@koanhead I am reminded of the story abou thte guy who set the cruise control on his RV, went into the back to grab a beverage, and then sued because he got into an accident. There are things that you and I consider common sense, but apparently aren’t.
Many a netbook was returned because people didn’t bother to read the box and see that the reason it was cheaper then the otherwise identical one next to it on the shelf was that it had Linux instead of Windows, and more were returned because people couldn’t figure Linux out merely because it looks different. Even a few seconds worth f due diligence or the faintest glimmer of literacy would’ve avoided that issue. Hell, one of the Windoze boxes I repaired fairly recently caused a problem because I removed the IE icon from the desktop and installed Firefox. While the system owner was cool with it, his wife freaked out and didn’t understand that it connected to the same internet!
The catch is to where to draw the line between the makers responsibility to make good products and the user’s responsibility to be competent. And considering some of the stuff you and I have seen, I am inclined to believe that things are better made than some people think, they merely don’t want to learn. I mean, whose fault is it if a cellphone gets ruined because you put it through the laundry? Some would say the makers should make them waterproof.
@flo My experience is that people who can’t learn computers often have other deficits that interfere with their lives. Are you able to cook? Can you even use silverware safely? How about tying your own shoes? My wife is far from tech-savvy, and her eyes have glazed over just about every time @koanhead and I “talk shop”, but even she has learned computers well enough to avoid many of the problems I’ve seen on other people’s computers merely by having common sense.
If you are the type of person who folds or hangs their clean laundry instead of throwing it into a pile on the floor and/or put dishes away instead or strewing them around the kitchen then you already know why defragging your hard drive is important.
If you are not the type of person who hands out copies of your car and house keys and your credit cards to random people on the street, you already know the importance of setting your wireless router to use WPA encryption.
If you are the type of person who waits until someone you dislike is not within earshot (as opposed to badmouthing them right in front of their face), you already know why there are certain things you don’t want to say in your Facebook status updates. People have been fired and/or divorced for forgetting that!
You already know more than you think you know :)