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The Impact of Technophobes
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."
. . . the biggest problem is the just-plain-dumbasses.
The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer. - Albert Einstein
I'm glad that so many people don't understand what I do. That makes me more valuable.
I'm coin operated baby!
[ Don't reply to this ]
I've experienced the same frustration plenty of times myself, having ushered several family members and friends on to the internet, only to be confronted by the same ridiculous ( HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!?!?! ) behaviors.
:)
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
My parents asked me yesterday how to rewind a dvd. I laughed... and then realized they weren't jokin. Then i was sad.
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Battlewang Where the large win big
Actually, its the ones who think that they know what's wrong who are the most difficult to help. They tell you all the information that led them to their conclusion, ignoring the one fact right in front of their nose which would contradict it...
- "History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men" -- Blue Oyster Cult, 'Godzilla'
this is a shocking misnomer. people who are technophobes write letters with fountain pens. the people this article is referring to are 'techno-dumbasses'.
Go read some bible: nubible.com
Parents prefer their beloved children. After all they spent years changing our diapers, cooking meals for us, helping with homework, getting us out of scrapes at school, supporting us through college: it's payback time.
I'm less patient with my compemporaries, I make them pay.
> some kind of 7337 hacker
teet hacker? that sounds painful!
Computers don't like it when they get anthropomorphized.
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.
You are obviously not an American. WE go to China and expect everyone to speak English!
-R
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
My solution for friends and family that ask for technical support is simply that I will help them out if they have a Macintosh. Otherwise, there is no way I have the time to troubleshoot and support Windows, Linux or other Unix operating systems.
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.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
I take it a little farther, actually. If a driver is proceeding along a fast road and, approaching an intersection, makes a fast left-hand turn into the wrong lane of oncoming traffic, what will happen to him? There will be a head-on collision and he will die. Will the traffic signals stop him from doing that? No. The car? No. The road? No. Henry Ford? No.
... ... ...
:-)
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.
Norris/Palin 2012
Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.