed onto the more cynical viewpoint that many people reach a certain age beyond which they're just basically incapable of picking up new things.
IMO, it's not *just* an age thing (look at Ms. Tauber). If you stall out learning new things for a couple of years, you lose the knack. That's why my 84 year-old grandfather can use the 'net for email, news and horse races (the guy knows more about streaming video than I do) but my various aunts and uncles can't get their heads around finding the Caps Lock key.
Anyhow, this started worrying me when I got out of college. That's why I feel it's important to read nonfiction or learn new skills (cooking, carpentry, Tae Kwon Do, whatever) and aggressively seek out new things to know.
Use it or lose it.
Not too bad... (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course, you're better off simply throwing them at something other than the Internet...
remember (Score:3, Insightful)
It is our jobs to make it easy to use. Be it as a programmer, a sysadm, or a help desk person. The end goal is to get the end user to use the product.
Re:remember (Score:3, Interesting)
Example: I'm a computer graphics professional working for a university's web department. Every so often, an administrative assistant who has been tasked with "updating the department web site" will call me up and ask me how to do something, like put an image on the site.
"Okay,"
It's been misrepresented. (Score:3, Insightful)
I think that both ends are going to have to be moved. People will have to learn a few things about How Stuff Works, and computers will continue to get better at taking care of things when they
Gah, yes, family... (Score:5, Interesting)
"So, Dad, what did Dell say when you called them? "
"I didn't call em yet"
"Okay, well, ya know we paid for that with the computer. Let's get our money's worth..."
Seems to be the best deal going for me.
Re:Gah, yes, family... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm less patient with my compemporaries, I make them pay.
Technophobe vs. Technolazy (Score:5, Interesting)
None of this matters to the Technolazy, who stomp their feet when the "computer doesn't want to print" or when it goes "beep beep" and totally eats their very good paper. Technolazies also refuse to admit that paying for real hardware, quality software, and educated tech support is necessary - they all know someone who "kows computers". Resoning typically doesn't work, since "they heard" something from someone, and so therefore they know more than you about T1 lines, printer drivers, SCSI drives or database software.
Re:Technophobe vs. Technolazy (Score:3, Informative)
Consider the printer issue. In the Microsoft world, the Printer is controlled by the printer companies. The printer companies, in an effort to get rich in a low margin market segment, generate TERRIBLE software that is different for each manufacturer and uses completely different terminology. We, the geeks, are used to solving the puzzle of "what does this user interface do." Somebody who is scared that they might break a $200 printer
quote (Score:5, Insightful)
that particular sentence is particularly annoying. if you go to china, YOU learn chinese or hire a translator. otherwise you don't go to china.
if she want to use a computer, she will have to learn how to deal with them. i work for an isp, when i receive a virus infected email, i cut off their internet access plain and simple. they can call back to have it reactivated after they get someone competent to disinfect it.
Re:quote (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't see how Ms. Tauber could make that statement, that computers behave illogically without seeing the irony and stupidity of the statement. Perhaps she does realize that they are extremely logical and precise, and even when it appears that they are behaving illogically, it's the users lack of knowledge that is concealing the highly logical reason for whatever behavior she is seeing.
Of course, just the idea that anyone would treat a computer like a person has a problem.
I think it all comes down to "people persons" and "thing persons". We are all "thing persons" of course, we work well with things and take the time to learn the minutae necessary to understand them. Ms. Tauber and others like her can only relate well with people but cannot bring themselves to care enough about "things" to learn them properly.
Re:quote (Score:5, Funny)
Re:quote (Score:5, Funny)
You are obviously not an American. WE go to China and expect everyone to speak English!
Re:quote (Score:3, Insightful)
Every profession has specific technical terms. Someone who is not a professional won't know all of the terms and all of the conventions that a professional does. Do doctors use every medical term when describing a problem? No, they use a few and try to explain so the patient can understand. Do mechanics use every mechanical term when describing a problem? No, they give you a summary of the problem and the various solutions.
Any good computer professional should not use ev
tech support burnout rate (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:tech support burnout rate (Score:3, Insightful)
technophobes is a misnomer... (Score:5, Funny)
A Simple Agreement (Score:4, Funny)
The thing I hate most... (Score:5, Interesting)
is that even though I barely know enough to get by a lot of the time, and really all I do is make webpages which of course anyone HERE would know doesn't have anything to do with actually operating a computer, anyone who doesn't understand the technology or can't find the power button assumes I'm some kind of 7337 hacker than can solve all their problems or tell what brand of computer they have when they say "it's one of the beige ones with a CD-ROM."
And I can't help them, I couldn't if I wanted to, and so I end up looking like a jerk to my family because I "won't" help them fix their computer and they think I'm lying about it just because I spend half my time on the internet writing plain old HTML. Now that's annoying.
Re:The thing I hate most... (Score:5, Funny)
teet hacker? that sounds painful!
Is E-mail the weakest link in the chain? (Score:3, Interesting)
The common bond? What you see in e-mail, particularly an e-mail from somebody you've never heard of before, cannot be taken at face value. Just because it's in an e-mail doesn't make it true.
Maybe the safest thing to do would be to set up clueless users with a whitelist-based e-mail client... if a sender is not already in the address book the message won't be displayed, with maybe a "Knock-knock, do you know this person?" box for unrecognized senders. That'd at least cut down on the number of scams...
My plan (Score:5, Funny)
Thats very modest of you. I also know a family that I'm usually generous with. I opt for dinner when I tell them to flick the power switch to ON.
The other rates are:
Dinner + Lunch: When I tell them its a blackout and you cannot switch it ON yet
Ride to Work for a week: When I have to tell them that their Admin password is blank
Pay monthly rent: When I have to tell them that the CD drive is not for hot coffee cup holder
Adopt me: When I have to tell them that 'Any' key really means what it means
I am working on getting into the Will soon!
Something to realise (Score:3, Insightful)
At some point in time, software developers are going to have to come to grips with the fact that their target market isn't going to smarten up, and start building dumber and dumber applications.
The solution to email-bourne viruses isn't to tell people "don't click on attachments." If we want to prevent this, we need to change email programs so that attachments can't do what they are capable of currently. It isn't going to work any other way.
Re:Something to realise (Score:3, Interesting)
I think you're completely wrong. Either you don't hang around little children, or the ones you hang around with are stunted somehow...
I've seen an 18 month old sit on her mother's lap and play Flash games. She can't read, but she knows how to navigate a hierarchical menu going only off the color and shape coding.
This same child just turned thr
Techno Phobes Rule! (Score:5, Funny)
Why isn't this enforced in software? (Score:3, Insightful)
The virus spreads when Internet users ignore a basic rule of Internet life: never click on an unknown e-mail attachment. Once someone does, MyDoom begins to send itself to the
names in that person's e-mail address book.
Ah, a "basic rule of the Internet"... never open unknown email attachments. So why do we rely on the user to understand this rule? Why don't the common beginning-level email programs (read: Outlook) make it very difficult (impossible?) for beginners to open potentially-dangerous attachments from email addresses that aren't in the address book? Seems like there is too much blaming the victim going on here, and not enough protecting them.
Jaded (Score:5, Insightful)
Look here's the deal. I'm willing to do work for you, many hours of work in some cases. I'll fix what geeksquad, compusa, or whatever other halfass outfit has fucked up for free. But I expect you to sit down with me and learn how to prevent what got hosed. I don't mind teaching, I've mentored a lot of techs over the years, but I do mind if people dont implement what I teach them.
It's a little like having someone's engine freeze because they ran out of oil. You explain to them that they need to get an oil change, you tell them the enormous number of hours involved, and you repair their engine for them. They thank you and you forget about it, until a year later their now rebuilt engine once more seizes because it ran out of oil. There are only so many times you will fix it before telling them to take care of it on their own.
The issue is not the doing, the issue is the redoing when someone now knows better. I think the solution may be a really basic newbie web page somewhere that teaches people very basic lessons. It has to be made so as not to be patronizing, or people will dismiss it and ignore.
If it covered just these 5 things the Internet would be a much better place.
Dont open attachments from anybody that hasn't verbally told you they one.
Get a popup blocker and do not accept any "offer" that you didn't go looking for.
Antivirus software, use it, update it, and run it at least once a week - all of which can be automated.
Get Ad-Aware and use it. Treat it just like you do your antivirus.
Patch your computer! Go to the appropriate OS update site and use it.
People need to take some responsibility for their own computers. As tempting as the idea for a license is, it would become to easy to politicize. Perhaps we should start holding inviduals financially responsible when their system gets hijacked and inflicts damage on other systems?
How incredible arrogant of us! (Score:5, Insightful)
I've been a computer professional for over 25 years now. I'm still aghast at system administrators who take servers down on the last day of the month for maintenance, with total disregard of the fact that the company's biggest transaction volume occurs that day. Or help desk people who answer the phone in an impatient tone of voice, as if it's a major annoyance that someone is disturbing them.
Computing SHOULD be an appliance, it SHOULD be invisible. Sure, it was cool in the early days of the Internet to be among the priesthood and the elite, but that's not where it's at today. The clueless are not at fault here; it's we geeks who are at fault for designing systems for ourselves, instead of for everyone.
To answer another poster's assertion that the Internet is like a car, you can't just drive, you have to have some knowledge, I'd say this: sure, you have to know how to USE the car. But you shouldn't have to be expected to understand its architecture and occasionally pull the carburetor as well.
Re:How incredible arrogant of us! (Score:3, Insightful)
Sure, you aren't required to fix your own car, but you are required to keep it in safe operating condition.
You are legally required to have it professionally inspected, and to fix any dangerous things that may b
It's not the phobics, but the willfully ignorant (Score:5, Interesting)
I find that there's almost a kind of class attitude about this -- people who practice willful ignorance also think this somehow makes them more upper class or something because they're not having to sully their hands learning some technical skill. Sadly I also see a gender bias, with a lot of women taking that tact.
I actually had a huge fight with my wife about this one time. She is a marketing exec who was going on a long business trip to California. Prior to leaving, she asked their office's IT guy (small office, only one full-time admin/helpdesk guy) to configure her laptop for remote access. The night before she left, she pulled out her laptop and was *furious* that it didn't work and that it was jeopardizing other business she needed to keep up with while away. I asked her if she made any attempt to work with the IT guy, and she said no, she was too busy. I told her that it must not have been important to use remote access then, if she wasn't willing to spend 5 minutes running through it with the IT guy.
It's either important or its not, and bitching at the IT guy because you weren't willing to put ANY effort into it is total bullshit. The tools are valuable, but like it or not they are somewhat complicated and unless you work with them all the time, you need to put a small amount of effort into them to make them work for you.
And at that point her frustration with her deadlines and travel and my frustration from working with self-important marketing people dovetailed really nicely and we had a huge fight.
Re:It's not the phobics, but the willfully ignoran (Score:3, Funny)
She wanted sympathy, not a solution (Score:3, Funny)
"Man that sucks. That could ruin your whole trip and cost the company money"
"He really fouled that up".
"Typical. Those guys are idiots"
"What a jerk. He should have been more responsive"
Extra points for pretending to be sincere while you are saying it. They like that.
Free answers are worthless (Score:3, Interesting)
FINLAND HAS DRIVER'S LICENSE FOR COMPUTER USERS (Score:5, Interesting)
You can get some more information here [tieke.fi]
creative cluelessness (Score:3, Funny)
Neighbor wants to know if he needs a firewall? I say "oh yes, they're very good. You should buy a cisco PIX".
Advice on a printer? "I don't really trust those inkjet printers. See if you can find a good Centronics dot-matrix printer. Of course, you'll want to write your own driver software, and..."
By then, their eyes usually glaze over and I can safely wander away.
it's all about convinience (Score:3, Insightful)
easy business opportunity (Score:3, Insightful)
So I have some consultants in my address book who I refer to those in need. It's like having a plumber to call, except plumbers cost twice as much, and there's that buttcrack to contend with. The pressure is off me, my friends don't feel guilty about calling, they actually take the advice seriously (and avoid paying for repeat calls), and the geeks for hire make money off people with more money than sense. I don't know why it took me so long to start doing it. I guess some kind of ego trip. I definitely look a lot better to my friends by sending them the right help than I did scratching my head and cursing over bad cables on cheap hard drive installs. And the geeks all owe me, when I need something special myself.
The problem isn't always the users (Score:5, Insightful)
I've also been the victim of the "you know computers, can you help me" club. I now limit that interaction to close friends and some family (who fortunately are all at least 500 miles away). For everyone else, my answer is this: My time is valuable. If you want me to fix your computer, I charge $70/hr, minimum of 30 minutes. I reached the point where I was getting tired of being taken advantage of.
That being said, I see two larger issues in all this techno illiterate world. The first is obvious to anyone who knows about Windows vs. Linux. Simply put, you can't secure a system that is inherently insecure. Windows users run as "root". Period. Apps that run on it have free reign. App design deficiencies are a real close second though. MyDoom doesn't affect systems that don't use Outlook. Lotus Notes and Eudora spring to mind. My wife was unaffected my MyDoom. Monoculture is not good, kids.
I can't really blame the users fully. They don't know any better and I think it is arrogant of the technoelite (of which I consider myself a member) to expect the rest of the world to bow down to our ideals and expectations of what someone has to know to use a computer.
Which brings me to my second point. The problem isn't the users, it's the computers themselves. Specifically, their interfaces. We've had GUI interfaces for almost 20 years now and frankly, we are still no further ahead in usability. GUI's were supposed to make things easier. All they've done is increase confusion and create new and wonderful ways to breed complexity.
You'd figure after 20 years that we would be coming up with ways of making computers know a little more about how to get things done. I'm not talking Utopian dreams of voice or 3D interfaces, but the building of knowledge into the system. I'm sorry, kids, listening to a CD, ripping some music, sending e-mail or watching a video clip on a computer should not be a chore! People do not care whether a document is .doc, pdf, .txt or .sxw, a video clip is an MPG, RM or an AVI. They get angry when it doesn't work when they just want it to. If the plug-in or player isn't present, give the computer the knowledge to know where to go get it, download it , guide the user through installation and then do the original task. Some programs do better than other at this but it is still often obtuse and fraugth with peril.
We should be listening to these users. Ask them: "How do you think this task should be done?". Have them explain it in terms they know. Get from them the picture in their head of how they think it should be done. It is the hardest thing to do in the world because what they think they want vs. want they really want are often two very different things.
As a result, the following maxim can apply:
The complexity of an application or task is inversely proportional to how simple the user thinks it is. - Matt Pickering
Translated: The easier someone thinks it is to do on a computer, the harder it will be for the developer to write. Conversely, the harder or complicated the user thinks the task is, the easier it usually is to write. I have observed this phenomena over the years and the maxim holds true. The more complicated someone thinks something is to do often I find to be straightforward. Then they come up with things that seem simple to them and they turn out to be devilishly difficult to produce (if not impossible).
Instead of us continuing to create more complex, feature-rich and elaborate applications and environments, we should be embracing these users (people like my parents who are computer clueless) and ask them how we should be
This article is bang-on (Score:3, Informative)
Tech-illiterate are not my problem! (Score:4, Interesting)
I added a graphics card, DVD, CDRW and mucho software. I dropped it off at his place, gave him a very brief intro (showed him how to start the games) and said call me when you get the internet set-up. When he got the local ISP hardware, I went over, set the PC up, showed him and his equally illiterate wife how to send/receive e-mail and surf safely. I returned home happy with having introduced the family to the wonders of the net.
Not TWO days past before I get a call from my Bro, which I expected because he's techno-illiterate. He asked me where I had put the OS install CD. I was stunned.
It turned out that at work he was discussing with his work buddies (all labourers/plumbers/welders/etc) his computer learning, adventures and problems from the night before. Them being the computing know-it-alls they are, decided that they could 'fix' his problems. Well, with the days work being cancelled due to weather (it was -40 with the wind chill) they headed over to my bro's place for the big fixing session. By the time my brother called me the PC would no longer boot.
Making a long, painful story short, I had to re-install everything (can you believe they actually screwed with the BIOS?). It wasn't the tech-illiterate that was the problem. It was the tech-know-it-all. The people who are most dangerous are those that think they can fix anything with no experience, books, knowledge or common sense.
The car metaphor worked well here too. I told them that the computer may have had a broken tail light or maybe had the equivalent of a weak alternator but that was no reason to replace the entire power train.
I made my brother swear not to let anyone else near his PC. If he did - then he forfeit my gratious tech-support services.
The details of the 'reasoning' on the 'fixing' still keep me awake at night though....
Glad I'm not the only one (Score:3, Funny)
Tech Support Mother Exchange (Score:4, Funny)
So I propose the Tech Support Mother Exchange. You answer my mom's tech questions, I'll answer yours. We'll both get fewer 3 am panic phone calls because our moms will have *gasp* listened the first time.
Re:My solution:My solution: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:My solution:My solution: (Score:3, Insightful)
It's not just about Viruses (Score:5, Informative)
If you actually read the post you'd see that:
- viruses are the not the main reason that the poster only supports Macs
- Windoze PCs are not the only systems he complains about and won't support (he mentioned IRIX for pete's sake!)
The point of the post is that you don't have to dink around for hours to get a Mac to work. Stuff really does just work when you plug it in.Nope. There are zero known viruses for Mac OS X, none, nada, zippity-do-da. There are about 60 viruses for OS 9, as well as a few that macro viruses that infect MS Office (which runs on both Windows and Mac)
Re:It's not just about Viruses (Score:3, Interesting)
The only reason this would be true is if your Mac world never interacted with the the rest of the world. The moment you try to interact, the hours start zooming by.
My girlfriend moved in last year. She's a Mac person. First she wanted to use my wireless network. It wasn't too bad, but most of ther WEP terminoligy was different so it took a little time. Then she wanted to use my networked printer. HHOOUURRSS la
Re:It's not just about Viruses (Score:3, Interesting)
My primary desktop at home is a circa 1995 Powermac 7600 running OS X. There is an open source driver that lets you run OSX on older macs. Performance is just fine, in fact a Linux/Windoze buddy was quite impressed with the speed. I have upgraded my mac in
Re:My solution:My solution: (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:My solution:My solution: (Score:3, Informative)
Now that right there is not really a smart sentance. you started out ok. but the last half just is non-sense. You are telling me that Apple has no inentions of becoming the number 1 computer company in the world? i would beg to differ as an ex apple employee we had all kinds of webinars (not realy that word but i just learned that in the poll forum so i will use it cause it is fun) talking about and introducing plans to become the number 1 comp
Re:My solution:My solution: (Score:4, Interesting)
Exactly, just as Subaru has no intention of becoming the number 1 car maker in the world. You can either try to mass-market your product with low profit margin (and it's very difficult to attain profitability with this kind of strategy on the tight PC market) or try to run a kind of computer boutique - sell in relatively low volume, but with very high profit margin. Since return of Steve Jobs, Apple obviously embraced the latter strategy (that's why there are no clones and there are interesting experiments with "luxury" computers, like the G4 Cube, the 20" iMac or the Big Al powerbook).
Uhh... (Score:3, Insightful)
Umm... that won't do you a lot of good if the e-mail really did come from a trusted friend who was likewise duped into clicking the shiny, red, candy-like attachment.
I have 3 words for you: local root exploit. [google.com] Just about every UNI
Re:My solution:My solution: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:My solution:My solution: (Score:4, Funny)
Also, my only solution to the "family tech support" problem has been to either ignore the question (if it was via email or voice mail this is easy to do) or act surly when I answer it. Eventually, the family decides it's easier to just try and figure out the problem themselves, or ask someone else, then it is to deal with the hassle of having me fix it.
If your family wants you to be tech support, be BAD tech support, and eventually they'll stop asking.
Re:My solution:My solution: (Score:4, Insightful)
Interestingly, this entire discussion stems from the limitations of semi-literate (read: average computer users) that many of us forget about when we discuss the latest trends and technologies. My concern is that the gap between the computer literate and the semi-literate could possibly be greater now than it was in the mid 1980s, when computers were quirky and used mostly by hobbyists and very specific business-related activities, and few people owned them for home use in the public at large.
The frustration seems to stem from not just the myriad of viruses, but also the necessity of weekly anti-virus updates, spyware, and the absolutely requirement for some type of firwall on Windows-based computers. I dare say that the level of technical knowledge to maintain a computer today is higher than it was twenty years ago. People seem to gloss over ideas like this but having been involved with computers for more than twenty years, I think it's important to reflect on this once and a while. Regards, Goalive - who was given 'bad karma' on Slashdot because not everyone shares his sense of humor :-/
In other words ... (Score:5, Insightful)
In other words, to paraphrase "I am no longer competent to administer or help out with anything more complicated than a toaster, as I haven't worked in the field in years. But rather than admit my own shortcomings, I'm going to blame my atrophied skillset and laziness on you and make you feel guilty for having chosen to run an operating system I am no longer familiar with. Furthermore, I'm going to take that guilt and leverage it into evangelizing the One and Only Computer System(tm) according to My Doctrine(tm): Apple."
Which would be fine, except for the blaming others, guilt trips, and blind evangelism.
I too encourage anyone and everyone who will listen to use something (anything!) other than Microsoft products, and actively encourage people to switch to FreeBSD, Linux, or Apple, but I do not refuse to help friends and family out when they're in a bind, regardless of what they use, and I certainly don't mask my own incompetence in blind evangelism, and make them feel somehow inadequate for my own failings.
Re:In other words ... (Score:3, Informative)
You obviously did not do very well on reading comprehension exams, did you?
So you have chosen ignorance (Score:3, Insightful)
Try convincing the rest of the world. You'll find that when you tell the next PC user that you only support Mac is that he won't "get it". That is because you won't take the time to go a little bit onto the PC side of the world, and help him through his problem. If you help him through his problem, he might actually gain your trust and consider your advise on Macs. Empathize with him. Don't put him off, or you'll come off as ignorant, and your words will
Re:My solution:My solution: (Score:3, Funny)
HERE IS THE NO-REG LINK (Score:5, Informative)
Re:payment (Score:3, Funny)
"It's on your desktop" (Score:3, Funny)
Re:anyone else? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Just how different is this from... (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't get me wrong, I sympathize with the doctors and lawyers, but if I got the same types of questions about computers they get about ilnesses and legal advice I'd be much less prone to complaining about it.
I really don't mind answering which motherboa
Re:he should take his own advice... (Score:3)
Driver: My car goes "ching ching ching" and then stalls.
Tech: Let's open up the hood and see what's wrong. Hmmm, funny smell. [checks engine oil] Hey! This isn't engine oil! What did you use?
Driver: I put in four quarts of oil, just like everyone says you're supposed to.
Tech: But this is cooking oil!
Driver: So, oil is oil.
Tech: And what are all these magnets d
Re:trained incapacities (Score:4, Insightful)
It's pretty much our own fault, though. Back in the old days, we'd show off our efforts in an attempt to hook new people into the hobby. Our attempts at "helping them understand how simple it is" typically came off as being "way over my head", and the precedent was born.
Apple then capitalized on it, with their "Computers for the rest of us" campaign. Think about that... what moron would buy such a machine based on that slogan? Why, a person who considers themself a moron, of course! The merits of the Mac were irrelevent, the selling point was purely based on a stupid person being able to use it, and buying into that pitch means you forego any hope of comprehension.
Combine that with an "immediate gratification" mentality, and you've got today's society. Don't know, don't care, don't need to. Just give it to me.
Sadly, we're suffering from it the hardest in the fire service. I'm one of six "new guys" that have joined our (medium sized) department in the *past decade*. I'm told there used to be a waiting list of several years to get in, now we get about... oh, three recruits per year. Maybe one per year will actually stick, every other year. Of the six of us "new guys", I'm the only one who's ever used a chainsaw, or an axe... never mind a K12 saw or something hydraulic. I must confess, helping to teach some of them how to correctly use a chainsaw was (so far) one of the scariest points in my career.
But I still ask various people to join, and they always say "No." The typical reasons? "I don't know how", "It's too hard", "It's way over my head." I explain that it's about as blue-collar as you can get, which makes it fun! Besides, we've got tons of training available from ourselves, the county, the state, whatever. All of this goes to no avail. They continue to make excuses, and intend to remain incompetent.
Why? Well, we should start by blaming ourselves. We tried to show them how cool things were, without them having enough foundation to understand it. We alienated them in the process.
Then we can also blame the market. It's in the market's best interest to enslave the consumers, to convince them that they're helpless, and that only that market can provide for their needs. "Computers for the rest of us." Thanks a lot, guys.