How many time I tried to teach those little tricks or try to fix a desktop problem to see that the person is fleeing, or just looking at his watch when I show them how to accomplish a task?
How many time I saw my colleagues starting to sleep whenever I’m trying to explain my work ?
Am I speaking a language that nobody understand ? Do I overestimate the abilities of ordinary user to understand even basic concepts, or simple written procedure ?
Probably, but since I strongly believe computer users are intellectual workers, they should be interested to hear about their tools.
Sometimes, things aren’t just like that but I believe it is just another case of Technophobia, however there’s probably an explanation to it. People are so afraid they can’t learn, as soon as the explaination or the repair starts they either flee or doze off.
‘I’ve never heard of a firewall. What is it? They might as well be speaking Arabic to me because I haven’t got a clue. Normally when the technical support people come to fix my computer I just disappear and make a cup of tea.
‘But I don’t feel I should know more - that is their job. If we did it all ourselves they would be out of a job.’ Office blunders caused by computer jargon
Why people are behaving this way ? Because they see computers, software or any other “technology” as a black box : Click here then here then pouf the thing start acting. That’s probably what Arthur C. Clark meant when he wrote “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Maybe I’m too idealistic.
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