What Should People Understand About Computers? 962
counterexample asks: "It seems to me that there aren't very many good books out there that explain to the layman what is really going on with computers. My mother cannot go to the bookstore and pick up a book that will make her understand the strange language that we IT people speak, or why her computer would be susceptible to a virus. So, I intend to write such a book. I have a fair idea of what should be in it (history of the Internet, how computers talk to each other, what a hard drive does, etc.), but I'm interested to see what you all have to say. What do you wish your users knew? What kind of questions are you so sick of answering because you hear them every week? What does the general public think they understand, but really don't?"
For Dummies (Score:2, Informative)
Re:For Dummies (Score:2, Informative)
An above poster mentioned that one of the importances is that the user understands where the hardware begins and ends, as with the applications, and operating system. I will second his opinion. Most users when they encounter an error from an application (probly the most common error), they will happily blame Microsoft or Dell.
I believe errors such as 'unhandled exception,' and other userland errors, to 'STOP,' and other kmode errors, be covered and be told how to diangose and solve. Not on the grounds that they will replace a well trained computer tech, but enough for them to know that an error in NTFS.SYS means either the files shit the bed or your file system has, then how to attempt to recover (boot to recovery prompt, scan disk).
I'd also fully recommend covering the differnt types of expansion buses. AGP, PCI, PCI-E, USB, Parellel/Serial, etc. Talking about their ups and downs. "An external CD burner is easier to install, but it costs more and sucks balls." Seperating the external and internal installation would most likely be benefitial, but would most likely be proper to make a solid point that they are not that differnt.
Covering the common Windows software would not be bad, either. As well as additional software and where to download it.
It's been written... Different Problem. (Score:3, Informative)
The real problem isn't that the information you'd like to convey to these laypeople has never been put into an easily readable, accessible format. The problem is that most people really don't give a damn about how things work.
Remember that most people never bother to even learn the full capabilities of the devices they come into every day contact with, like cell phones. Do you think that people who can't program their VCRs are really interested in the science involved in storing and retrieving data from a magnetic tape?
I'm not trying to harsh your mellow, but you need to face the facts. Most people are content to believe that the underlying technologies that make their lives so easy are simply "magical," and leave it at that.
"How Computers Work" (Score:4, Informative)
A few off the top of my head (Score:2, Informative)
1. lots of knowledge can only come from experience and effort and can't be taught
2. the field changes often so syntax changes often - general concepts move more slowly
3. not every consultant understands everything - you have to ask around
4. you learn by doing. doing comes from having work to do. find new tasks and try to do them.
5. lots of answers are already on the Internet. Google is your friend. Learn to use it well.
6. the people at slashdot and fark love to talk
Philosophical Rules:
1. If it can appear in a computer, it can be copied. There are no exceptions and never will be.
2. If you help other people, they will help you. Open Source is about working together, not communism and not piracy.
3. Learn why DRM is bad.
4. Perfect anonymity is possible on the Internet so complete censorship is impossible and always will be.
5. AOL is not the Internet and HTML screws up email
Technical Rules:
1. The Internet is slower than your computer.
2. Networks overlap - it's meaningless to say, "There are slowdowns in New York today".
3. understand bloat. Find out why the biggest isn't always the best.
4. The Web is a subset of the Internet. The Internet can do more than the Web. Email is not part of the Web.
5. Your connection to a remote site is made up of a series of connections and is as slow as the slowest link in the chain.
6. Understand asynchronous routing if you are going to use traceroute. Traceroute can only give you part of the story.
Some Ideas (Score:3, Informative)
I'd thought for a while about trying to help put together an introductory Internet course, and had made some decisions I think are important. One of my teachers (thankfully, not in the CS department) once started talking about how your computer broadcasts its IP address to every computer on the Internet, and that's why you get so much spam. People will parrot back information they get, without really understanding what's going on. So lay a good framework. Explain IP addresses, but on a basic level. (Don't get into configuring a broadcast address or how BGP4 works.) The analogy of a phone number works decently, and can also be used to explain netblocks. Then introduce DNS.
I'd mention bits and bytes, and megabytes and gigabits, but on a more basic level. But if you explain it well, in layman's terms, I think you can have the average person understanding why their 60 GB hard drive holds less.
I'd devote a reasonable portion of the book to understanding how things work. Why is spam such a problem? How do people get spam? What can they do about spam? How do they protect against viruses? (You can mention various anti-virus programs, but also encourage basic (seemingly not-so) common sense. Don't open random attachments. Don't download random programs.) Explain how some common viruses have spread: especially those that could be prevented by user training. ("Hey, check out this
Cover wireless, and mention its security implications, as well as the potential for interference. (My 2.4 GHz cordless phone and my 802.11g router don't always play nicely.)
Current events are important, too, IMHO. What is "P2P," and why is this R-I-A-A making such a big deal about it? (Try not to be biased!) What's Linux? How is a Mac different from a PC?
Overall, I think it's important to cover a lot of topics, even some that the average user might not deal with everyday, as it helps to lay a good framework for actually understanding how things work. The most important thing, though, is to use a really clear, non-technical tone. In my experience, this is a "gift" some people have, and some don't, and it makes the difference between whether you just confuse people further, or whether it all makes sense when they hear you talk.
Icons (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Don't make up shit you don't know (Score:3, Informative)
It may be convenient, but calling it a CPU is incorrect. How are they going to know what you are talking about when you refer to the actual CPU?
Maybe defining important terms as you progress through the book is the way to go. That way, you eliminate ambiguity and you build a vocabulary.
"The Computer" seems to be the global term for kb/mouse/monitor/apps/cpu
Keyboards, mice and monitors have nothing to do with the computer. Define what a peripheral is and use these as examples. That also helps clarify which part does the computing.
The idea is to move forward one term/component/concept at a time. By the end, the user will (hopefully) not only be able to do basic things, but, if they find themselves in a spot of trouble, also be able to effectively communicate their problem to someone technical when needed.
Re:More like where do you draw the line? (Score:3, Informative)
Yes/No questions are your best friend.
Re: The Mac is not a typewriter! (Score:1, Informative)
> In such a case, a computer is just a huge expensive word processor/typewriter.
That reminds me-- an excellent introductory book to using computers is The Mac is Not a Typewriter [amazon.com], by Robin Williams.
(no, not that Robin Williams.)
Re:More like where do you draw the line? (Score:5, Informative)
My parents must read every character on the screen before they can gather a single piece of data from it. They cannot interact with the computer until they have viewed, thought about, squinted at, photographed, printed the photo of, discarded the photo of, composted the photo of, and grown a new tree out of that photo, of every pixel.
Users can't read you the part you need because, with the possible exception of something that is obviously a cheesecake recipe, everything on the screen is nonsense to them. Maybe Cliff could attempt to quantify and describe the filters used by us geeks to read only the important stuff. Extra credit if you can teach them to correctly operate "OK" and "Cancel" buttons in other languages/broken video cards/buggy software (more extra credit if they can do it ambi-interfacedly -- mouse and/or keyboard).
That reminds me: One thing that should definitely be covered is the 3-way "Save file" dialog that comes up when exiting a program/shutting down, and similar dialogs, that offer "Yes", "No", and "Cancel". This confuses the heck out of many users, and it's not reasonable to expect them to figure it out on their own unless they're geeks. They need to know that "Cancel" is a sure-fire way to get nothing done and be back where they started, and that they need to click "No" if they want to continue exiting the program but don't want to save the file. A sidebar should explain that walking away from the dialog will result in the computer waiting forever, and probably an "End task?" dialog will come up too.
Same old same old (Score:2, Informative)
"Your hard drive is a mix between a record player and a tape player. It has an arm that moves around the record, but all the tracks are magnetic rather than little grooves in the record."
Second, a pictures is worth a thousand words. Showing the insides of a hard drive is far more effective than explaining it.
Third, keep your topics short and clear. Harried users had long, dense text. They get frustrated and stop reading. That's bad. Treat your book as software. Test it against users as you write it. Find out what works and what doesn't. Your touchstone is EFFECTIVENESS. Everything that you do in this project must be about end-user effectiveness.
Re:More like where do you draw the line? (Score:4, Informative)
Re: Basic File Management (Score:5, Informative)
A "file" is data or a document of some sort. It may be letter, a photo, a song, a video, a shopping list, a piece of a program, a piece of the operating system, a piece of adware, an insurance form, a contract, or whatever. A "folder" is a container that can contain many files, can contain folders, and can be found in a folder.
A file has a "location" in the file system. When you save it, if you know it's location, you have lots of power. For example, if you save a file in Microsoft Word, and want to start using Open Office, you simply need to know the location of the file. If you download your music in iTunes, and want to listen to it in MusicMatch Jukebox, you must merely know it's location. If you don't know the location of your file, your geek won't be able to find it either, so don't bother him until you know.
You describe the location of a file by listing the folder where the file can be found, the folder in which that folder can be found, ad nauseum, with the "backslash" character ("\") in between, and the drive letter followed by a colon before, so a location looks like d:\outerfolder\middlefolder\middlefolder\innerfol
You have my permission to use any or all of that, verbatim or modified, and take credit for it as your own.
My mother cannot grasp the concept of folders. She puts every document relating to one theme in a single file; she prints out whatever pages of that file matter for a single document. It's a terrible system.
No non-geek understands file locations. Even semi-geeks may only partially understand; I can think of two or three people who know where their MS Word files are, but don't even understand that eMule or iTunes keeps their music in files located in the filesystem.
On a separate topic, maybe the concept of email delivery would be useful (user clicks "send", his computer attempts to deliver mail to server [post office analogy]; then server attempts to deliver to destination server [post office analogy again]; then receiving user MUST connect to server [post office analogy again] to retrieve their mail). Oh, and the difference between a web address and an email address (the "@" signifies a person's name "at" a place, while a web address is just a place).
pics (Score:2, Informative)
Re:More like where do you draw the line? (Score:5, Informative)
It's kind of like taking your car into the shop. A lot of people will be nervous in front of the mechanic and not want to describe what the problem is with the car because they don't know the terminology or where the problem could be. Instead they'll say it sounds like the catalytic converter is overheating the timing belt on the radiator exhaust manifold piston: a bunch of useless information. Nervousness breeds uncertainty breeds impatience breeds hositility, and the same is true with computers.
The problem is often that the person providing support doesn't ask the right questions. Some of the best support I've gotten has been from people that led me to the answers. The questions in your example are perfect: "What does the screen say?" and "What do you mean 'it's blue,' what does it say?" Screens don't say anything, they have things printed on them, and when the user gives you an answer, it doesn't help to ask them a ridiculing question ("what do you mean, 'it's blue?'" (hint: they mean 'it's blue')) and then repeat your original question. It gets you nowhere (as you demonstrated). When it's expected that there's a whole lot of useless information (a hex dump) and a little bit of useful information (IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL TO), it's the job of the person providing support to lead the user to the answer. Try the exchange:
You: "The screen should be light blue with a white box for a password below your username. Do you see that?"
Mom: "The screen's dark blue and it has a bunch of white text."
You: "OK, there should be a bunch of random text at the top, with the letters A through F and the numbers 0 through 9. Ignore that part; we're looking for the first line below all the random text that has actual words in it. Read me that line."
Like you said, people aren't dumb and they're naturally inquisitive. Leading them through the troubleshooting steps makes support a lot easier and productive. Most of the problems I see with support analysts is that they don't know how to ask the right questions, not that the user is too dumb to understand. Even the dumbest user can be helped if they're willing and if the support person has the right skills.
Re: Basic File Management (Score:3, Informative)
I get so sick of asking people where foo.doc is and being told "It's in Word."
Word, (Excel, et.al.) is a tool, not a place.
The physical world equivalent would be asking
"Where do keep your screws?"
"In my screwdriver."
Re:Understanding is over-rated (Score:1, Informative)
>> I don't understand how exactly a car works. I have a vague idea that combustion of gasoline creates pressure which is channeled into turning wheels, but that's about it.
The controlled explosion of gas pushes pistons up and down. Hook a piston going up and down to a gear going round and round, and the piston can drive the gear. The bar has to be able to swing side-to-side a little bit. Think of pictures of old trains with the metal bars attached to the wheels.
>> I don't have the foggiest clue how laundry soap works
Things that dissolve in water do so because they have a "hook" on their molecules that let them grab onto water molecules and hold on.
Things that dissolve in oils do so because they have a different "hook" on their molecules that let them grab onto oil molecules and hold on.
Because oil and water have different "hooks", they don't mix well.
However, there are substances where each molecule has two hooks - one for oil and one for water. These are called emulsifiers. Some are used in baking to hook oils and fats into water-based foods. For cleaning, these are called detergents. Basically, the detergent grabs onto the smelly oil molecules in your clothes with the oil hook. The other hook grabs onto some water in your laundry. When the water is spun out or drained away, the detergent is pulled along, pulling the smelly oil, leaving clean clothes.
>> or dry-cleaning for that matter.
Dry cleaning uses ions to pull away charged molecules stuck to the clothes. Things stick to each other because they form atomic bonds. When a stronger ion comes along, the stain stops sticking to the clothes and instead sticks to the ion. Then the ion is taken away via evaporation, leaving cleaner clothes.
Some dry cleaners use chemical ions. Others use more "natural" ions like atomic oxygen.
Re:More like where do you draw the line? (Score:3, Informative)
I'm sure Steve Jobs scrutinized every pixel of that in countless meetings, screamed at at least one employee who didn't quite get it right, and finally, well, he has the prettiest crash message that exists, yes, in five different languages.
As long as it's not you he's screaming at
I was getting it a lot because I had bad memory in my G5. Don't put bad memory in your G5
D