[plug] Forum Software

[Tim Bowden]

On Thu, 2007-07-26 at 14:35 +0800, Alex Polglaze wrote:
> 
> 
> Tim Bowden wrote: 
> > > Those are the people sick of striving to be mediocre.
> > > 
> > > Do we show them the wide *open* spaces that offer freedom of choice
> > > or do we move them from their existing cage into one that's got the
> > > furniture re-arranged?
> > >     
> > 
> > Re-arrange the furniture.  Sad to say, most people aren't interested in
> > exploring the vistas of freedom.  They /want/ to be led by the nose.
> > Press button A, Fill in form B etc without knowing /why/ they need to do
> > things the way they do.  If something goes wrong, they stop till someone
> > sorts it out.  They're not interested in having a solid conceptual
> > understanding of why they are doing things the way they are.  So long as
> > they are comfortable with the the quality of leadership (rightly or
> > wrongly), by and large they will go where they are lead.  If this sounds
> > a little depressing, it's because my experience is that the majority of
> > people think this way (well strictly speaking, are this way because they
> > don't think critically).  Those that do have an enquiring mind are in
> > the minority.
> >   
> Yes but a lot people think of computers as nothing but tools. We
> shouldn't think or believe that people want to know how a computer
> works. Compare it to your car.
> 
> You fill it up once a week, probably don't even check the tyres, let
> alone the oil. Take it to a mechanic maybe once a year for a tune up
> and oil change. You don't want to know how the starter motor works, or
> the theory of the 4 stroke engine, how the gear box or transmissions
> works. It is just a tool to get you from a to b. So it is with a
> computer. It is just a tool to get information from a to b.
> 
> So if it doesn't work, you call the RAC.
> 
> Alex
Re-reading my own post, it does sound a bit elitist, though it's not
meant that way.  What you have said Alex is a much gentler way of making
the same point.  We need to cater to this crowd.  The frontier of linux
adoption no longer involves kernel compiles for network cards just to
get going like it did 10 ~ 15 years ago.  It's how to get sound going in
Ubuntu, or printer setup, or opening word docs all using point and
click.  The technical competence and interest hurdle is much lower
today, and that's a good thing, but it does change the way we need to
help newbies.  We can't assume a willingness and desire to slog away at
a problem for hours for the sheer joy of solving the problem, with
little more than some cryptic pointers as guidance.  We have to be more
in tune to the needs of newbies.  Hopefully the changes we are making
will pay dividends.

Tim

PS, Alex, I bet you could still tell me quite a bit about four stroke
engines, transmissions etc, not because you need to know, but because
you have an enquiring mind and couldn't help but learn about these
things as you went through life.  That's the difference I was trying to
highlight.