John McEwen wrote:
> Kai, you are young and keen. The computer is your hobby. Find a way to
> make the computer as unobtrusive as the toaster, while allowing computer
> nerds to play all day if they wish. Just don't let them drive on my
> highway or use jargon when I want to find out why a message I sent didn't
> get there.
Hey, calm down. The problem here is we have an industry that is in may
ways in it's infancy. If computers hadn't changed so much so fast we
wouldn't need the so called "jargon." You talk about fixing your car
because it's simple. Put yourself in the place of the average horse and
buggy user years ago who's first car just quit. Tell me without using
any of that blasted auto jargon why I can't get there. Don't mention
carburator, clutch, differential, oil siphon, spark plug, or any of that
other junk to me. Hardly anybody balks at these words today, they're
part of our everyday vocabulary. Why do you get so annoyed with computer
terminology? How else can these new concepts be described? These are
things that never existed before. Plus a lot of what Kai was describing
is, unfortunately, stuff you need to know. Like whether your car runs on
diesel, gasoline, or even LP.
We don't worry about learning new terminology when we take up cooking,
music, football, checkers, medicine, etc. Why does everyone think
computers should be different. Even using a telephone has special terms
(handset, flash, dial tone, busy signal, ring tone, long distance) which
may be common words but they have specific meanings on the phone.
The computer will never be as unobtrusive as a toaster except for one
that runs your toaster. Toasters, TVs, ovens, clocks, and all the other
devices people say a computer should be as simple as are all single or
very limited purpose devices. A personal computer is general purpose,
capable of nearly infinite different things. What do you expect to get
from a computer on the same level as a toaster? You won't get much of
anything, unfortunately. Someday we may reach a point where we can
simply talk to a computer in plain English and it will understand. But
that's a long way off and even then you'll need to know how to talk to
it. Think of how much trouble we have sometimes telling other people
what we want.
I hope I haven't offended, but I make my living in computers and
sometimes people treat me like some kind of wierdo because of that.
Sometimes I'm asked by someone what is wrong with their machine, but
when I try to descibe the problem they fuss because of the "jargon." But
things are called what they're called. A modem is a modem just like a
piston is a piston. Computers are just another field of technology. And
like others, one of the first steps to using it effectively is to learn
the vocabulary.
OK, my little rant is over. Let's get back to something we all can talk
about - MGs!
Eddie
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