Technology has a language barrier for idiots
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Jeff91 Feb 11, 2014 10:13 PM EDT |
To not sugar coat it at all - technology is hard for people who don't like change or are in general not very bright. I work with people every day that have no idea how to do very basic tasks in the applications the user on a daily basis. This isn't a Linux specific issue. People simply enjoy being ignorant and write off their not knowing things on BS excuses like "I'm just not good with technology." when in reality they are just lazy. Hint: We use almost all Microsoft products at work. |
| gary_newell Feb 12, 2014 4:31 AM EDT |
I had a school parent council meeting last night and the parents have raised considerable funds for school purposes. When asked what would be useful in the classroom the headteacher said iPads. Not tablets. iPads. I developed the school website and I had to do it from scratch without the use of something like Google Sites (which would be perfect for a school website) because the school is still using Internet Explorer 6. The amount of hacks I had to put into the code to get the site working so that the kids can update pages is crazy. When asked if there was something I could do, I recommended upgrading the browser to at least Internet Explorer 8 (I would say Chrome or Firefox but it is council run and they are Microsoft zombies). 3 people in the room asked what a browser was including the headteacher and another teacher. How are the kids going to learn about ICT if the teachers don't even know what a browser is? ICT should be a basic skill along with maths and English as far as I'm concerned. My 12 year old son is at academy and in ICT he is learning how to send emails. Seriously? Are there really kids out there that don't know how to send an email by the age of 12. And which email application are they learning? Outlook. Not even Outlook 2010, it is Outlook 2003. The government in the UK need new advisors when it comes to teaching ICT, such as people who have a clue. I left college with a degree in Software Engineering. When I started my first job at IBM I was told to forget everything that I had been taught as it was at least 5 years out of date. |
| Jeff91 Feb 12, 2014 7:11 AM EDT |
Quoting:I left college with a degree in Software Engineering. When I started my first job at IBM I was told to forget everything that I had been taught as it was at least 5 years out of date. This is exactly why my degrees are in mathematics. Always relevant and the problem solving skills directly relate to any programming language. ~Jeff |
| notbob Feb 12, 2014 8:23 AM EDT |
The entire premise of this article is ludicrous on its face. The dumbest kid in class already knows more acronyms for his cellphone than most linux users know for the CLI. How can anyone with the slightest clue believe that CLI commands are any more difficult or arcane than cell phone txt? http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.... That's twice I've seen articles in LXer on this subject in the last cpl wks. The reason ppl don't adopt Linux is cuz they don't care to. It's the same reason I don't know a dozen of these cell phone txt acronyms. I don't care to. I'd rather talk on the phone. An outdated application of the technology, I realize, but what can I say. I'm old school. I think there's a danger, here, of ppl placing too much importance on themselves and their acquired skills. Listing one's academic prowess certainly doesn't dispel such a notion. Jes how much of this "dumbing down" of Linux is elitists snobbery masquerading as altruistic concern? BTW, our local school district jes got 150 new "tablets". They are now gathering dust in boxes cuz the district's network bandwidth is wholly inadequate to support 150 new devices going online. Apparently, "dumbing down" also applies those who assume themselves to already be infallibly knowledgeable. ;) |
| gary_newell Feb 12, 2014 9:46 AM EDT |
"This is exactly why my degrees are in mathematics." There is no way I would have ever managed to get a degree in mathematics. |
| Bob_Robertson Feb 12, 2014 11:14 AM EDT |
> our local school district jes got 150 new "tablets". They are now gathering dust in boxes cuz the district's network bandwidth is wholly inadequate to support 150 new devices going online A perfect example of the "calculation problem" as described by Ludwig von Mises in 1920. > Apparently, "dumbing down" also applies those who assume themselves to already be infallibly knowledgeable. Bureaucracy creates perverse incentives, and separates those who know the information from those who make the decisions. |
| frankiej Feb 12, 2014 11:23 AM EDT |
Quoting: like "I'm just not good with technology." when in reality they are just lazy. I have seen http://lmgtfy.com/ invoked by others on a couple of occasions for people like that. |
| JaseP Feb 12, 2014 4:00 PM EDT |
> BTW, our local school district jes got 150 new "tablets". They are now gathering dust in boxes cuz the district's network bandwidth is wholly inadequate to support 150 new devices going online. Is it that the bandwidth is inadequate, or that they have it covered by routers that are all using channel 6??? |
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