Learn how to use your computer, damnit!

The BBQ Pit
1

Really, do. It’s a good idea.
I am sick and freakin’ tired of people blaming computer manufacturers and software companies because they don’t know what the hell they are doing.
If you buy a toyota, and you don’t know how to drive, and then you wrap the car around a tree, do you blame toyota? Only if you’re a complete idiot.
Granted, software and hardware are not without their problems. Anything manmade is not perfect, but that’s just the way it is.

People bitch and complain and say stuff like “stupid @#$%! computer, what a piece of junk, I’m about to throw it out the window, it’s a piece of shit, it doesn’t work, blooh, ahr, org!”
and the whole time the problem is that they don’t know you can’t save a file directly to a CD-RW drive, you can’t plug your surge protector back into itself, you can’t use a computer if you don’t know what a space bar is, and so on.
So please, buy a book. Take a class. Get a clue and at least admit that maybe the problem is not the system, but in fact you! Or more specifically your ignorance.
Christ, people, it’s a high tech piece of equipment, not a frickin’ blender! At least read the manual, or ask a friend or something. But don’t assume it’s the machine, it’s probably your dumb ass who can’t use it.

[disclaimer]
This is not directed at anyone in particular. It was a rant and rave to let off a lil steam, one of the great things about this board. So, know that it is not you who I am raving about, at least not directly. Thank you for your consideration.
[/disclaimer]

“Winners never quit and quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots.”

2

For me, software, not computers have been the problem. Software programmers are especially egregious. Accounting software programmers are the worst offenders. These freaks all think they are smarter than everybody else, but NONE of them seem to know ANYTHING about accounting. I think they read an accounting textbook, say to themselves ‘hey, there’s nothin’ to this, just make the debits equal the credits and we’re there, dude’, then put together some funky piece ‘o shit and called it ‘a fully integrated user friendly accounting package’. Just try to use this in the real world. HA! You might as well use a stone and a fucking chisel-it would take less time. I’ve never used accounting software that didn’t require major ‘workarounds’. By that I mean it won’t let you do what you want to do when you want to do it so you gotta freakin’ WORKAROUND it. Then-there are the updates- What a fucking joy these are. They’re really attempts at bug fixes, presented as ‘expanded features with a more user friendly interface’ but what they really are is some kind of busy whiz bang front end with the same old crap rumbling around underneath.

Get a clue, you cheeto eating, ding-dong snarfing bastards. Accounting ain’t that easy. If it were anybody could do it.

3

LOL San,

Gee, I wonder if ******** should place that on their web site…might help you out < giggle >.

I know exactly what you mean.

I had a department that was trying to load this crap software called “Tool Watch” The software worked fine but the OCR pen wasn’t being recognized. (it’s a stand alone program based on Access, cost them $2,000 plus training, for tool inventory.)

The problem computer that is in use is exactly the same as mine except a slower processor and a smaller hard drive. They had been able to get it to work on another computer in the department, but not on this one.

I installed a new serial board, the BIOS saw it, Windows saw it but the fucking software didn’t see it.

The software manufacturer kept stating it was the computer, the computer was the problem, get a new computer etc. etc.

Lo and fucking behold, the user of the computer accidentally launched the demo program…guess what, the software finally found the fucking pen!

SO, the moral of this story is, it’s not just users that are stupid, it’s software programmers that wont own up to the fact they can’t program for shit and have no recourse but to blame the computer hardware.

BTW, I deal with it on a different level than you, and like my experience above, I am usually right < giggle >. I told the department over and over and over the computer was fine, it was the software…did they believe me? NO, not until the accident.

Ever since then they have been off my back and ask me “nicely” when they need help…you bet your sweet ass I had a shit eating grin on my face when the software was proven to be the problem.

4

OH and BTW San…remember to identify yourself if you hear the name Liz and the words “What center am I calling” or “Which state am I calling” etc…I want to know it’s you so I can give you shit!!! :wink:

5

You got it lady. :smiley:
Tuff nite at the office, you know, that’s all.
Tonight I was trying to look for apts online and every so often some nimrod would come on the phone and complain about how stupid they are. You’d think I was at work or something.
Heh.
Thanks for not blowing my cover.
OH yeah, we’re in the pit…
You silly-ass! :wink:

“Winners never quit and quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots.”

6

[Accounting software programmers are the worst offenders.}

Yeah, those accountants are SOOOOOO much smarter than us dumb ass programmers. Our software is so bad I’m surprised they can use it at all.

Just yesterday I had to explain the “bug” in my software that wouldn’t let A/P void a check that they marked as having cleared the bank.

After that I spent time justifying the “bug” in the job cost module that caused the job expense report to not recognize that when they spent 4 weeks entering job numbers as quantities that they really, really meant them to be job numbers, stupid report! (Silly me, I didn’t realize that those column headings on the screen that said “Job Number” and “Quantity” were so close to identical.)

Then there are the 15 times each month I have to explain the “bug” that after they close a period, they can’t post to it unless they re-open it.

Yeah, none of us programmers knows a damn thing.

Ugly

7

I’m a professional computer programmer with 22 years experience and training. I started taking classes when I was 14, and had my first programming job at 17. I mention this to demonstrate that I got into programming because I love the profession.

I have to disagree with Lexicon. Computers are complicated, quirky machines with a lot of really crappy software.

There are a lot of reasons for this:

The computer hardware technology has advanced at a mind-numbing pace never before seen in the history of technology. By the time any sort of standards, especially hardware standards, can be set, the technology has advance to make them irrelevant. And when you’re dealing with thousands of manufacturers and tens of thousands of distributors, bizarre incompatibilities are unavoidable.

It’s really easy to become a computer programmer. A programming degree often emphasizes skills and technology long outdated in commercial practice. And, unlike engineering degrees, CS degrees often do not require any difficult math classes. I have seen people with Master’s degrees who couldn’t comprehend the simplest techniques and algorithms.

Computer programs are the most complicated technical artifacts ever developed. The Space Shuttle has tens or hundreds of thousands of interacting parts. The Windows operating system has tens of millions of interacting lines of code.

So we have poorly trained people working on unstable platforms to make incredibly complicated artifacts. Do you wonder why they mostly suck?

Once the technology advances two or three orders of magnitude, it may start to level out, and we might be able to develop standards and practices that have some chance of surviving. Until then, you’re at the frontiers of technology. You have to expect a lot of problems.

He’s the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor, shouting ‘All Gods are Bastards!’

8

At the university here (University of Louisiana at Lafayette), you have to take Calculus I,II, and III among other fiendish math courses just for a bachelor’s degree.

“Honey we’re recovering Christians.”
–Tori Amos - In the Springtime of his Voodoo

9

[sarcasm level=0]

Singledad:

I don’t see how you’re disagreeing with me, I really don’t.
What you say is seems to be pretty valid, and all I am saying is that in spite of everything you said, people who think that (everything you said) the system/software is always to blame when they do something incredibly stupid (see examples in OP) are getting the aggravation they deserve.
In fact, everything you posted further validates what I am trying (apparently unsuccessfully) to say:
If you don’t know how to use something, and you fuck it up doing so, then you have only yourself to blame.

How did you validate what I am trying to say, you ask? And I answer:
Given: Computers are complicated, quirky machines with a lot of really crappy software.

Okay, rattlesnakes are complicated, quirky reptiles with lot’s of poisonus hemo-toxin.

Does that mean that if anyone but an experienced snake handler picks up a rattlesnake they are justified blaming the snake for biting them?

If you don’t know what you’re doing, the machine being “quirky” and hard to use makes it all the more reason to be as proficient(sp?) as possible before attempting to run a business on that machine. It just makes sense.
I don’t know why people think computers are any different from any other machine or tool in the respect that you should at least have a rudimentary knowledge of how to use one before using it for anything important.

All the examples in the OP were calls that I have actually taken, from people who were sincerely pissed off because “their computer didn’t work”. No, you just don’t know how to use, it, nimrod.
So that’s how. Thanks for bringing it all up. I owe you one.

“Winners never quit and quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots.”

10

Lex: I have a lot of sympathy for your position. Having done my time in tech support, I have seen legions who really are too stupid to live, much less use a computer.

I have been on all three sides of this question: I have been frustrated by bad software, and have committed a few bonehead errors of my own. I have tried to explain the complicated workings of these quirky beasts to people of, shall we say, “alternative mentality”. And I have written a good bit of software.

I have sympathy for people of apparantly normal intelligence who are just not able to grasp the intricacies of even a well-written program. And, given their experience with poorly-written software, it’s not always totally unreasonable for them to assume that the software is at fault. I must admit I have done so myself in the past, and I’m a trained professional. Very embarassing.

Personally, I reserve my indignation for people who can’t learn to drive properly, a much simpler and well-standardized task.

He’s the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor, shouting ‘All Gods are Bastards!’

11

I don’t know anything about ULL, but those sound like lower division courses to me.

12

Here’s the type of frustration that many of us share.

Everytime I open up a link to TIME magazine from within AOL, the pop-up ad for a TIME subscription opens an IE5 window. Somehow this triggers a Norton Crash Guard alert. About 90% of the time, I can termininate just the IE window & resume my post, but sometimes & I have to reboot the whole system.

Is this a problem with AOL? They say no. With the computer? Hardly. With IE? With Norton? Is any tech at any of these companies going to accept that it may be a glitch with their software (or hardware) causing this disruption? And help me fix it? I really don’t see that happening.

Unfortunately, since our system is now about 3 years old, my past experience tells me that these multi-component glitches will keep popping up with increasing frequency until the day I’m ready to cough up 1-2K for a new system. And decide whether to transfer information & maybe glitches from the old system to the new one.

I’m mainly grousing here. I’d be happy to try any tech tips for this problem though. :slight_smile:

Sue from El Paso

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

13

Compared to many of you I am a stinkin’ newbie (and I am, I am…) but I do know what you are talking about, generally.

I have had to basically teach myself everything about computers, with some emailed help from a few computer-saavy friends. But mostly, it’s been me, experience, and books. And no, I do not pretend to know a lot. I’ve never worked inside or tinkered with a computer (other than opening a PC’s case once to remove a screw that had come loose and was rattling around! ;)) I certainly know nothing about programming, etc. I know I am basically a newbie.

However, I think I know the basics. I knew what kind of computer I wanted to buy, and I bought it. I know how much RAM I wanted, what brand and speed of processor, you know, the MOST basic of things. (And, I suppose, a few not quite basic things.) And yet, I have talked to sooooo many people who are all enthusiasm about computers, say they love their computers, but know none of these most basic of things. They vaguely know that they have a Windows machine. But RAM? CPU speed? HD? They don’t even know what they are! How can you buy software for a computer when you don’t even frickin’ know what it is?!?!?! But people like this are not at all uncommon, but probably do think that they “know enough”.

The corker was a co-worker of mine, who had just bought a top-of-the-line HP notebook. She mentioned something about “Windows 97”. She also lamented that she could not print from her new laptop, because Works, the software that came with it, was not compatable with the printer on the big desktop computer. The desktop computer had Word, not Works, and could not recognize the Works file format. She was complaining that there was this terrible problem with the software, and notebook. She professed to “know what I need to know - know how to get around”, but yet, she did not know that Works, (and most other Word Processing programs) will actually create files in more than one format. (She didn’t look to see what other formats Works could use - she just thought it saved files in the WORKS format exclusively, until I told her otherwise.) But, yet, of course, she “knew how to get around”. Oh yeah.

Hey, it’s nothing to me. If someone wants t wallow in ignorance, fine with me. I mean, I still wallow in ignorance because I am too chicken to add more RAM to my own computer. It’s all a matter of degrees. But then I will be the first to claim that I am a newbie. Still many gaps in my understanding. I don’t profess to “know what I need to know”. Sheesh.

14

i think this would be the appropriate thread to post this message in. please be patient, it takes a little while to load if you have a slow internet connection. enjoy ;D
learning how to use my computer
bj0rn - smurf you!

15

quote:

CS degrees often do not require any difficult math classes.

At the university here (University of Louisiana at Lafayette), you have to take Calculus I,II, and III among other fiendish math courses just for a bachelor’s degree.

Wow that school sounds easy compared to Virginia tech, where I usually go.

P.S. Lexi don’t piss me off, im an accomplished hack

~-MCM-~

16

I thought this said “fetish”
scary thing is, it made sense to me that way!

–
From an actual catalog: “Disco balls create an enchanting, dazzling effect of light shafts, adding movement and glamour to any occasion”
the Abrams’ bris was certainly memorable
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com

17

{{{P.S. Lexi don’t piss me off, im an accomplished hack}}}—mm

The most reasonable interpretation of the above involves either hairballs or taxi cabs.

“Virginia Tech” simply speaks for itself. :rolleyes:

–Kalél
Common ¢ for all ages…
“If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.”
“Well, there was that thing with the Cheese-Wiz…but I’m feeling much better now!” – John Astin, Night Court

18

-Lexico

Having worked as an electronic technician for 10 years, I know the unspoken motto of most companies is “RIGHT NOW before RIGHT”. With the fast pace of new technology, most products (hardware and software) are sent to market before being fully tested. I can see this at my present job with the increasing number of Engineering Change Notices per product.
As time goes on, there is a lot more crappy products available. First we had “planned obsolesence”, manufacture products that break within few years so that the customer has to buy a new one. Now we have “upgraded versions” and of course “fixes” since they were rushed to market.

So, yes, it is the hardware …
and the software…
and greed…
and Billy (my way) Gates…
and …
don’t hack me off, im an accomplished piss :rolleyes:

19

Usually go? What, do you flunk out of a lot of universities and find yourself reapplying a lot?

“I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”

20

MM sez:

You don’t even realize how right you are.