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So call me crazy, but I think people these days are pretty well stupid with technology. I call it magic 8-Ball Syndrome, because they think that's how technology they use every day, in many cases for professional purposes, works. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Any other job out there, not understanding at least the very basics about your equipment, preventive maintenance, and how it does what it does, is pretty much a straight shot at getting fired. Yet with computers, it's considered, in most places, to be perfectly acceptable to not understand anything except the specific software you use. Not even basic little stuff, like "Don't open attachments from people you don't know." type stuff.
My dad has worked in IT pretty much my whole life. My wife works in IT, I do computers for fun, tons of my friends do computers. I'm a geek surrounded by geeks. But I always hear these horror stories, of people just not knowing simple things about the equipment they use to earn money.
Why is this socially acceptable? Why would people not want to understand at least a little bit about computer security and troubleshooting? It's mostly common sense and google anyways, why not know your equipment? It's just being professional.
You don't just shake it and it pops out with an answer, people. It's a part of your everyday life, your business, your livelihood. It's advancing, changing technology, and won't be going away any time soon. So WHAT THE HELL?
 
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I think the problem might be the "transition" to computers. In my eyes, in the past few years, computers have truly started taking over and are implemented in almost all jobs. However, there are also plenty of people who only sit in front of the TV. Because of this, not as many people know how to use the computers, and there are more computers than people who know how to use them. Those who know how to use them go to IT-like jobs, and some people who don't know how to use them end up having to work with computers anyways.
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Because we are in an age where computers are widespread. I don't need to understand the inner workings of a toaster, phone, or refrigerator to use them, and the same can (and should) be applied to a computer. Computers just happen to be a bit more complicated than many other things, and more fallible.
People shouldn't have to know the inner workings of a computer to use it. The fact that you do is simply because you are part of a niche community which values that knowledge, and the same things you said in your post can be applied to you in other areas.
tl;dr: computers should 'just work'.
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On June 30 2011 13:00 FragKrag wrote:
Because we are in an age where computers are widespread. I don't need to understand the inner workings of a toaster, phone, or refrigerator to use them, and the same can (and should) be applied to a computer. Computers just happen to be a bit more complicated than many other things, and more fallible.
People shouldn't have to know the inner workings of a computer to use it. The fact that you do is simply because you are part of a niche community which values that knowledge, and the same things you said in your post can be applied to you in other areas.
tl;dr: computers should 'just work'.
But people don't understand things that everyone should. Don't open screwy attachments, don't click that Facebook link, check system requirements before buying software.
By comparison, just because I can't do 100% of the work on my own truck, I still know to use gasoline rather than diesel in the tank.
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People don't need to understand how they work, because, well, they have people like us, whom they pay to do the thinking for them.
I myself am a NOC tech/data center tech/everything it related tech for a major telecom company. I'm not talking about answering the phones, for tech support. I'm in the data center working with servers and shit.
People are really retarded, it's nothing new, and I have come to expect it.
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I think your experience makes you unable to see it from their point of view. The 'screwy attachments' and facebook links are designed to trick people by people who are more skilled with computers. Average Joes aren't renaissance men!
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On June 30 2011 13:09 FragKrag wrote:
I think your experience makes you unable to see it from their point of view. The 'screwy attachments' and facebook links are designed to trick people by people who are more skilled with computers. Average Joes aren't renaissance men!
This is very true. Just because we know not to wire money to the prince of nigeria, who sent us an email, attention: <their name>, does not mean most people don't understand that.
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On June 30 2011 13:09 FragKrag wrote:
I think your experience makes you unable to see it from their point of view. The 'screwy attachments' and facebook links are designed to trick people by people who are more skilled with computers. Average Joes aren't renaissance men!
That's not about computer skill, it's about common sense. Like I said. Don't put diesel in a gasoline engine.
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Germany666 Posts
the problem is your standards.
most people are way dumber than you think.
add this to the fact that many people in their 30s/40s didnt grow up using pcs or any "complicated" electronic device and you have a recipe for disaster.
but imo this is a problem that will work itself out.
computers wont get less important in the future and since theyre getting cheaper/more accessible every year i think its just a matter of time.
and yes, nowadays this might be described as "niche knowledge" but thats also most peoples excuse not to think about things.
just because its not mainstream doesnt mean you cant use your brain and try to work stuff out.
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I know that my dad is absolute hopeless with routers, and gets viruses on his computer at least once a year because of 'screwy' attachments, yet he works at ESRI and could program circles around just about anybody here in C or C++.
Strange world.
On June 30 2011 13:13 JingleHell wrote:Show nested quote +On June 30 2011 13:09 FragKrag wrote:
I think your experience makes you unable to see it from their point of view. The 'screwy attachments' and facebook links are designed to trick people by people who are more skilled with computers. Average Joes aren't renaissance men! That's not about computer skill, it's about common sense. Like I said. Don't put diesel in a gasoline engine.
This is because you are experienced, and you are in the tech community. That gives you an instant 1up vs others. Common sense is completely relative.
On June 30 2011 13:14 paschl wrote:
the problem is your standards.
most people are way dumber than you think.
add this to the fact that many people in their 30s/40s didnt grow up using pcs or any "complicated" electronic device and you have a recipe for disaster.
but imo this is a problem that will work itself out.
computers wont get less important in the future and since theyre getting cheaper/more accessible every year i think its just a matter of time.
and yes, nowadays this might be described as "niche knowledge" but thats also most peoples excuse not to think about things.
just because its not mainstream doesnt mean you cant use your brain and try to work stuff out.
Don't agree about the dumber part, but agree with just about everything else. I think that people forget that computers and the internet are still a very new development. The fact that we grew up with the internet makes a huge difference.
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Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
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because the stigma that computers are not cool will remain until our parents die and our broods learn from us that computers are cool.
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I just don't get how people can ignore the basics of something so integral to their day to day life, and in many cases, their jobs. That kind of willful ignorance seems awfully negligent, and if you look at most other jobs, it wouldn't fly.
I'm not asking for everyone to be great with computers, I just want to know where people get off thinking that they shouldn't have to know ANYTHING about computers. There are people who will buy software for the wrong OS that their machine couldn't handle if it was running the right OS.
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An eight ball gives you pseudorandom replies to questions, so I would challenge the strength of that metaphor. Without sounding rude, there is something called an Oracle machine that fits your metaphor perfectly.
Also, going off title alone, I thought this blog was about a cocaine addiction.
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As my IT teacher said. People pay us to read the instruction manual that the customer didn't want to.
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You're just expecting too much. People are far from perfect, they get distracted, they have other stuff they are focused on and sometimes their minds just flat out don't work in a tech-friendly way.
Look at how people are with cars. Everyday thousands and thousands of people drive until they are out of gas, leave their lights on, bang into things backing up, etc. All completely their fault, all completely preventable. It just happens. You mention diesel vs gasoline... notice how the diesel is either is a separate location or a different color at most stations?
There are so, so many things going on in our lives and so many things we need to know about. From an evolutionary standpoint it is absurd. We're supposed to be out in a forest looking for berries and watching for leopards. We probably aren't supposed to live past 50. Something has to give at some point, for a lot of people it is this computer thing that they weren't introduced to until long after they were out of college, started specializing in their work and filling the rest of their lives with additional responsibilities.
Another way to think of it.. have you ever burned your toast? Or grabbed the wrong thing for a recipe at the grocery? Cut yourself while chopping vegetables? Bit your lip or cheek? Oh wow, you're a total fucking food noob! You have to eat to survive and do it every day yet you can't handle that simple shit? You'd be fired in most jobs!
Someone making a small mistake with a tool they are using doesn't mean they are dumb. Do you honestly think carpenters never hit their thumbs with hammers or split a board they were nailing? Mechanics never drop a wrench on their foot or strip a bolt? Computers are really complex tools used in complex fashions and mistakes made with them just happen to be a little more painful to solve sometimes.
Besides, IT people should be glad people screw up their computers. There would be a lot less tech jobs otherwise.
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That generation is slowly dying off. As time goes on it will become socially unacceptable to not be able to perform basic computer functions.
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Wow, I get accused of a bad analogy for commenting on the fact that people treat computers like a toy that provides random output, which they can't effect. I'd say the worse analogy would be someone comparing user error with lack of knowledge.
Hitting your thumb with a hammer is more akin to needing to hit backspace while typing. Buying software your computer can't run is like buying 1 inch nails to build a deck with 2 inch lumber.
I'm not expecting everyone to agree with me, but people could at least understand what I'm actually talking about. I'm complaining about the fact that lacking basic, common sense knowledge about the tools required in day-to-day life is socially unacceptable, except in the case of computers. It doesn't make sense, it isn't rational or logical.
Granted, I have a hunch I could have expressed it better in the OP if I'd posted the rant before taking my painkillers, but still.
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Common sense is dead. Nobody really needs common sense today, everything is spoonfed to you. Just look at all the crazy warning labels like the "May contain nuts" on a bag of peanuts.
And no it's not going to get better over the next generation, in fact it's probably going to get even worse. The number of people who watch Jersey Shore is going up in the sky, some of these people think it's cool to live in this dumb and ignorant way. They have lost their human "drive" to explore and figure out how stuff works because they just want emotional and drug induced "highs".
This sickens me to a point where i just want to shoot myself for being a part of the human race. But somehow i find comfort in the fact that there are still people out there who actually want to know how stuff works and how to improve the way we as a race live our lives.
EDIT: spelling mistakes.
EDIT 2, i wrote this too fast lol: Jersey Shore is just an example because most people can relate to it.
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My mom came up to me this morning and was like, "Get me a calendar so I can type in it."
She was fuming when I said it's not that easy unless I can find a template, and she was basically acting like an insolent child. I was trying to be calm but I also hate helping my parents with their work; can't they do it themselves? I couldn't find the template at first so I could not help her initially. It wasn't until I left and she basically claimed, 'YOU'RE USELESS' that I found what I was looking for:
Word > New > Document from Template > Calendars > 2011 Calendar
BAM, done. She could have done it herself if she tried. So I gave it to her on a USB and she said, "I want to be able to send it to other people, not print it!"
THEN EMAIL IT AS AN ATTACHMENT, YOU MORON!
My boss is like this too. He considers himself my 'client' and I am basically his own personal IT guy, assistant, and programmer. He doesn't want to work with me, he just wants results. He refuses to do anything but end-user work on any order of business. He wants me to write magical programs that reduce all his work to simple clicks and entry boxes, instead of opening things up and making changes himself. Yes, it's more convenient in the long run, but he complains about it before I can make any progress on my programming. Can't he just MAKE DUE while I'm working?
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EPT
