Newsflash - "normal" computer users can't handle things that require 6 steps.

[rudeguy]

Install a fledgling techie oriented browser on a newbs PC, complain about how the user doesn't do the manual updates...

Complain about how AV doesn't auto update. Umm they all do.

File copy is basic user education and also not 6 steps.

I'm really curious about this too. Why would they be using anything other than Chrome, IE or Firefox?

 

[waggy]

I'm really curious about this too. Why would they be using anything other than Chrome, IE or Firefox?

duh!

why not? that way when it has issues they can come to the rescue and they get +3 to Epenis.

 

[Phoenix86]

I never said that they were inferior, but it blows my mind that some people simply cannot learn, or refuse to learn, and complain about not knowing, and complain about not being able to follow directions, when you spell it out for them over and over and they write it down.

I've offered several times to sit down with this person, and help them learn how to use a computer and the internet, but they always shrug me off. Then they claim they hate computers.

And they refuse to "learn by doing". They write every step down on a sheet of paper, and they don't actually perform the steps. They refuse / are afraid to, or something.

It's like teaching someone to ride a bicycle, when they refuse to sit on the seat, but prefer that you give them a lecture on how to ride it.

Then they ask you to ride it for them. (They ask me to do internet searches for them, and "print out that web site".) I finally put my foot down and said no, I'm not doing internet searches for you.

I'm not going to be someone's chauffeur, for the rest of my life, just because they refuse to get their driver's license.

Sounds like you provide terrible customer service, consider looking into HDI help desk based customer service training. It's actually decent material that many technical people don't understand.

 

[CZroe]

Step One: Do it.

Step Two: Enjoy! You're done.

 

[Aikouka]

No, it's because I heard from a "normal" person today that their Waterfox was complaining about needing an update, and that "why does it need updating every week?", and "I know you showed me how to update it last time, but... that's just way too many steps".

Why is a normal user using Waterfox? I only use it because Firefox lacks a 64-bit binary, which in my experience, makes it laggy as hell when you start using over 3GB of RAM. Waterfox will do that too, but only when it's between 5-8GB. At that point, it just sits there pegging the CPU doing who knows what! D:

Edit: okay, so Firefox does self update on Windows. Just Waterfox that doesn't.

It does. Mine popped up on me yesterday telling me that there was an update.

 

[imagoon]

Things like,
1) Updating your web browser (Firefox and derivatives, I'm look at you.)
2) Updating your anti-virus or anti-malware definititions
3) Even doing a basic Explorer copy+paste file backup to a USB flash drive or external HDD

End-users just can't figure these things out!

And you wonder why newer programs and OSes just keep getting dumbed-down.

Then how do they even get to work in the morning?

1) Wakeup
2) get out of bed
3) Take a leak
4) get clean clothes
5) take shower
6) get dre..... cry and call support?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I don't understand.
Are you saying "regular people" don't know how to copy a folder to USB?
None of those things are 6 steps,btw.
I have a "regular" job that doesn't involve a computer.

1) Open explorer
2) navigate to drive
3) navigate to folder
4) select files, files, folder or folders (using ctrl and shift as necessary if you know that this trick exists)
5) navigate to USB drive
6) locate folder on USB drive where you want to paste.

And that's 6! Operation incomplete.

 

[CZroe]

1) Open explorer
2) navigate to drive
3) navigate to folder
4) select files, files, folder or folders (using ctrl and shift as necessary if you know that this trick exists)
5) navigate to USB drive
6) locate folder on USB drive where you want to paste.

And that's 6! Operation incomplete.

Or you could right-click and select "Send to..."

 

[AznAnarchy99]

A guy called me today with a problem. I try walking him through a few steps. He gives up after half a step saying "this technology bullshit frustrates me just fix it!".

He was trying to connect to a wifi network. This guy is under the age of 30....

 

[ctbaars]

Never heard of Waterfox till now. Is it easy to use?

A guy called me today with a problem. I try walking him through a few steps. He gives up after half a step saying "this technology bullshit frustrates me just fix it!".

He was trying to connect to a wifi network. This guy is under the age of 30....

connecting to a wifi network can be frustrating.
It's frustrating when I can't get my work done when my tools don't work.
Americans are the lowest tech savvy in the 1st world.

 

[darkswordsman17]

A guy called me today with a problem. I try walking him through a few steps. He gives up after half a step saying "this technology bullshit frustrates me just fix it!".

He was trying to connect to a wifi network. This guy is under the age of 30....

Yeah age has nothing to do with it. I've known old people who were awesome to work with (genuinely interested in computers and learning, didn't let simple things frustrate them even if they had to ask a bunch, and weren't frustrating to have to deal with), and young people that teaching them how to turn on a light switch is like pulling teeth. I had someone tell me they didn't know how to e-mail even though they'd been doing it for 10 years already.

I really don't know what's causing it. Hell, there's a ton of examples on here of tech-inclined and allegedly knowledgeable people that get like psychotically pissed off about things when it's just they won't take 2 seconds to learn it.

 

[rudeguy]

Yeah age has nothing to do with it. I've known old people who were awesome to work with (genuinely interested in computers and learning, didn't let simple things frustrate them even if they had to ask a bunch, and weren't frustrating to have to deal with), and young people that teaching them how to turn on a light switch is like pulling teeth. I had someone tell me they didn't know how to e-mail even though they'd been doing it for 10 years already.

I really don't know what's causing it. Hell, there's a ton of examples on here of tech-inclined and allegedly knowledgeable people that get like psychotically pissed off about things when it's just they won't take 2 seconds to learn it.

http://lonerwolf.com/sense-of-entitlement/

 

[dave_the_nerd]

 sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

You forgot the "-y"

 

[lxskllr]

You forgot the "-y"

Ah, I didn't think of it cause I like seeing what's gonna happen before it does, and don't use it. That does take away the complexity of hitting [Enter] :^D

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yep. He had some big long rant about how he knew more about computers than some guy at Best Buy. He made a point of being a dick to some poor minimum wage worker who was just trying to help him.

If the OP's job is to help users, he needs a new line of work.

Because the BestBuy worker didn't know the difference between a ChromeBook and a laptop.

That's like going into a restaurant and the waitress not knowing the difference between chicken and fish.

Edit: Oh, and I didn't know that posting one other rant, means that I post these threads "all the time".

 

[VirtualLarry]

I bet you get paid for doing this.

I wish!

 

[VirtualLarry]

It does. Mine popped up on me yesterday telling me that there was an update.

That's not an auto-update. That's an update notification. You still have to manually "click through" the update, including restarting the browser, and on Win7 64-bit, clicking "YES" to a UAC prompt.

 

[smackababy]

Because the BestBuy worker didn't know the difference between a ChromeBook and a laptop.

That's like going into a restaurant and the waitress not knowing the difference between chicken and fish.

Edit: Oh, and I didn't know that posting one other rant, means that I post these threads "all the time".

Is a Chromebook not a laptop?

And, if a restaurant has hundreds (if not thousands) of products that change every few months in sometimes the most minuscule of details, perhaps a BestBuy working IS like a waiter.

I don't expect my waiter to know the finer points of wine pairings, for instance. I expect the person certified to know that to, which is why they bring them over.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Ah, I didn't think of it cause I like seeing what's gonna happen before it does, and don't use it. That does take away the complexity of hitting [Enter] :^D

Generally I wouldn't tell people to use it, and to do a --dry-run first, for precisely that reason.

But if you're looking for mindlessly easy... :whiste:

(Hell, drop that as a shell script in cron.daily and forget about it forever.)

 

[dave_the_nerd]

What do you do with the ones that refuse to let you walk them through it, but instead, ask you to "just do it for me"? Constantly. The ones that abjectly refuse to learn, or even attempt to learn?

I... ask them if they'd like to learn so that they will be, like, empowered and shit?

Maybe it's just my blind luck, but most people would rather be self-sufficient. The only people I've known who were timid about asking for help had been abused by jerkwad techs and were used to getting the Nick Burns "MOOOOVE!" treatment.

If you politely explain things, don't intimate that people are dumb just because they're ignorant, (you gotta learn it some time) and try to make people feel like you respect them for making an effort, most well-adjusted folks will make the attempt and do okay, even if they occasionally need a reminder.

Customer Service, bitches.

As another aside, the Best Buy employees around these parts usually have a decent-to-middling understanding of computers in general. Even if they aren't super-up on the latest IT best practices, they were more than capable of answering the kinds of questions that a typical nonprofessional home user might ask. And their answers are usually mostly correct. (You'd get the desired result, even if it might not be the fastest/best/cheapest way to do it.)

Honestly, I know it's fun to knock the blueshirts, but they're no worse than the kids at Microcenter.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Sounds like you provide terrible customer service

Because I'm patient, and MORE than willing to sit down with some and help them learn, and they refuse to accept that help, but instead, demand that I perform every menial task for them? It's a waste of my time, when they should be perfectly capable of doing these things themselves, after being shown several times how, and hopefully try them themselves some time.

me: "click the mouse inside the search box"
them: "double-click, or single click"
me: "single-click"
them: "left or right click"
me: "left click"
them: "I HATE COMPUTERS. WHY ARE THEY SO COMPLICATED! I GIVE UP!"
them: "Can you look this up for me on the internet? And print out the web page for me?"

Sigh.

You really going to try and say that's MY fault, with a straight face?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Because I'm patient, and MORE than willing to sit down with some and help them learn, and they refuse to accept that help, but instead, demand that I perform every menial task for them? It's a waste of my time, when they should be perfectly capable of doing these things themselves, after being shown several times how, and hopefully try them themselves some time.

me: "click the mouse inside the search box"
them: "double-click, or single click"
me: "single-click"
them: "left or right click"
me: "left click"
them: "I HATE COMPUTERS. WHY ARE THEY SO COMPLICATED! I GIVE UP!"
them: "Can you look this up for me on the internet? And print out the web page for me?"

Sigh.

You really going to try and say that's MY fault, with a straight face?

I honestly never get reactions like that from people who aren't already emotionally unstable. (and you gotta be tuned in enough to catch those people and do what they're going to want before it escalates.)

Unless there's a bottle of lithium next to the computer, I think you may be missing a key factor.

 

[Phoenix86]

Because I'm patient, and MORE than willing to sit down with some and help them learn, and they refuse to accept that help, but instead, demand that I perform every menial task for them? It's a waste of my time, when they should be perfectly capable of doing these things themselves, after being shown several times how, and hopefully try them themselves some time.

me: "click the mouse inside the search box"
them: "double-click, or single click"
me: "single-click"
them: "left or right click"
me: "left click"
them: "I HATE COMPUTERS. WHY ARE THEY SO COMPLICATED! I GIVE UP!"
them: "Can you look this up for me on the internet? And print out the web page for me?"

Sigh.

You really going to try and say that's MY fault, with a straight face?

Initially, no. By now? Yes.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Also, be self-effacing. Tell them about the time you set your computer on fire.

Oh, and lie. Like, a crapton. Any mistake they made that you correct, tell a little story about how you learned that the hard way and lost your term paper or something. Even if you never made that mistake before in your life.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm really curious about this too. Why would they be using anything other than Chrome, IE or Firefox?

Because Waterfox is the safest, fastest, and most developed 64-bit browser out of those.
And this user in particular doesn't close their browser for months at a time. So to prevent strange errors from OOM conditions with a 32-bit browser, I set them up with a 64-bit browser and 16GB of RAM. It's all about catering to the user with the best solution for them.