Or this: go to any Torrent site that allows comments. Pick any torrent at random. I guarantee you that one of the first comments in the thread will be “how do i run iso file?”.

Same goes for “how do I play rar file”

Ibrahim, by that point technology should be much more ingrained, and the generel public, will surly have realised that they must have a degree of prefecinany with technology to be relevent in the workforce.

@Zel, that would not be an good enough instruction for someone to “start” driving. They would still be in neuatral (or park), they would still have the handbrake on. So maybe the barrier to incomptent computer usage is much lower then driving. And one of ther reasons we have issues with such users, (that and there is no saftly laws)

@ JKjoker:

Or this: go to any Torrent site that allows comments. Pick any torrent at random. I guarantee you that one of the first comments in the thread will be “how do i run iso file?”.

@ Ibrahim Ghazal:

Fuck that shit! I refuse to be a luser! I just won’t stand for it.

I mean, I love technology. It is my life long passion. I get excited by new paradigms, new tends, new gadgets. I’m a fucking trans humanist – I want to live forever, I want to have nano-fucking machines in my blood stream, I want to have neural connection to the web. I love science. I love science fiction. Are you saying that one day I will wake up and start being afraid of all that stuff?

Hopefully, in 50-60 years, most of the computer-illiterate people will be gone. But then, maybe we will be illiterate in some new technology by that time, and have to ask young people (I can’t get the box to read my mind right! I’m afraid it will kill me if I have the wrong thought)

nice article, ahh if i had a cent for every time ive been asked a question that i solved by googling the exact question and clicking the first result …

the worst one was about a year ago when a fansub site released a rar file with a password you had to get from some math riddle, i looked at it and thought “i can do this … but i be someone has done it for me already”, googled the riddle, got the answer in the second link, spent the next 3 days writing “GOOGLE THE DAMN RIDDLE” in forums/comments … sigh

@ Hector:
Yup, It fits this perfectly. haha

This metaphor makes perfect sense.

The funny thing is, I’m a student and I have started learning how to drive recently. I still suck at all the pedal pushing (I am not the most co-ordinated person), but I persist and I ask questions and listen to the answers I’m given, to help perfect my driving skills. I assume most other drivers (with the exception of this Charlie fellow) would do the same.

Using a computer is quite similar: you’re driving something, you’re just not going anywhere. You have to do things in specific ways to get stuff done. Yet nobody thinks to ask and listen: they get someone else to do it for them.

And I agree with the point made that you need to have a barebones computer class identifying each part of the computer interface (on the car note, you’re actually tested on what a variety of things do in a car when you go from a Learning Permit to a probationary one here… perhaps they should issue computer licenses? I know I’d get mine in an instant :P )

Well written post I’m glad you revisited the last one. You seem to be much more lenient in Charlie’s case – maybe because you don’t care about cars much? Anyway I really liked your notice about the clutch ;)

The road to hell is paved with good intentions – I used to be much more uneasy not fixing the obvious mess I see around but it pays off. Some people like it just like that. You only have to wrap your mental model around the fact that Charlie actually likes his spanish radio – set up by his precious car manufacturer (at least in his eyes).

“I don’t understand it – but the brand impressed me – it must be good. So, don’t change anything – they must have nailed it (dunno why) – you’d only break the precious equilibrium. Of course I won’t touch it either – it’d break… not that it is of a bad quality … but it is too sophisticated – like I won’t repair my antique watches.”

Some people enhance this, “it was expensive but I don’t understand it – I won’t rather use it so it won’t break. I shouldn’t anyone else use it too for the damn same reason”. But behold there it is.

This is all too common to be just a stupidity. Maybe there is a long term (mankind long) reason for this to be beneficial. Probably Charlie knows…

FUCK…..YES! This is getting linked and e-mailed to everyone I know! :)