Age of technology should have rubbed off on them
Do you guys remember I am a programmer? Sometimes I seem to forget what my day job is. During the day I am a nerdy loser sitting in front of a big huge ass monitor with split screens coding away. I create magnificent pieces of functional art that people can use with a touch of a button, instead of them using the vintage methods of paper and ball point pens. Moreover, at night, my alter ego is the Rebellious Arab Girl who writes to save culture from permanent shame and ridicule.
Anyways, as an 80′s child, I don’t find technology strange at all. I grew up in the most incredibly evolving era in history, and I embraced the “aww” of it all. So why didn’t people who are 5, 10, 15 years older than me try to as well?
I have a serious problem with people not knowing how to use a computer. I have a serious problem with people who can sign up for Facebook and use every aspect of it, chat like there is no tomorrow on MSN, and send SMS using their cellphones like speed typing pros, but ask the stupidest questions like, “why isn’t this website working?” “Why isn’t my email working?” “The top navigation buttons were there, where did they go?”
Fuck, check your internet connection! Use the scroll bar! Move the fucking mouse up and down! Your computer did not die all of a sudden and the buttons didn’t disappear. It’s your brain cells that stopped functioning all of a sudden when a new unrecognizable screen shows up! Don’t be afraid of technology. Embrace it. Love it. Make it your BBF! Cause hell, if I had to judge your work performance, then don’t feel bad when I tell you that it is 2010! I don’t care if you are the smartest person in your field. If you can use the computer only when it is fun for you, then you better know how to use it when you have to type your new resume when I fire your ass!
Why do these people still have jobs? Why are they still sought after and hired? For their old unbeatable skills that well, never enhanced and are irrelevant for today’s technologically enhanced market?
When 2020 comes, if I still see people who know shit about computers and why “things” happen to work a certain way in some places, and different in others, then I will start a revolution. Mona against technology-impaired simpletons. And oh, I will win because I will get technology to do the work for me!
Loading ...Angry, Blah Blah, Random Thoughts, Ranting as usual!, Thank you, They said what?, Whatever!
I looove FouseyTube!! All of his videos are... 
“why isn’t this website working?†“Why isn’t my email working?â€
I volunteer for my host and I get about 600 tickets, minimum every 24 hours, with questions like those. I answer them the best that I can, though it still annoys me when people purchase a domain and do not know what an FTP client is, how to use one, or worst of all, when they don’t read the welcome email we have been sending out since 2000 to every single person who has purchased hosting from us. As of 2001, we’ve actually had to put a little note on our server that if you’ve never used FTP or installed and used website scripts on an actual domain, our hosting may not be for you.
I even get those same questions when I send out a massive 1000-customer notice that we’re going to be doing maintenance on the server from 2am-4am Central time and people will STILL EMAIL IN A TICKET WITH: “OMG! Did u no my sight was down from 2 till 4 this morning?! WUT GIVES?!” That’s an actual ticket I had last week. I emailed them back this response: “Since it’s clear that your eye sight has returned, hence you can see well enough to send me this email, check your inbox and junk folders because we sent you a notice that your WEBSITE may not be functional during those time periods. It’s strange that your vision failed you during that same time frame. See a physician and an opthamologist, NOT AN OPTOMETRIST as they don’t know about eye-to-brain anatomy and functions. If your vision fails you again during one of our scheduled maintenance, my suggestion would be for you to cancel your hosting account with us immediately and downgrade to a more idiot-friendly host such as DreamHost or CyberPixels. If your vision fails you again while being hosted with another host, I suggest you buy some first-grade “I CAN READ” books and just put having a website on the back burner for now.”
Mona, you want to know why? I’ll tell you why! It’s because MS jumped on the “people are too stupid to be able to use computers” bandwagon when they released Windows 95 (which was 15 years ago! which means most computer users today never even saw a pre-Windows 95 PC!). They PROTECTED people from their own computers with Plug & Play hardware, and with software that automated as much as could possibly be automated. And Microsoft has never looked back.
People don’t know anything about their computers because:
1) They don’t need to
2) Even if they had an interest in knowing how their PC works, MS has made a conscious effort to block users from manually taking control of their own PCs
3) MS has promoted a software development philosophy that says anything that confuses the user is bad design
And so on!
But you know what? I’m being a little unfair. I was a PC tech for about a year before I got my first programming job and I can recall how much trouble even technical people had with their computers, back then. Also, I was a DOS and embedded systems programmer for a couple years before I got into Windows development and I can recall how much trouble even technical people had with the non-intuitive interfaces that were the norm in those environments. So, I’m being a bit harsh with MS for catering to users who have neither the time nor the inclination to become PC experts and just want to sit down in front of their computers and do what they want to do without any hassles.
About the age thing… lol. I’ve yet to meet anyone under the age of 40 who has the level of PC expertise that was pretty routine in the industry when I started. Have you ever had to turn off interrupts to make your code run more efficiently, for instance?
Don’t get me started on my cousins, who are all younger than you! I know for a fact they’ve been using PCs since they were old enough to use a keyboard, because I built their PCs. But can they do anything besides play games or use facebook? Hell no.
And then there’s my mother, who was a computer programmer when I was born. You should have seen the arguments I had with her trying to convince her to switch to Windows from DOS, switch to MS word from Wordperfect, upgrade her memory and disk space, and so on. She’d be perfectly happy using a mainframe console right now, if that was an option! So what’s her excuse?
Well, so… anyway… great post! Love the nerd rage :p
im not that good with computers,,, but im sure ur 11/10 =D
@mais
Your good with computers because you found my blog, and I am sure you didn’t end up here because you were searching for porn!
I’m happy I found you’re blog =) I had to go through some very depressing blogs to get to the rose garden.
I am sure you didn’t end up here because you were searching for porn!
I was, but that’s not the point! Google is another cause of unsophisticated users! Damn Bill Gates for ever making “Where do you want to go today?” the Windows slogan! And what’s up with all those childish names, like “MyComputer”…”MyDocuments”… “MySpace”…. it makes me want to vomit! Could Microsoft have possibly been more condescending and patronizing with their marketing and development strategies? They even outdid Apple, the grand-daddy of “users are stupid” philosophy!
Bill Gates turned the nerd paradise that was the PC industry in the late 1980s into a playground for idiots and morons who were barely competent to use an electronic calculator. Bill Gates is the anti-christ. I need an “undo” button for Bill Gates. Alternatively, somebody could chain him up in a basement somewhere until he comes up with a replacement platform for what the PC used to be!
bill gates didnot invent windows.he baught it form a disperate and badly need money inventor.later bill gate’s freinds and his inventive staff developed to this stage.sometimes by little knowledge we boast too much that know everything the other dont know.
childish “myblog” is not “mycriag” .
sometimes by little knowledge we boast too much that know everything the other dont know.
You are right! For instance, I know that DOS was based on Digital Research’s CP/M and was the OS on the original IBM PC in 1981. Whereas, you *think* that MS DOS and MS Windows (which was released in 1985) are the same thing :p
Do you consider yourself a knowledgeable person when it comes to computers, myblog?
@myblog
PS (in case you don’t know how to use Google)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows
craig,
you said : You are right! For instance, I know that DOS was based on Digital Research’s CP/M and was the OS on the original IBM PC in 1981. Whereas, you *think* that MS DOS and MS Windows (which was released in 1985) are the same thing :p
and PS (in case you don’t know how to use Google)….
this is called boasting…
those who invent programmes,google,yahoo,windows etc…never boast like the one who got certificate from some institute or university.
we just learn from some one and think that we are the real inventors..
i remember , a computer eng..was telling in an interview that,i got degree in computer sceince, but tomorrow i will be a junk in front of a crash course student if i dont upgrade my knowledge everyday..
i may be a master of lisp today may be a thrash next day,coz computer tech is changing every hour/every day so rapidly.. when a programmer or some cirtyfied master knew something but thinks he knows everything may go rubbish very next day..
so pls know your limit and argue.
THE FOLLOWING QUOTE IS FOR ALL OF US,INCLUDING MONA AND ME:
* Nobody can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.
“Sydney J. Harris”
God is beautiful; we have touch of beauty that means beauty can’t be understood. What is beautiful to one is horrible to another. Great minds tried to answer the basic idea of understanding the mind. Isn’t that known as psychology? I have my moments with computer languages, not a computer geek or wanting to be. When it comes down to it, I am a total primate. I love the same crap that my ancestors like, in my religion our founder constantly talks about the sun goddess, since to our people of long ago figure out that the sun is our source of life. I am the guy who will stand in the rain and enjoy that feeling from the divine and some, okay most will run like it is going to burn their skin off their bodies. I always said what I hate about people is the same thing that I love about people. Now here is a thought, what if everyone was like me and now that’ll be a terrible thing. The sad thing that might be our climatic end, we will lose that our ancestors knew and honor. We are destroying the planet with our minds that created this technology. I am not against technology but we must realize what our ancestors knew that the earth will defend itself and we are helpless against that kind of power. So I will leave by saying, “go outside, get away from your damn computer and those cell phones and lay in the sun, feel the wind, listen to the birds singing and just enjoy!â€
@Adrian Nichiyobi Stewart….
“go outside, get away from your damn computer and those cell phones and lay in the sun, feel the wind, listen to the birds singing and just enjoy!â€
ME : and go to africa from canada by a bullock cart
Not sure if this is worse than those who call tech support from their cells to complain about the PC not working, while their house is experiencing a power blackout, which prevented them from calling from the electric home phone in the first place. I guess some people never burned down their computers and vowed to fix them on their own. Trial and error teaches you stuff, ya know.
@myblog
this is called boasting…
lol. Dude, you accused me of being wrong, and “corrected” me – but you were wrong. That’s not called “boasting”. Do I need to teach you to use a dictionary, next?
Now now my little happy visitors. No need to fight amongst each other. Fight with me instead!
Computers have just got far too big for any one person to understand. Operating system kernels, device drivers, applications, mobile apps, web servers, app servers, databases, numerous communication protocols, lots of languages, and to top it all, they’re progressing at break neck speed.
P.S. I see Craig is starting fights again
@Meyrick Kirby
P.S. I see Craig is starting fights again
Excuse me? This person “MyBlog” openly insulted me, and to make matters worse he/she was wrong.
Reminds me of somebody else
Computers have just got far too big for any one person to understand.
It doesn’t help when people who represent themselves as being knowledgeable start fights by making silly claims like “Oracle is written in Java”. Did you ever admit to being wrong about that? Are you willing to do so now? Or do you just enjoy being part of the problem Mona was complaining about?
@Meyrick Kirby
PS:
Computers have just got far too big for any one person to understand. Operating system kernels, device drivers, applications, mobile apps, web servers, app servers, databases, numerous communication protocols, lots of languages, and to top it all, they’re progressing at break neck speed.
There never was a time when any one person understood every aspect of the computer industry. Do you think mainframe COBOL programmers had any clue what systems programmers did for a living, way back in the 1960s? I know from talking to my mother and other COBOL programmers that they were much more out of touch than programmers are today. Languages like C and C++ have blurred the lines between systems programming and application programming quite considerably. To the point where some programmers seem unaware of the differences. Names withheld to protect the innocent, of course.
Doctor to his friend,
A computer programmer visited yesterday and was asking too many questions about her ailing parents. She is so illiterate desert Arab girl to ask such questions.
Friend : hahahahaha.
Wow. It’s like a red rag to a bull
@Meyrick Kirby
That was the second time you launched an unprovoked attack on me. Despite Mona’s request that we both knock it off after our first encounter. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’ve been completely ignoring you? But I won’t ignore attacks. Especially considering you were so badly wrong in virtually everything you said during that first argument. You want to be a loudmouth dumbass that’s up to you. Just stay the hell away from me if you don’t want me to respond. That’s what Mona asked of us, anyway.
I wanted to comment and write a new post today, but I only slept for like 3 hours total for the past two nights. I am dead tired and I can’t function. My head is killing me. So carry on in that argument. Hopefully tomorrow I can tell you all off and we can all live happily ever after in internet land!
Good nightz!
Don’t you think that we became addicted on technology? Well we are tweeting every unimportant thing in our lifes….enjoying get to know people form online…..and at the end of the day spend the whole night on 2nd life……..and some times blogging to just remind our self who we are (at least this true for me)……………but where is our true life in this e-Story? I’m working in Tech and spending at least 4 hours on the internet at home aside of spending the whole working hours on the internet…..but we need to have a real life…..simple….true….tangible. Some times I think tech and communication revolution is just making us isolated more and more…..even that we know more news about friends but we aren’t emotionally attached to them………they are simply contacts on our mobile….friends on Facebook…..and maybe games-mate. I think we need to get our true simple life back………….and for me I can life without Facebook and cell phone.
ohh Mona…we need people like you. I am a semi techie and much more comfortable on a Mac but use PCs all the time also. When I do encounter tech issues…I read the FAQ and the exhaust the help sections before I harasses the tech folks…don’t I get brownie points for that?
@maj
I really liked your comment, maj. You described the problem (and I absolutely do agree it is a problem) perfectly! And to add to what you wrote, I would suggest that even if people do decide to spend more time in the “real” world and less time in the virtual, most of us who are on computers all day every day have let our offline lives fall by the wayside so there’s not much there to go back to.
@Craig,
you are really a nice person with short temper.
criticism is good to correct our(also mine)faults or mistakes.
i like you brother.
@myblog
Ouch! That’s what I always say about my dad! Thanks, though
I remember using DOS and Wordstar. OMG I am old.