I occasionally help an elderly neighbor get stuff done with their computer.
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I occasionally help an elderly neighbor get stuff done with their computer. And every single time, I walk away in incandescent rage at how hard we have made this stuff for people who have not spend their entire waking lives marinating in it
@jalefkowit 100%. My worst ever support call was one from my elderly mother complaining her iPad was displaying "a cigar in a wine glass" that wouldn't go away. WTF?
2 hour drive later: it was Siri. Activated by a software update done by a "helpful" nephew she had promised not to give access. Long press invoked it. She had a tremor so all presses were long (no adjustment possible). Only funny side: Siri messages reprimanding her for bad language.
Dented her confidence hugely.
Thanks Apple.
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I occasionally help an elderly neighbor get stuff done with their computer. And every single time, I walk away in incandescent rage at how hard we have made this stuff for people who have not spend their entire waking lives marinating in it
Yes, hard to use but at least it's completely insecure and subject to exploitation by criminals in every nation on earth.
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I occasionally help an elderly neighbor get stuff done with their computer. And every single time, I walk away in incandescent rage at how hard we have made this stuff for people who have not spend their entire waking lives marinating in it
@jalefkowit There's a funny account someone Steve Ballmer trying to clean up viruses on his mother's computer and thinking it would be easy.
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I occasionally help an elderly neighbor get stuff done with their computer. And every single time, I walk away in incandescent rage at how hard we have made this stuff for people who have not spend their entire waking lives marinating in it
@jalefkowit I've spent more time pouring over event logs so far this year for tier 1 support tickets than ever before.
Between the January updates and windows just being shit, you're absolutely right. -
I occasionally help an elderly neighbor get stuff done with their computer. And every single time, I walk away in incandescent rage at how hard we have made this stuff for people who have not spend their entire waking lives marinating in it
@jalefkowit Really?
Wanna go back to fucking around with IRQs and config.sys?
Installing Windows 3.1 from floppy disks?
Removing and re-adding TCP/IP from your dialup adapter in Windows 95 every week?
Screwing around with BBSs and BTX?
Getting printer drivers delivered by snail mail?
Bluescreens on a daily basis?
Reading the 300 page manual for Word Perfect?
All without Google?I think measured by the possibilities a modern system delivers it has become incredibly easy to use.
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I occasionally help an elderly neighbor get stuff done with their computer. And every single time, I walk away in incandescent rage at how hard we have made this stuff for people who have not spend their entire waking lives marinating in it
Someone posted a reply saying that computers were harder in the past so it's fine they're hard now, which earned them an instant block. Thanks for identifying yourself as the kind of person I want nothing to do with
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Someone posted a reply saying that computers were harder in the past so it's fine they're hard now, which earned them an instant block. Thanks for identifying yourself as the kind of person I want nothing to do with
@jalefkowit I'm sure computers were much easier in the past in many ways. I get exceedingly angry about all the dark patterns and BS my 12yo has to put up with these days.
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@jalefkowit I'm sure computers were much easier in the past in many ways. I get exceedingly angry about all the dark patterns and BS my 12yo has to put up with these days.
@jtonline They were bad in the old days, but it was more excusable then (IMO) because the whole field was so new. Everybody had to figure out from scratch what worked and what didn't. Plus computers were much slower and had less resources; there weren't CPU cycles available for things like nice interfaces.
Today we know what works and we have the resources to do it. We just don't, because someone can make more money by making things hard
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@jtonline They were bad in the old days, but it was more excusable then (IMO) because the whole field was so new. Everybody had to figure out from scratch what worked and what didn't. Plus computers were much slower and had less resources; there weren't CPU cycles available for things like nice interfaces.
Today we know what works and we have the resources to do it. We just don't, because someone can make more money by making things hard
@jalefkowit true, fiddling with little switches to get a mouse working was definitely bad! And it definitely seems like the incentives are all wrong these days.
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I occasionally help an elderly neighbor get stuff done with their computer. And every single time, I walk away in incandescent rage at how hard we have made this stuff for people who have not spend their entire waking lives marinating in it
"Why do you have to restart your computer to fix so many problems? Most coders don't take their job very seriously."
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