I weep for the future of our species.

[Jeff7]

I am providing tech support today for a real estate seminar at my college. The help I've had to give thus far:
- plugging a USB thumbdrive into a PC
- properly putting a CD into the drive
- opening a PowerPoint presentation on either media type
- opening a video file on a CD
- playing that video file in Media player
- Exiting a Powerpoint presentation after the last slide. (No, he didn't think to try hitting Escape, or right-clicking.)
- Pressing the ON button on the projector's remote
- Unmuting the volume on the PC
- Addressing an issue with the wireless microphone by moving the switch to the "On" position.

I would really like to know just what percentage of all VCRs displayed "12:00" because the owners couldn't figure out how to program them, at least before VCRs got the auto-set feature.


"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology." - Carl Sagan
And guess what, it's getting worse.



*sigh*
Just had to help this presenter again. He couldn't figure out how to minimize or exit Media Player and go to Internet Explorer.



I think NuclearNed and I need to have some kind of ranting partnership, like McCoy vs Spock. His are the passionate, styled, emotionally-charged rants. Mine just seem so darned objective and calm by comparison.

 

[Slew Foot]

That's because most people in real estate are morons.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
That's because most people in real estate are morons.

I really shouldn't say anything bad right now, but thus far, I don't have much evidence to refute this.

The first seminar, done late last year, featured a showing of "The Secret," a movie about that Law of Attractions BS, as featured on Oprah. The agent showing it commented about it to me, said that I should see it, that it would be "the most important thing I would ever watch." He said that the homework I was doing at the time would seem utterly meaningless if I'd learn about this stuff.
I caught snippets of it, including some physicist, talking in front of a background consisting of a cheesy montage of atomic models, spaceships, and lame sciencey artwork. I was starting to get worried that this was some kind of scammy pyramid scheme thing.
Oh right, it's real estate.


That bit on Oprah, I think that was when the person talking about it said that if you think bad things will happen to you, they will. Apparently the people in Darfur have only themselves to blame. They're thinking all these bad thoughts like, "Oh no, people with guns are going to come and devastate this town, and kill me and my family." So of course it's going to happen. It doesn't matter that people really are out there killing and raping civilians, those silly pessimists are just digging themselves in deeper and deeper. If we'd just give them all cellphones and iPods, all the death squads would vanish, and of course, random gatherings of people singing Kumbaya would start appearing everywhere.

 

[Sumguy]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
I am providing tech support today for a real estate seminary at my college. The help I've had to give thus far:
- plugging a USB thumbdrive into a PC
- properly putting a CD into the drive
- opening a PowerPoint presentation on either media type
- opening a video file on a CD
- playing that video file in Media player
- Exiting a Powerpoint presentation after the last slide. (No, he didn't think to try hitting Escape, or right-clicking.)
- Pressing the ON button on the projector's remote
- Unmuting the volume on the PC
- Addressing an issue with the wireless microphone by moving the switch to the "On" position.

I would really like to know just what percentage of all VCRs displayed "12:00" because the owners couldn't figure out how to program them, at least before VCRs got the auto-set feature.


"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology." - Carl Sagan
And guess what, it's getting worse.



*sigh*
Just had to help this presenter again. He couldn't figure out how to minimize or exit Media Player and go to Internet Explorer.

Lies.

 

[AnnonUSA]

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
That's because most people are morons.

FixT!

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Sumguy

Originally posted by: Jeff7
- plugging a USB thumbdrive into a PC

Lies.

"My son put the presentation on this. How do I plug it in?"

Oh how I wish it wasn't true.


I guess I should just be glad that the problems are with the users. I don't have to fix those problems. If the technology fails, then it's something I have to fix.


Plus, I'm a bit cranky from having to be at work on a Saturday at 8am, to support a bunch of people who can't do the most basic things on a computer.



Damn, I didn't bring my cellphone with me, now I won't be able to call a mechanic to help me get home. I can never figure out how to properly align my carkey so that it will fit into the slot. That darn keyring keeps getting in the way. He says if I flip it around, it'll fit right in. I do, but the keyring and thick plastic part are still on the wrong side. This stuff is way too complex for me to deal with.

 

[IGBT]

..wait till the carbon con kicks in. you'll have plenty to cry about.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: IGBT
..wait till the carbon con kicks in. you'll have plenty to cry about.

When I saw you reply to this thread, I was eagerly anticipating reading the words "eco-theism," but you only went with "carbon con." Oh well.

 

[PottedMeat]

you're not doing this out of the kindness of your heart are you?

 

[imported_Imp]

Meh, I think it's laziness and fear more than anything.

I can build a computer, hook up a hi-fi system and do a bunch of other crap, but I still don't know how to set up the clock on my VCR or DVD recorder timer cause I rarely use them and don't feel like learning. When the time comes, I will be asking around cause I have no idea where the hell the manual is.

Another time while working on the admin side of an IT unit, someone asked me to unjam a printer. I gave it a tinkle, but couldn't do it cause I didn't know how to dismount an add-on unit. So, instead of potentially breaking it, I just got a 'real' IT dude. Meanwhile I could disassemble most other printers on the floor...

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

It's really quite amazing how retarded some people become when they approach a computer. For example, my mom. She's a very intelligent person - she has a law degree from Boston College, she journeyed to Africa and South America during college, she used to speak Spanish fluently, and she sees straight through most of the politicians' lies. But she can't use a mouse. I just don't get it. She moves the cursor to where she wants it, then takes her hand off and stabs the buttons with her finger. Or she'll hold down the button without letting go and click on the wrong thing. I know quite a few people who don't know what the "start menu" is either.

I just don't get it.

 

[ViviTheMage]

job security dude.

I love it , these people will keep me employed forever.

 

[child of wonder]

I had to drive to our downtown office to adjust the brightness on our company's President's laptop.

Apparently the buttons with the sun and an arrow up and a sun with an arrow down were too complex.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: child of wonder
I had to drive to our downtown office to adjust the brightness on our company's President's laptop.

Apparently the buttons with the sun and an arrow up and a sun with an arrow down were too complex.

did he forget teh Fn key ?

 

[Muse]

I went to a user group meeting two nights ago and the people who were there (around 15 people I would have to call colleagues, more or less) are easily in the top percentile in terms of knowledgability of things technical. These are database design professionals, and they do have their weaknesses but they are by and large very sharp people who adapt to changing conditions and unforeseen problems very quickly indeed. I always love going to those meetings.

Superior to this was the annual meeting, where last October they brought together all the presenters for the various user groups in the organization. Those people are by and large awesome. I have no doubt about the fact that there are a lot of extremely sharp techies out there. I guess I'm lucky that I don't have to deal with the opposite side of the spectrum often.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat
you're not doing this out of the kindness of your heart are you?

The what of my where?

I would probably have gotten out of bed at noon today, and never given a thought to college, were it not for the promise of a slightly larger paycheck for the week.

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
job security dude.

I love it , these people will keep me employed forever.

Except that it's like having a job leading the blind all your life, except that the people aren't blind, they just don't want to open their eyes. As time progresses, the urge to engage in some cheerful eye-stabbing can become overwhelming. THAT would be job security. It wouldn't be risky either, it's not like they'd see it coming.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: IGBT
..wait till the carbon con kicks in. you'll have plenty to cry about.

Do you speak English, or only some weird dialect?

If someone has to know a ton of niche jargon to know what you're talking about, you're probably crazy!

See: Scientology.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: child of wonder
I had to drive to our downtown office to adjust the brightness on our company's President's laptop.

Apparently the buttons with the sun and an arrow up and a sun with an arrow down were too complex.

wtf!?!?! don't touch those keys!!! you'll screw up the balance of our planet by adjusting the brightmess of the sun!

 

[clamum]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
- properly putting a CD into the drive

lol wut

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: clamum

Originally posted by: Jeff7
- properly putting a CD into the drive

lol wut

*shrug*
The guy handed me the CD and said cautiously, "Now, I've got the presentation on this compact disc...." and trailed off like that.

Maybe there's a hidden side to technology that many of us don't see. Maybe technology senses fear, and starts threatening the fearful at night. These people wake up in the morning, and are startled when they see their PC sitting by their alarm clock. Still tired and confused, the person then goes into the bathroom, and there on the toilet seat is the monitor. It's not plugged in, but it's displaying a skull and crossbones on the front of it. Stumble downstairs screaming, and there setting on the top of the refrigerator is the iPod, with its headphone wires dangling down in a noose. The microwave no longer displays 12:00, but instead says DIE.

Then they call a technician over to fix their technology, and everything is suddenly in perfect order. The computer is back where it should be, as is the monitor. It behaves normally, maybe with one or two easily removed spyware apps on it. The iPod is back on the countertop charging. Before he leaves, the tech sets the time on the microwave. As he drives away, he thinks he hears a blood-curdling scream coming from the house, but decides that it's just the belts making a funny noise.

The next day, that poor fearful person is scared to touch anything with more than two transistors.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Except that it's like having a job leading the blind all your life, except that the people aren't blind, they just don't want to open their eyes. As time progresses, the urge to engage in some cheerful eye-stabbing can become overwhelming.

My tech support jobs have varied. These were mostly by telephone and email, although one required dealing with some people onsite as well. The worst experiences by far were with people who for whatever reason were unable to (or refused to on some level) get a handle on what's really going on with an issue. It can be very frustrating. And I agree, the world is full of those people and to be honest it is one reason I got into computers. I realized from the getgo that people would pay me to help them with issues that other people couldn't deal with. It didn't take me long to discover that it would be a lot more satisfying to get really good at it and then you get to deal with people with brains.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Computers aren't the only thing some people don't understand. I had to do a presentation with someone last year and he had absolutely no idea how to write. We were arguing a position based on saying that Wal-Mart is good for the economy. We had to write a summary of our presentation, and I let him do it at first. Every sentence began with "Wal Mart". He had no idea how to structure a sentence, let alone a paper. My brothers are in college, and when they started in engineering freshmen year, they kept saying that none of their classmates had any idea how to write. And my brothers aren't even very good writers.

 

[Madwand1]

Have you seen kids though? Many or most of them seem to have a sort of affinity to technology.

My son had his own computer at around 4. He's almost entirely self-taught in its usage. He isn't afraid of technology (and technology is no longer afraid of him, hehe). All of his grandparents have their own computers as well.

People like us make technology more accessible; more people get access to it; general technical literacy improves. I think it's hard to argue that computer literacy is in decline -- it's growing a great deal, and at some point, we'll be struggling to keep up with the kids.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Have you seen kids though? Many or most of them seem to have a sort of affinity to technology.

My son had his own computer at around 4. He's almost entirely self-taught in its usage. He isn't afraid of technology (and technology is no longer afraid of him, hehe). All of his grandparents have their own computers as well.

People like us make technology more accessible; more people get access to it; general technical literacy improves. I think it's hard to argue that computer literacy is in decline -- it's growing a great deal, and at some point, we'll be struggling to keep up with the kids.

do you guys think this is some sort of evolution in process or something like that?

 

[Fritzo]

Computers are the ONLY thing on the market that people buy and fully expect someone else to tell them how to use it's features on a daily basis.

Can you imagine if this happened with cars? "OK, I bought a car, now how do you drive it?"

"Hello, is this Ford? I need to make a left turn- how do I activate the turn signal?"

"GM Support? THIS FREAKIN' CAR YOU SOLD ME GETS REALLY HOT INSIDE!!!!.....WHAT????!!! WHAT IS "AIR CONDITIONING????" WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM, SOME KIND OF CAR GENIUS????"

etc etc