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The Widening Tech-Savvy Gap
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 the gap was narrowing thanks to the Dummies series.
"Why, for example, would midwesterners grasp technology so much better than northeasterners?"
We drink less coffee and more beer. It allows for paitence
http://www.kubuntu.org/
You have just received the Amish Virus!
Since we do not have electricity or computers,
you are on the HONOR SYSTEM!
Please delete ALL of your files....
Thank Thee.
Alan Thicke's Journal
My Slashdot ads say "
... you mean 90% of people aren't actually the above average drivers they think they are?!
Nah duct tape and WD40 are all you need, duct tape to make things stop, WD40 to make 'em go.
I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
The depth of knowledge needed for a TV:
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
I forget...are we at war with Eurasia or East Asia?
I like to call that gap JOB SECURITY.
Now, please leave it alone.
Check out this song: "Every OS Sucks" by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie
It's probably more insightful than whatever drivel Katz is spewing today.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
The midwesterners (of which I am one, so I can say this) say they are the most confident with their computers.
Of course, as anybody knows, you are better at EVERYTHING while drinking, including being quiet, driving and hitting on women.
"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. "
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.
- WeaselGod
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet turbines
Also, I think that we should have people of average or below average intelligence build our software everywhere , and not just at M@crosoft. That would show those elitist guys!!! They have a lot of nerve, studying and working hard and stuff. They are very bad.
Also, we should remove cpus from computers, so they can be easy to use like televisions.
Well, I suppose it was inevitable that Katz and I would eventually go toe-to-toe.
First of all, Jon, you need to learn how to use commas properly. Reading this essay was like trying to drive behind a garbage truck. Perhaps you should paste a warning in your title: "Caution, this essay makes frequent stops."
By way of example, please have a look at the sentence, "We are still, at heart, a fix-it country, given the chance, something much of the tech world seems to have forgotten." I simply can't believe that anyone passing himself off as a writer would construct such a monstrosity. Even a grade-schooler could do a better job. This is merely one example of your comma-related problems, Jon. There are far too many similar examples; to call out each one in detail would take ages.
Apparently you also have severe problems understanding how to use punctuation within a parenthetical comment. I am referring to the sentence that begins "(And no wonder. Tech support is synonymous with anxiety and indifference)." Here you have not one, but two complete sentences, inexplicably wrapped in parentheses. I have no idea what your motivation was. In any case, when you have a complete sentence in parentheses, the punctuation goes inside the final paren.
Jon, I hate to break the news to you, but stopped reading after encountering this error. I simply can't abide a poseur such as yourself, who can't even avoid simple grammatical errors. If you want people to take your writing endeavors seriously, I heartily recommend that you take a course in remedial grammar, before posting another story to Slashdot.
Some people don't WANT to deal with technology on any level no matter how flawless or "easy" you make it.
Pride overcame Paul's fear. "You dare suggest a duke's son is an animal?" he demanded.
"Let us say I suggest you may be human," she said.
mods metamodded as "Unfair"
Ah, but, when setting up the experiment, how do you decide who is bright and who is "not so bright"?
The same way subjective experimenters have always done it:
"If they think/act/behave like I do, then they're at least as intelligent as I am. Otherwise they're idiots."
Just like it works here on slashdot.