Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

1.  

   No Subject Given

   

   " Your Computer, Sep 5th, 2003 @ 7:37am

   
   

   ... and each and every one of those 7 idiots works in my office ...

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

2.  

   not surprised at all

   

   westpac, Sep 5th, 2003 @ 8:18am

   
   

   I had a boss who had no concept of how "cut" and "paste" worked. Every month I had to go to his office to copy a chunk of boilerplate text out of a spreadsheet from the previous month and paste it onto the new one he'd received from contracts. This went on until he retired. He had no clue how to do the simplest things on his PC, but every year I had to order him a brand-new high-end PC while the worker bees toiled away on decrepit systems.
   
   The new boss wasn't much better. When he was ready to go home every night he simply switched the battery pack off without shutting Windows down. I couldn't get him to quit doing that even after he trashed the Windows registry and ended up losing some a lot of proprietary files.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

3.  

   No Subject Given

   

   Wayne, Sep 5th, 2003 @ 8:20am

   
   

   "These are all the sorts of tasks that you really only need to be taught once"
   
   In theory, yes. In practice, no. Additionally, if these people need help turning the thing on, they definately keep the help desk staff in jobs with plenty of other similarly complicated tasks.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

4.  

   To Be Fair

   

   Anonymous Coward, Sep 5th, 2003 @ 9:13am

   
   

   I have a EE and have been using computers for nearly two decades. HOWEVER, the first time I had to turn on my wife's iMac, it took me five minutes to find the little, recessed button on the back of the machine. Since it was recessed, a casual glance behind the computer didn't reveal it. It wasn't until I turned the whole thing around and got it in good light could I find it.
   
   Now the issue is could I find it a second time, the answer is yes.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

5.  

   Re: To Be Fair

   

   Wayne, Sep 5th, 2003 @ 11:43am

   
   

   And you're not the average office dolt either.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

6.  

   Re: To Be Fair

   

   Anonymous Coward, Sep 5th, 2003 @ 4:31pm

   
   

   We just had the exact same problem with an eMac. Here we were, three or more techy guys at a software development shop, randomly pressing buttons and fiddling with things to try to get the darn power on. In my non-humble opinion, this is a design flaw. The darn button was flush with the case, white on white, and facing down and away from the user.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

7.  

   Nature, not nurture.

   

   Bastard SAM, Sep 5th, 2003 @ 8:22pm

   
   

   I think the problem is the baby boomers. They can't help it. It's just not in their nature. But they're retiring soon. The younger generations, even in rural areas, are a lot more literate in this regard.

   [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

Add Your Comment