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What Should People Understand About Computers?
counterexample asks: "It seems to me that there aren't very many good books out there that explain to the layman what is really going on with computers. My mother cannot go to the bookstore and pick up a book that will make her understand the strange language that we IT people speak, or why her computer would be susceptible to a virus. So, I intend to write such a book. I have a fair idea of what should be in it (history of the Internet, how computers talk to each other, what a hard drive does, etc.), but I'm interested to see what you all have to say. What do you wish your users knew? What kind of questions are you so sick of answering because you hear them every week? What does the general public think they understand, but really don't?"
My ancestors (parents and grandparents) are a naturally inquisitive people. Any attempt to teach them things about computers may only leave them more confused and full of questions.
..." ..."
You are about to undertake a Herculean task in that you are now required to omit certain things which we may all know. I think your strategy should concentrate on figuring out how simply you can describe something without causing more confusion and questions.
I would suggest analyzing The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay because he does a good job at using simple illustrations and brought me up to speed on a lot of engineering ideas when I was only in fifth grade. I would try to mimic him and use his level of detail as a template into what the common person is ready to ingest.
Perhaps you should also change your strategy from "What do I include?" to "Where do I draw the line?" Start with a computer and describe the monitor, mouse, keyboard, box, printer, etc. in a high level. These are the obvious things you see. Then you can take and chapter by chapter explain each component down to as much detail as you want to. I would then have a chapter on communications and the internet that doesn't go all the way down to protocols.
Allow me to illustrate what kind of people you should aim this book at in this telephone call between me and my mother:
Me: Ok, tell me what the screen says now.
Mom: It's blue.
Me: What do you mean "it's blue"? What does it say?
Mom: It says, "9F D8 34 7B
Me: Um, that's ok, ma, I don't speak hex.
Mom: "... FA 25 3C A2
One more thing, I shudder at the possibility of the history of computers being taught to my parents. This is more information that isn't really pertinent to what a layperson needs to know about computers. I would suggest delving into this as little as possible but historical facts always make reading interesting if you want to include little side notes.
As with most projects undertaken--keep it simple, stupid!
My work here is dung.
The biggest problem I tend to face is that people don't know where the hardware ends, and where the OS Begins and where the OS Ends and the Applications begins. When they are doing something over the network or locally. They are just completely lost on the system. It it like they know how to drive but they don't know where they are now.
They will always blame the wrong part for their problems.
My Computer is Broken! When When MS Word fails to open.
Windows Sucks! When the system wont Boot because the computer hardware failed.
The Internet Is Down! When Windows somehow lost all its drives and fails boot.
My Computer is slow, I need a faster one! When there are 1000s of spyware apps running
What people need to know is what part of the computer does what type of job and how to at least say where the problem is.
They should know when the Harddrive is clicking away or when sending information over the network.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Memory has nothing to do with long term storage. Increasing memory does not give you the ability to store more files.
and they bite.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Assuming that's where you keep the manual for you car. All you really need to know about your car is how to operate it and how to take care of it (what kind of fuel, when to change the oil, belts, plugs, etc.). It's not really necessary to know much about how a car works to be able to properly use it. Such information is available to those who want to know, but it's not necessary to know the Brayton Cycle for example, to operate a car.
I would suggest that this be your state of mind when writing your computer manual. I.e. focus on how to use it and how to take care of it.
A goal is a dream with a deadline
i say its a lost cause, there is soo much 101 book about computer. if u can't explain it to your mom. don't expect any book to be able to.
;p
People tend to learn on a step by step basis depending on the interest in any specific subject.
meaning if i am interested in learning quantum science. no mather how hard it is, I will keep on trying. well if i don't fell the need for it, i will give up and say its non sense.
So just grab your latest for dummie book and hand it over to your mom. If she REALLY wants to understand then she will learn.
Just give up, if you are just trying to force knowledge into her mind, its a lost cause
I think that's the wrong approach - it's like asking a calc TA what questions he got asked most during the term. How do I do problem #3 isn't terribly useful to put in a book - next year they'll have to know how to do problem #4. So it goes with computers. Many questions can be "answered" without giving any real insight to the end reader/user. Be careful - you have to teach basics
That said...
I remember having to go through contortions to explain the concept of a "file" and "directory" to my mom. Just how technical *do* you get? "Any file is just a bunch of data" can be a bit confusing...
--LWM
Most people don't understand the facts about the proprietary designs many brand-name PC's use. A lot of proprietary PC's are hard to service and a pain to upgrade. They should be informed of the brands that are proprietary like Dell, their proprietary advantages/disadvantage, and the brands that aren't proprietary like PowerSpec, and their advantages. I'm a salesman at Micro Center, and almost every customer whom I sold a computer to didn't know what proprietary design meant and what brands are proprietary. Those are the one who usually buy Compaq, HP, Gateway, and Dell-brand PC's and end up leaving with a PowerSpec computer and liking it because its easily upgradable and serviceable.
A request for the format of your book - organise the explanations by things people actually use their computers for.
... and so on. This kind of task-based organisation should make it easier for the lay person to understand what is going on because they can relate it to something real they actually do.
- writing a letter: how a program starts, how different document formats work, how saving a file puts it onto the hard disc, how printing works
- looking something up on Google: how the internet works (good luck with that one!), how web sites work, how computers talk to each other over the internet, how firewalls work
Dunx
Converting caffeine into code since 1982
Most people think that computer attacks/hack attempts are personal and thus think 'Nobody would want to hack MY computer'. Explain that these attacks are not personal and are often carried out automatically by an infected computer. Explain that there are only ~4Billion possible internet locations the computer can search and it will only take a few days for a computer to search all possible locations on the internet. Remind them that a computer can do over a billion things a second which is why it can search so many computers locations so quickly.
Things you think are in the Constitution, but are not.
If a computer was an appliance like a washing machine they would have been recalled due to faults. You would never except the bugs you do with a computer with an item of white ware.
Yes i am posting this from work like you.
Maybe most people are capable of understanding computers but most geeks are such shitty communicators they just cant explain things clearly enough, often because they just dont understand the subject well enough themselves half the time.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
These two books are completely different and you should know which one you're writing, and not mix things up.
I personally would love a book that explains the basics of how RAM, TCP/IP, USB ports etc. work -- written in a way that somebody with no engineering background can grasp. But from the tone of your question I think what you're really leaning towards writing is a book that lets brand new computer users bypass the clueless stage. For this, you'd want to explain the differences between OSX, Windows, and Linux, and give users a good way to choose. You'd want to acquaint them with the main sorts of applications that exist -- word processors, spread sheets, browsers, etc. Then you'd explain a bit about each, like what a word processor is great at doing (things like on-the-fly spellcheck), and what it sucks at doing (book quality layout.)
Basically, you want to teach people the fundamentals of using each type of application, and keep them from using a screwdriver as a hammer (using Microsoft Word to typeset a book, for instance.)
You'd also want to write about the various peripherals you can install, like wireless cards, optical mice, and high-quality video and sound cards.
And finally, you'd want to make the writing engaging enough that people would actually read your book cover to cover. That's the biggest trick of all, and really, the only hard trick.
I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
...Explain the difference between "memory" and "storage".
I can not even count the number of times I have said "your computer does not have enough memory for this" and gotten the reply "but it says I have 15 jig-a-bytes free, isn't that a lot?"
I think this problem is 99.9% the industry's fault for choosing the word "memory" to refer to something stored short-term (should have come up with some new word like 'zoigle'), but anyways...
When the "computer as an appliance" becomes hidden behind an applied interface, then it ceases being called a computer. Ipods, cellphones, TiVo, etc. have more hardware and software than gneral computers more than 5-10 years ago. But the "computerness" is somewhat hidden in the appliance.
I would agree. Woman don't know themselves most of the time. ...
This is what happens when listening to a woman gossip about there life, and very common questions I hear but dare never to answer.
like
Q: Where are all the nice guys?
A: There are a lot of nice guys, but because they are nice they are not going to come up to you in the middle of the street and hit on, if you do meet the nice guy you tend to take his niceness for granted.
Woman go: Look are not that Important.
I go (to myself): Bull shit! All woman say that but you will always put more attention to the more attractive one then the less attractive one.
Why doesn't this dang computer work??!? Can you fix it for me?
People know how to do that.
Computers just aren't appliances yet. As such, it's often much easier to work with them if you have some understanding of their internals. This can be shallow, you don't have to be able to, you know, built a computer from scratch. Analogies are bound to be flawed, like your washing machine analogy, but a better one might be a car... it helps to understand that it contains a motor which combusts the fuel you put in it, when you've got a manual transmission it helps to know what that is all about and so on. This is especially true in case the car breaks down, which, famously, they don't do as often as computers.
There are appliances that do a subset of what computers (or PCs) do. Web terminals for surfing, consoles for gaming, media players for MP3 and movie playback (often backed up by a PC). Network routers (usually Linux based). As far as I'm aware MS Office doesn't really have an appliance alternative, though.
Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
...So in layman's term, computer is an electronic appliance...
I disagree. They need to know that it's _not_ an appliance like a washing machine or a toaster. A computer is a tool.
An appliance like a washing machine or a toaster are different for a couple of very important reasons:
-- an appliance doesn't normally contain personal/financial information that can be used maliciously by others
-- an appliance normally can't be used maliciously towards others
People are fond of using car analogies when referring to computers, and in some aspects, those analogies work... especially when you consider that people don't just get into a car and "know how to drive". They first learn how the car works (at least a bit), in terms of user interface (gas pedal, brake pedal, oil changes, etc), for the mere fact that they can hurt themselves or others if the car is used improperly.
The first thing I try to teach people is that a computer is NOT an appliance - it's a tool - like a circular saw or a kitchen knife. And like most any other tool, if it's not used properly and not maintained properly, harm can come to the user or others.
...Rob
The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
So I say forget doing a book at all (at least initially), and instead consider screenwriting a DVD video. People will be far more willing to give it a quick spin than check out a book. Also, it's much cheaper to duplicate, and you can distribute it over the Internet. (Technically, the same is also true of "books" in PDF format, but books are traditionally not thought of in that manner.)
If the DVD is a success, than you can go into more depth in a follow-on book (or just leave a PDF file on the DVD).
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
Folks looking to get a rudimentary understanding of their computer really don't want to read history. That's just a turn off and a waste of their time. If you insist on including historical information, put it in an appendix. What you need to do is determine what it is these folks minimally need to know and put that right up front in the clearest non-geek language possible. If you do that, your book will gain success by way of word-of-mouth and won't wind up on the store shelves among the hundreds of other failures.
Heard any good sigs lately?
I don't understand how exactly a car works. I have a vague idea that combustion of gasoline creates pressure which is channeled into turning wheels, but that's about it. I don't have the foggiest clue how laundry soap works, or dry-cleaning for that matter. In the same token, I haven't the foggiest clue how to understand women.
There are levels of underestanding required for the use of anything. If you break it down, malicious software exists because some jerks out there are exploiting the fact that they understanding software deficiencies better than Microsoft or you. People don't *need* to understand 100% how things work. They could, but they don't care to. Over time as people age, they accumulate a list of things they "know" and their curiosity and desire to learn decreases (the more you know, the less you care to learn).
People care more about increasing the comfort level in their lives than in increasing the understanding of the world. Ignorance is bliss, and the more you learn, the more aware you become of your ignorance (ie, you are really learning just how much you don't understand).
Most people see computers as a tool, albeit an annoying, complicated, troublesome one. In fact, from the people I have talked to, if they could get away with NOT using computers in their daily lives, they would. They'd rather spend their time with family, or recreationally, etc. As a tool, computers are rather flawed - the mere fact that they break down so easily is proof of that. Instead of thinking of ways to make it easier to learn the tool, why don't we just fix the tool itself? Make it simpler, easier to use, more reliable. What you sacrifice in perfect flexibility, you gain in adoption. The best consumer technology is transparent technology.
------- "From bored to fanboy in 3.8 asian girls" ----------
One pet peeve of mine is that people call hard drive space "RAM". In your book you should thoroughly cover the difference between system memory and drive storage.
You are assuming people care that they don't understand. I support a 100+ users who just plain don't care to know or understand anything beyond their fingertips. Those that care have already been paying attention.
Bottom line is that don't want a PC, they want a toaster. Turn it on, put in bread, wait 30 seconds and out pops my toast. Every time.
But we're not talking about toasters, are we?
legal. fun. profitable. pick two.
Things like the difference between the left mouse button and right mouse button. (primary and secondary click, secondary click = menus, etc) Which everyone one knows, but not really, not for true beginners.
Lots of visuals, with just one concept covered per page.
Strangely enough the cartoon floppy disk character pointing at important things actually improves the effectiveness of the text for beginners, instead of using a simple highlighted arrow in the picture.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Bullshit. Analogies with cars will always fall down. And anyway, people don't understand cars any better.
One fact about computers that even technical people often forget:
The job of the computer is to make your job/task easier - it is not the other way around.
Yes, there is a time and place to learn a particular interface for a specialized job, to configure a certain program to get a special behavior or download some patch or driver to get some random hardware to work. But these things should be the exception and not the rule. I think there's way too much software that forces the user to bend to its design/shortcomings, rather than the other way around.
Futhermore, I'm rather saddened by the fact that nowadays I notice most people are afraid of their computers. They don't explore or try something new just to "see what happens" - because everyone has been bitten hard by some bug or some unexpected behavior and lost valuable time and data. So they have a very simple and rigid routine, one they know "just works", even if it's completely convoluted and non-sensical. I'm sure most people here have observed the same thing.
http://www.talknerdy.org
I would leave all that stuff out because it is so 'today'. Every product you mentioned might help a user today, but unless they get updated with what the hip anti-malware program is 6 months from now their computer will be a mess again. Educating users about scams and malware in general should open their eyes and keep them open for years to come. My parents emailed me that they have been deleting emails from governament officials in Nigeria offering them money. Not because I taught them about 419 scams, but because I tought them about internet scams in general.
2) How to use a restore disk or make one. All manufactures (HP, Dell, Compaq, Gateway, etc) either include restore disks, have a partition on the hard drive to restore your computer or give you blank CDs/DVDs to create your own restore disks. DO THIS! Then when the computer breaks, save yourself some money and try to use the restore disk before paying to have your computer fixed (a.k.a. the computer tech using your restore disk).
3) Realize that you cannot physically break your computer unless you physically abuse it, pour water in it while its running, or something of the likes. If your software stops working, re-install it or look at #2; use a your restore disk and make sure you are following #1 and keep your important stuff backed up!
Then again, if people followed the above 'rules' then I wouldn't be able to make money off them. But they should still learn it!
Click Click Bloody Click PANCAKES!
Bottom line is most people only use computers for a narrow, limited purpose. The rest start investigating on their own.
I think a chapter should focus on how to be safely connected to the Internet. Explain the importance of antivirus software and firewall, and what they do. Also explain that just having them installed does not mean they are functioning (virus definitions need updating, etc). I do a lot of fixing for people who have let their definitions lapse or the software has failed for some reason.
And an explanation of email and viruses in general. Just because an email appears to be from some address you know, or even yourself, does not make it so. Once they understand that the system is inherently insecure, most people are more apt to be more careful with email attachments and check that antivirus software regularly.
Of course, there is no substitute for reading and attempting to comprehend the messages your computer gives you. When their antivirus warns them that their definitions are out of date, they should not just ignore it and assume the computer will magically fix that for them. So I suppose another section could be devoted to explaining that a computer, like an automobile, needs regular maintenance in order to continue to run properly.
If you can write a book that helps this kind of person, you will get hundreds of sales from me:
User: "I can't change my password, something's wrong."
Me: "Well what does the error message say?"
User: "It says it can't change my password."
Me: "But what does it SAY?"
User: "Oh. It says 'Your new password must exceed 5 characters and be'... oh. I see. Never mind."
"Glad I could help."
People think whatever the error messages say are for trained computer people only, not them. Get that out of their heads and you win.
GnomeSkull
http://jdouglasmedia.com/
Great idea if you can do it. My problem with helping users who have little or no understanding of computing or the cyberworld, is that they don't understand the consequence or value of what they have. Additionally, that it needs maintenance like your car does in order to continue functioning properly. Sample conversation
User - My machine is too slow.
Tech - You appear to have spyware on your machine.
User - It didn't used to be this way. Why did IT let that in? Don't we have anti-virus stuff?
Tech - Yes but this is different. It is not a virus and it won't be detected by that product.
User - Why do I pay for antivirus if it doesn't work.
Tech - You pay for AV because eit will stop most viruses but it is not 100%. First of all you have not updated it in quite a while. Second It is not a virus.
User - Why can't it do it itself? I don't have time for this.
Tech - It is a tool and you need to take care of the tools in order to have them function properly. You would not leave your lawnmower out in the rain/snow over the winter and then expect it to run properly. Same is true for the computer.
User - Make it work the way I want it to.
Tech - I can't.....
You get my point. If the user could view it as a tool maybe they would take the time to learn how the tool functions. Maybe that is the approach you need to take. One of function versus instructional.
Hope it helps.
I think that the best way to explain something to someone who has absolutely no idea what you are talking about is to use metaphores and / or analogies. For example, to explain how the file structure works: "Think of your computer's hard drive as a filing cabinet. In a filing cabinet, you have individual drawers, and inside of the drawers you can have green folders, and inside of those folders you can have vanilla folders. Your hard drive is almost exactly the same, the main differences being that it can store much more then a filing cabinet, and that you can have an infinite amount of nested folders." Or, you could go with the tree aproach, and explain that the main trunk is the drive, and each branch is a folder, and each leaf is a file, and maybe have a picture of a tree, but with the trunk / branches / leaves labled.
Right, analogies are key. I also have had great success with encouraging people like my mother to be more outgoing when it comes to GUIs.
Like most people who just "get by" using computers, she is terrified of messing with options, and jumping through menus.
Whenener she has a problem with a piece of software I've never touched (yet I'm expected to "fix"), I make it clear to her that I have no clue exactly how to fix it, but I tell her what kind of thing I'm looking for...a settings window, a configuration wizard, etc. And I explain to her quite clearly that she can't break anything by messing with these options...she can always undo something.
Now that she realizes that many programs offer similar basic features, but just present them in their own way, she is more confident with finding the solution to common problems she encounters (and calls me very rarely about problems).
It is all about the approach. I used to have to install GAMES for this woman.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
To go along with this, one key point : "Yes, it really is just ones and zeroes"
I think that a lot of people have conceptual issues when trying to accept that it is all just information. People I know are completely floored when they learn that they can do the same things to any JPEG. Whether they downloaded it from a web page on the internet, or scanned it, or got it in an email, or shot it on a digicam, etc. They are somehow convinced that the computer thinks it is something completely different, depending on where it came from. My friend recently got a scanner after having the photo developer give him a CD of JPEG's. He was convinced that emailing the JPEG's from his scanner would be a completely different process than emailing JPEG's from a CD.
Once you can convince people how simple it really is, how stupid the computer really is, how all the information is in a file, and all the files are just information, then you have come a *loooong* way in improving their ability to interact with the computer.
My dad seems basically unable to really grasp this. It comes up in sort of odd places, and catches me compoletely off guard in conversations. It really doesn't occur to me to make a distinction between a video file I captured from my TV card, or downloaded, or rendered, etc. The fact that I can use the same video player utility to play BBC programs as I use for ones I recorded here in Colorado is stunning to him. It just sort of won't fully integrate in his mind.
I would guess 99% of all people don't know the difference between memory and a harddrive. I once gave a speech about the basics of computer hardware and I found this analogy useful (although somewhat limited).
Imagine you are going to solve a problem and you have no long term memory. You have only a notebook, a calculator and a library.
- The CPU is like your mind and calculator: Fast enough for simple problems but you can't do everything in your head.
- The Cache is your short term memory. You don't need to reread things in the front of your notebook over and over.
- The Memory is like your notebook. You can look through it fairly quickly but it can only hold so much.
- The harddrive is the library. It holds vast amounts of information but takes a long time to find what you need. Once you find it you can photocopy things and add them to your notebook. If your notebook is full you will throw away old papers.
You can expand on this analogy to say that some books hold information while others hold instructions and references to other books.
"Haven't you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclaimation?"
"I don't listen to Hip-Hop!"
And I'm a computer programmer!
Every system I work on has been loaded with so many mods, filled with so many performance tweaks and hacks, had everything overclockable overclocked, that nothing I touch is stable anymore. Sometimes I wish I didn't know about any of this stuff just so that I wouldn't ruin my system and have to do an OS reinstall monthly. I'm a living testament to the dangers of knowledgability, or rather, the dangers of being a user that thinks he/she is knowledgable.
To all of the computers I've destroyed, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I thought we were both having a good time... Until you died.
I mean, would you have ever have learned to drive if your only chance was a shiny new expensive car, and what's more you were convinced that if you so much as changed the radio volume, the entire car would die instantly and have to be replaced? Fear is all there is between the dumbest newb and the saltiest geek.
Hey, I have an idea! Set up some computers as a business, and actually *invite* the public to trash them (The only rule is, no hardware damage.). Sort of like an arcade. Sell cappuccino on the side. Every night at closing, you zero out the drives and put Knoppix back on them...