On 24/09/06 17:47 +0000, Dinesh Shah wrote: > Hi Devdas, > > On 9/24/06, Devdas Bhagat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >I recommend that you work helpdesk/support for some time. > > :-) I find those who men these desks are even more stupid then the > customers. > There _is_ a reason I escalate to level 3 support as fast as possible, when I need it. Level 1 and 2 are for the "normal" users. Don't blame the helpdesk if you haven't worked there.
> I think I have clearly stated that the customer(s) may have different > priorities and they may be differently able. > However, that does not excuse the user from learning the basics of computer usage. No one is asking them to _program_ computers. However, thinking logically, reading instructions and following them is a rather essential skill. > Like you can't expect a CA or a doctor to be a computer wiz, however > there may be exceptions. > > For example to drive a car I need not be an automobile engineer. Why > do we expect the computer users to be computer scientists? Bad analogy. Cars are simple as compared to computers. They just move you from one place to another. They take a _very_ limited set of inputs, and have a limited set of outputs. The UI for cars is also consistent. Let me know when you can make one UI for all computing tasks. You _can_ make computers simpler to use. In that case, they won't stay general purpose devices any longer. You can have one computer for text entry, one for image processing, one for typesetting, one for printing, one for gaming, one for playing audio and video, one for web surfing, one for email .... or you can have one complex device with a learning curve. To follow your own analogy, automobile drivers need licenses, shouldn't computer users need a license too? One which qualifies them to work with a certain type of software? We don't expect computer users to be computer scientists. They merely need to recognise the complexity of the work they do on the computer. If you have read The Mythical Man Month, these are what are Brooks terms as accidental difficulties. This is one reason why programming a computer isn't an engineering discipline, but a research discipline. Devdas Bhagat -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
