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US's Slow Embrace of Information Technology
mattnyc99 writes "To motivate his new column, Popular Mechanics' Glenn Derene takes research data from a discussion here of his last column. He analyzes a new study released this week — revealing that fully 49 percent of Americans 'only occasionally use modern gadgetry' — to compare the rise of the PC with that of the TV and ask a big question: What keeps the most important and powerful communication tool since the telephone from being universally embraced?"
Are we really comparing the rate of TV adoption to computer adoption? When is the last time you had to do more than press the ON button to operate your television? There's no learning curve, and no risk. People are afraid of computers, and as usual are unwilling to overcome even the most modest of barriers to learn a new skill.
Making you think you're crazy is a billion dollar industry.
Maybe it's because, at the end of the day, both computer hardware and software are generally troublesome pieces of shit.
Cuz it can be difficult, frustrating, and a pain in the ass? Whereas TV consisted once of only three channels and a power button? One of my great-uncles didn't even use the power button, he's just unplug the set.
Plus, TV is completely passive. You just have to turn it on, and it entertains you. Even when it's online, a PC is not that passive and easy to use.
Watch the Teaser Trailer for "The Lightning Thief" Her
Terrorism.
Work smarter, not harder.
It takes ages and it's a PITA.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
Who are 10 years behind the rest of the world in bandwidth and services and cost. Blame the cable monopolies who are only a little less horrible than record companies in the rape and pillage the consumers department. Blame Microsoft who, let's face facts, sees you as a wallet. They don't really care how well their crap works and their prices go up not down in contradiction to everything we've ever been promised about the 'digital age.'
I would have thought the neo-Libertarians here would be cheering for state controlled corporatism. Isn't that what you've been working for?
Comparing a product that takes an IQ of 12 to understand and use to a product that honestly take above average IQ to use and wondering why the Computer and Internet is not beign adopted as fast as the item everyone calls the "idiot box"?
Tv is passive, I can sit there and drool at it watching the guy getting kicked in the crotch show all day long. The computer takes not only knowledge and mental ability, but the worst part it takes EFFORT to use.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Television is easy. You turn it on, maybe select a channel, and you can sit there for hours. You can change the channel if you really care about what you're watching, but it's also ok to select one channel and leave it on forever. Television doesn't care if you walk away or lay down. It will dutifully drone on in case you happen to be there. Broadcasters are even nice enough to increase the volume on the commercials to make sure that you get exposed to advertising, even if you're in the kitchen cooking dinner.
It's much harder to use a computer the same way. It's a much more interactive experience. Not only do you have to have some basic knowledge of how they work, you have to click on stuff or something. Take poor people in third world countries as an example - how long would it take to teach them to use a computer well enough to keep themselves entertained? Compare that with the level of training needed to use a television.
In both cases, the vast majority of users utilize the technology for entertainment. There are a lot of educational uses available for both technologies, but most users have no interest in that. Mindless entertainment is TV. Interactive entertainment is games/web browsing.
Not everyone wants interactive entertainment. There are a lot of people who get up, go to work, perform some dull, repetetive task, come home and want to continue their zombie lifestyle with a few beers and some background noise/visual stimulation. There's no way for interactive media like computers to compete with television in the zombie market segment.
Comparing the PC with the TV is not really valid.
The TV is a single use, passive, entertainment medium whereas the PC is a multi use, active, tool. In other terms the TV is 'lean back' technology whereas the PC is 'lean forward' technology. Whichever way you put it they are not the same.
init 11 - for when you need that edge.
BenCurry.net
BenCurry.net
What keeps the most important and powerful communication tool since the telephone from being universally embraced?
Simple. Human stupidity and laziness, especially the reluctance to take the time to learn key concepts such as computer security and e-mail attachment limits.
I don't blame the ones who are truly unable to adapt and learn to work with the new technology, but the ones who are clearly capable, but ignorant enough to not care, are the ones who contribute to a nation-wide, condescending attitude towards the technologically-trained. Some could say that technology has pampered the public enough to the point that they expect computers to do everything for them and denounce it if they cannot open a bootleg copy of Spiderman 3 because of a lack of video codecs.
A computer is just a tool like a chain saw or a sewing machine. If I need the tool I will get it and use it. If I don't need it, and for day to day living it is really not required, I will not get it. Unless I am a normal guy then I will buy one a put it on the shelf next to the combo-wrench-screwdriver-hammer I bought last week.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
Everyone else pointed to the relative complexity, but I think it's more than that.
There are not many televisions in the workplace-- it's a toy for your leisure.
There are often more computers than desired at the workplace-- it's a tool of commerce. Many people just don't want that sort of thing to be prominent in their home lives too.
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Look, outside of work, if I really wanted to, I could live without my computer. Hell I can live without a cell phone too. It just takes discipline. I lived through the 70s and 80s without the access I have these days as did my parents and their parents before them.
Rural America has more pressing issues than the net, let alone the people with manual labor type jobs. Don't classify them as ignorant either. Many of them do a far better job at raising their families than the so called "educated elite". They don't need the net as a subsitute for life and friends. They don't need TV shows for entertainment, let alone care to see the violence in big cities portrayed in fiction and fact.
Its America stupid, we are not one giant homogenized horde. We are little tight knit groups spread out across a large area all enjoying the freedom this country affords, and that freedom can and does mean not doing what everyone thinks you should be doing. Hell there are times I wish I could live back on the farm, work 12 to 14 hour days, and never see a computer. Somethings the simpler life is actually better.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
IT gadgets are ultimately not that important in the overall pursuit of happiness. What's the point of keeping up with all of the IT gadgets if all it ever does is give you a constant chore of learning the next new (questionably useless) thing? The general public is not interested in being under a constant challenge to keep up with gadgets that have little affect on their personal lives. Most people don't need a PDA, or a GPS, or a video iPod. The happiest people I know have limited to no access to IT gadgets outside of cell phones. The most stressed and unhappy (add broke and unhealthy) people I know are the ones that are constantly trying to keep up with the latest in technology. A TV is easy...if you're not making a living in IT you just don't need all of the gadgets.
...and you get just a tiny bit closer in relative complexity. But really, whoever publishes something that thinks comparing a TV to a computer has any validity whatsoever, should really just stick to watching the TV.
All pass beyond reach of medicine. None pass beyond the reach of love.
I've been writing software since 1970 and still paid very well for it - vertical applications in video game graphics. I have a MIT degree and had a email address since 1974 and computer newsgroups sicne 1984. I have not bought my own computer yet, bought my first TV and car age 35. Didnt buy a cell phone until last year when when payphones went nearly extinct, and only use it for travel. I sweat from confusion of choices when going into a circuit city.
Edward Burr
Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.
What keeps the most important and powerful communication tool since the telephone from being universally embraced?
Answer: an aging population.
My father was an engineer at Zenith, back in 60's and 70's... We had one of the first color televisions in the neighborhood. It also just happened to be a engineering prototype. But don't worry! My father had the schematics!
So in my family, we had what we called the yearly "Fix the Television" event. This would be somewhat akin to reinstalling the OS in your computer. It involved taking the back off the television and with a combination of compressed air and a vacuum, removing most of the dust. Sometimes it involved replacing weak solder joints. But it always involved replacing worn out vacuum tubes.
Each vacuum tube, of which there were perhaps 20 total, was removed one at a time and carefully wrapped in kleenex and placed in a box. This box then was taken down to Radio Shack where each tube was placed into the tube tester to verify it's performance characteristics.
After buying the new tubes to replace the old ones, back home we came to reassemble the television.
People today lament about how there is no longer a need for television repair men. Instead people keep their televisions for 10-15 years and when they die they throw them away. Some day people will be complaining about how you don't need a help desk, and desktop support teams.
That day can't come soon enough for me.
I appreciate the fact that most posters and the article writer seem to blame the difference on the fact that TVs are so much easier to use than computers.
Those people obviously aren't looking far enough into the future.
I see a world with a mess of cords behind each and every TV; one where HDMI gets half-adapted as the "one true solution" for each component, before 3 new incompatible versions of the cord come out.
I see a world of MS Media Center. A world where it takes a day or two to set up your TV. A world which requires firmware updates to DVRs, firmware updates to DVD players, firmware updates to BluRay / HD-DVD players, HDCP updates to TVs -- without which none of the above components will work. Dare I even say that the first non-computer electronics virus will come within the next 2 years?
I see a world of TV remotes with full-sized keyboards so you can buy Pay-Per-View movies directly from the internet, and view them the next day when they download. I see a world where the bootup time for your setup is measured in minutes, not seconds.
Perhaps, some day in the future, after work we will go home to watch some TV to relax. Then we will all go outside in order to relax from watching TV.
I have always wished for my computer to be as easy to use as my telephone; my wish has come true because I can no longer figure out how to use my telephone. Bjarne Stroustrup
Quick, someone call the US embassy and let them know there's a world out here! Mystery
"we've got trenchcoats and bad attitudes" - John Constantine, HellBlazer
The simple solution is to provide an slightly more functional version of the internet appliance that Just Works (tm). Something like a Wii with a keyboard and AbiWord would be perfect-- an interface that is idiot-proof, comes out secure by default, uses a remote for navigation, and all you have to do is plug it into your TV and its Ethernet port. Most people already have a television set and free RCA jacks-- there's no need to buy a whole separate set of peripherals to watch YouTube and type emails to Aunt Mary.
[What keeps the most important and powerful communication tool since the telephone from being universally embraced?] Windows.
Patch Tuesday.
Have gnu, will travel.
We also have segments of the population that have no reason at all to have a computer. Just because we /.ers are so entwined with our machines, doesn't mean that everyone else wants to be or should be. Anyone over the age of 60 has only a few uses for a computer. The main use being keeping in touch with their grandkids who won't call them anymore. As people age their brains learn more slowly, new things require learning. We tried to get grandma to use email and she was terrified of the machine. Then there are people who live in the sticks. Dial up is painful to use, and getting worse since web developers are largely incompetent and are making sites more complex and larger. Our culture revere athletes above teachers and scientists and artist (not to be confused with performers). It shouldn't be a surprise. i think that the next generation of kids will see to it that everyone has a computer and broadband.
We also have a populous that hates to pay taxes. We hate being told what to do or how things should be done. In cultures like Japan, the leaders can say, "Right, we're going to IP6", and it's done. If that means raising taxes or making citizens/companies change their ways, so be it. We however comma are all cowboys alone on the range. i'm not saying either is right or wrong, just describing what i see. There are good and bad things each model. Our future might depend on adoption of technology. We face obsolescence if we don't adapt.
i think we are slow to adopt IT because the US has a strong anti-intellectual streak. We hate anyone smarter/more educated than us. Computers are for smart people, smart people think they are soooo superior to us. Again, the next generation might not think that way. My lil brother, ten years younger than i, had a PC in the house since he was 7. i had one in the home since i was (does the math) 17. Now kids are coming back from the hospital never knowing a life without a computer in the home.
Build a console that does email and chat, like WebTV. Build machines that can do only ONE thing at a time. Want to do word processing? Slap in the Word cartridge. Let's play WoW, slap in the WoW cartridge. That's what most Americans want from a computer. Anything more complex than that should be for geeks only. Whoever builds this machine will be a brazillianaire.
What is luxury today, is necessity tomorrow
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