The last mini-site was quite successful, and I’ve seen many places linking to it in the last couple of days. I’ve also been reading some opinions and discussions about it.
Some people thought it was funny; some didn’t. So far, so good. Many said that they know people exactly like this - in many cases, “mom” or “dad”. 
But I also saw some comments accusing not only me, but computer techs in general, of being “elitist”, of not understanding that to most people computers are just a tool, not a way of life, and that not understanding computers in depth isn’t a sign of lack of intelligence.
I have to agree with those comments, of course, but there’s another truth that people are simply incapable of accepting: that most people simply refuse, stubbornly, to learn even the most basic things. It’s as if it would be “beneath” them. They actually get offended because they’re expected to remember a password they chose a week ago, or to read prompts before clicking on “OK” or “Yes”.
What does remembering a password have to do with “computers”? You have to remember stuff lots of times in your life. Even if you have a really bad memory, there are ways around that - and I don’t mean a post-it on the monitor.
Someone on Reddit used the usual metaphor: that just because you drive a car, you’re not required to be a mechanic. That’s true; however, it’s the wrong comparison. The correct one would be as if you refused to learn to drive, even to learn which pedal did what, how to turn, and so on, but still demanded to be allowed to drive, even though you were likely to crash into a building each time you did so.
Would most people put up with these “I don’t want to learn how to drive, I just want to go places in my car” characters? Of course not. But, yet, it’s how most people behave about computers. They don’t want to learn, they feel offended if one suggests that they learn anything.
Computers, and operating systems, aren’t still as easy to use as they could be, but, these days, basic usage (again, I’m not talking about programming, or systems administration) is simpler than what most people do in their jobs. You don’t have to be a genius, or an “expert”, to use a computer. But you have to learn the basics, which even a child can do… unless you do what almost everyone does: loudly demand your right to ignorance.
Much like all irrationality is apparently excused, as long as it’s got to do with religion, it seems that all deliberate ignorance, and resistance against learning even the most basic aspects of something you have been doing for years, is fine, as long as it’s got to do with computers.
Elitists? Some of us are, sure. But most are simply baffled at how irrationally stubborn most people are. Many act as if they made a vow: “I will not learn anything about computers; to do so would diminish me.” At least, it’s what it looks like.
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By the end of this decade, people who dont know to use computers might not be able to do their daily activities. So, it is a good thing to learn to use them.
Interesting! IMHO people who don’t want to learn computers should be taught to just use specific (necessary?) applications on the computer which will solve some problems for them. They might not need to know about the OS in everyday work. They can always get someone else to look at the technical details. In the car analogy, someone might not want to drive a car, but just travel from one place to another. Could be chauffer driven,
With over 12 years working in the technical industry supporting end users I have to say my biggest pet peeve are the people who refuse to learn *anything* about the computer. I am not asking that they learn the difference between a bit or a byte or how to program in assembly but at least learn how to turn the friggin’ thing on!
There is nothing more annoying then being told I am withholding information or I understand the computer because I am a “geek” and they are not. These are also the same people who refuse to take the time and learn the basics. I had one user who, after 11 years, still found it necessary to close one program to open another - no matter how much I tried to train and teach this person they flatly refused to learn anything.
I found the most of the users were just plain lazy. Their thinking was – why bother to learn the computer if I can just call the support sap and they will come running every time to help me or fix what I broke?
Well, I guess on a good note as long as these types of users exist I will always have work – though I will probably run out of patience before I run out of work!
Hello Pedro
Interesting article, I just wrote a painfully long tirade on the subject of being an elitist on my site the other day. I won’t re-hash all of that here, but I would like to make a summary point.
The fact is that, for the most part, it is a smallish percentage of the affluent parts of the world that have gained access to computer technology. The vast majority of people that have yet to find their way here are the people that are going to need the most help, because they don’t have the same resources as those of us that are already here.
I know this is different than talking to someone in your office that ‘just doesn’t get it’, but when we start talking about a ‘technology elite’ we are starting down a slippery slope. We all leave a trail in our travels, and others yet to come are going to decide whether or not they are going to be able to carve a niche for themselves using this technology by trying to negotiate there way through this trail.
We need to make sure we offer them help, regardless of how ‘clueless’ they are. It’s going to be really important, for all of us.
I speak from the point of view of someone who’s been using computers a long time, but is in no way a power user. At the beginning, I had to learn some DOS just to get by. It was a different language and I only learned what I really needed. Fast forward to now, when computers (even PCs) are much easier to use, yet can be harder at the same time. AND, stuff changes all the time. Technology upgrades, software changes and the like happen faster and faster. They just do.
So my suspicion is that some of the people you mention feel that they’re already hopelessly behind, and something new will be forced on them next week, so they’re just going to stand pat. I have worked at companies where I’ve been chastised for not doing things the right, new way, because I didn’t read the email, because I didn’t have time to, because I had work to do. It can be frustrating.
Another source of difficulty for me is that there are many savvy people who take up the new technology so quickly that I have trouble finding useful “for dummies” information about it so I can learn at my slower pace. Right now, I’m thinking about RSS, which I know I need to learn about, but which is so much part of the wallpaper already that I’ve had trouble getting it explained to me from the absolute first step.
As complexity grows (and it will) the work of simplifying must keep pace with it (and it doesn’t always). I agree that someday soon there won’t be any “normal” computer users, unless we’re all normal. For now, those who want to use technology to be more productive will be caught between trekking up the learning curve and just getting their work done.
All people need to learn how to use a computer but that doesn’t mean that your stupid or anything. Using a computer now would be very helpful in the near future. If those people who think computers make you look stupid then get over it. No one is consider stupid just because he/she uses a computer.