So, earlier this week I caught a headline from the Spark blog that hit home—Computers are hard. Who’s to blame? | Spark—which is something I try to help people overcome with my books and my classes. Me being me (as if I’d be someone else), I had to comment:
I teach computer & Internet-related classes for a few universities around here in Vancouver as well as being the author of a couple computer books and I think the fault lies with us–the geeks who create and promote the very technology we love. I know this might be controversial, but I’ve found that over all we (geeks) create layers of terms and technologies that all sound so similar that it’s hard for casual users to keep straight. We also build powerful functionalities into software, but abstract how to access and use them through odd icons and menu items. As I’m trying to teach WordPress or write about starting a blog, I walk through the steps and am often amazed at how confusing the steps seem. How a “normal” warning seems dire to people who don’t realize that it’s just a warning for something that doesn’t happen often. To that end, and as @jennamcjenna points out, we need to do a better job of teaching basic computer skills to kids and adults. Basic computer literacy is essential, but what is considered “basic” is also changing so that average users always seem to be playing catch up. A friend who works at the Vancouver Public Library says that not only are basic Internet classes and workshops filled to the brim, but the basic computer courses as well. Is the iPad the next great computer salvation? Perhaps, but I think what is more important is working on teaching and explaining computers better. We, as geeks, also need to try to do is work on building better abstraction layers so, like a car, we can all understand how computers just work. Of course there will always be people who need to delve deeper into what and how a computer does and we’ll still have our own extra tools to do just that.
The next morning I got an email from Dan Misener wondering if I’d be willing to chat with him about this topic for the next episode of Spark.
Hmm, let me think about that for a moment…
Damn straight I would.
Today Spark 197 went live online—Spark 107 – March 28 & 30, 2010 | Spark—and if you want to jump ahead to the segment about technology it starts about 40 mins 50 seconds in. Yes, I say people are stupid, but individuals are smart. The problem with technology is two fold, geeks haven’t ton a great job of teaching and abstracting it, but a lot of people haven’t tried to meet us halfway.
Look at it this way. Say you want to drive a car. So you buy one, hop in, and start going down the road. Chances are you might be okay for a bit, but you’re going to run into problems. Not only do you have to learn as you go (literally) how to operate the vehicle, you have to learn the rules of the road (believe it or not there are rules, even if sometimes it doesn’t appear so).
Yeah this doesn’t sound like a great idea, hence why we have driver education and licensing rules.
No, technology and driving aren’t exactly the same, however I think it is fair to say that if given the choice, wouldn’t you rather learn about something so you can use it well?
As controversial as this might be, think there are two parts to making technology easier (and in many was then better): one is helping people learn and two is for geeks to see the flaws in how we’ve been creating technology.
The entire segment is very good and brings up excellent points that we should think about as we move forward.
