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Public Confused by Tech Lingo
the_helper_monkey writes "The BBC has an article about how tech jargon confuses the public. It's based on a survey done by AMD asking the definitions of words such as megahertz, MP3, and Bluetooth. " I was recently reminded of how big a deal this is while trying to help my tech novice brother select a computer. If you don't know what a gigabyte is, it's hard to know how large of a hard drive you need.
I pointed out on the .NET thread that our company, prior to my arrivial here, paid waaay too much for a website recently because of a misunderstanding in terminology.
One of the owners wanted the website to have a domain name that ended in ".net" because he felt that ".com" was associated with the US, and he didn't want to be associated with them (this company is an offshore company).
That in itself is kind of funny, but then when the company he hired to do the programming was asking him what type of server he wanted it on and what language. He had no clue, but told them that he wanted the ".net" on it.
They thought he wanted ".NET" and started it up.
At some point the misunderstanding was seen on their side, but they just ran with it, seeing that he was pretty clueless and then overbilled us.
Fantastic.
He isn't totally clueless, he does know a tiny little bit - but that makes it worse.
He just throws around buzzwords and it is a bit embarrassing/hilarious.
His current thing is that he wants a PDA that plays MP3s, and that has a phone jack directly into it that will let him dial-up and check his e-mail, but also record conversations, but it can't be a Handspring product "because those are crap, and did you see that Palm is buying them out" as he told me.
He was asking me the other day which he should try to get, "64K or 128K" in his MP3 player. I acted like he wrote "M" for megs and left it at that.
He makes my days much longer than they need to be - otherwise, I would be doing more programming and less trying to get crap done for him.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
"Only slightly more than half correctly identified the definition of megahertz - a measurement of how many times a part of the processor, called the clock, ticks every millionth of a second." Megahertz doesn't only apply to microprocessor control clocks, it merely means 1 million cycles per second. This could be used to describe atoms, radio, or anything else that cycles really quickly.
As an elementary education major I can tell you you're being a bit optimistic. The current generation of teacher wannabes know less about computers than many people in their parents' generation. It is pitifull to think the person who was trying to figure out who had the better system, the one with 2.3 GHz or the one with 3 1/4 something or another (they were refering to the only number from the tech sheet they could remember, the size of the floppy drive) and nobody in a class of 20 knew any better. These people will be teaching your children soon. BTW this was at Middle Tennessee State University which is credited as having one of the better teacher education programs in the region.
Little Brother, watching the watchers
Is anyone else reminded of that stupid architect from Matrix Reloaded? As though using more syllables implies hyper-intelligence.
This is left as an exercise for the reader.
I agree. In fact, I find the most important vocabulary for new users to learn is GUI terminology - i.e. window, menu bar, scroll bar, tab, pane, etc.
Whenever you are trying to help a newbie over the phone or via email or IM, the biggest obstacle seems to be accurately communicating where they are, what they see, and where to go. Given that GUIs are built upon metaphors to the real world, this terminology should be the easiest to learn but often that is not the case.
How many of the comical tech support stories that have become ingrained in the mythology of the information age revolve around difficulties describing visual interfaces?
In other news, a poll shows fewer than 5% of the public knows what "Dual Overhead Cam" means. Or could correctly define horsepower other than "what engines are measured in." Neither could they tell you what fuel injection was, what a transmission did or where it was situated in their car.
This news stunned advertisers that have been using these terms to sell cars for the past hundred years. Ford motor company has recently launched a campaign to educate the public as a result of these figures. Experts remain skeptical about the effectiveness of such a campaign, citing the fact that this is 100 year old technology, and saying "if the public doesn't get it now, they never will."
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
When I was in school, I was the "bright kid" in my class, and as a result, I was picked on endlessly by the other kids. This was sanctioned by the teachers. Once, I had mentioned that there were more than one ice age, because for show and tell I'd brought in some fossils from different periods. I'd gotten them from my father's cousin, who was a geolgist at a university in Virginia. The teacher called me a liar, and brought the science teacher over to explain to the class that "there was only one great ice age, everyone knows that". Then the kids picked on me for hours, as always.
Elementary and middle school teachers seem to *always* be clueless, and not just about computers. You seem pretty sharp, like the exception that proves the rule, so don't think I'm targeting you here. I'm saying, in general they seem to be on the dumb side (at least mine were). One, Mr. Gilbert, once failed me for using the word "alas"! He screamed at me, "A sixth grader does NOT use the word ALAS!!!" I had to spend a half hour explaining it to the principal, for cryin' out loud. Ridiculous.
The state of "education" doesn't matter, though. My kids are going to learn the way I did: my father used to bring me physics and science books that he got cheaply at work. I did the schoolwork I had to, to get through elementary and middle school, and I learned everything important on my own, by reading. I understood electromagnetism, geology, biology... All before I was in high school. I didn't need a teacher to tell me about it. Luckily, in high school I had some good teachers, and I learned a lot more.
The thing to do is make sure you spend time with your kids, teaching them what you want them to know -- personally. Don't depend on some stranger to show them the light. Remember, "if you want it done right, do it yourself"...
Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!