Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 18:14:03 +0000 From: Mario Lobo <mario.lobo@ipad.com.br> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: My recent Epiphany about operating systems Message-ID: <200612201814.05342.mario.lobo@ipad.com.br> In-Reply-To: <922831D2-35F5-45D7-9903-55241F0F3FC1@chrononomicon.com> References: <4588601A.9030602@swbell.net> <3ee9ca710612200820o115a2391n1dccd2a5edeef5ce@mail.gmail.com> <922831D2-35F5-45D7-9903-55241F0F3FC1@chrononomicon.com>
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On Wednesday 20 December 2006 16:52, Bart Silverstrim wrote: > Guess what...that's the price you pay for freedom and flexibility. > You have to learn to use it. Don't want to do that? Pay someone to > configure an interface with big shiny buttons marked "INTERNET > BROWSER", "EMAIL", "WRITE LETTERS". Isn't that what users want, > someone to do the work for them? > > That's the real epiphany. After years of tech support, I realized I > was totally wrong. I thought users wanted to learn how to use that > expensive piece of equipment. I thought they had the curiosity I > had, the fascination that something looking so simple was capable of > making movies, writing stories, finding information...so much > potential. All they needed was the knowledge to see how the puzzle > fit together. I was totally wrong! What they wanted was for someone > to come and DO the work for them. They wanted just an end task, and > the computer was what someone pointed them to in order to do it. Set > up a printer? How many times do I need to explain the same damned > procedure to the same user? Oooh....you don't mean it when you ask > how to do it. You want me to come over and DO it for you! Every > time you screw it up, I get to do that same thing over again. > > They don't care about OS's, licenses, legalities, IP, owners > rights...they just want to make a brochure or look at porn or > whatever else this magic black box can do. They don't care how it > works or why it works. They can't even be bothered to craft emails > anymore, just top post whatever crap blurps into their mind at that > specific moment. Email is little more than retarded IM. Get a > bounce message? Internet must be down. Fifteenth time I had to > explain that before I just started telling them to forward the bounce > to me and then I would magically solve the mystery by reading the > bounce error right to them (how did you know that name doesn't have > an email box at xyz.net?? WOW!) > > In the end just quit your bitching about how hard it is to learn or > how people are out to rip you off by offering services when you're > not willing or able to learn to do it yourself. This obviously isn't > a secret cabal out to get you. You're so "results oriented", then > continue to focus on non-computer use results and just accept that > you will need to pay someone to do what you don't want to do or can't > do. I accept that if I were to dedicate my life to banking, I'd > probably get more value in my investments and I'd understand much > more about credit and tricks of the trade while not being able to > know every last detail behind building a house. If I become a master > craftsman for home building, I could build my own mansion but > probably won't know necessarily what money market fund is best in the > long run. Or, I can learn fairly easily to change my own oil...but > it's worth fifteen bucks to me to have someone else do it faster and > dispose of the oil for me. > > Deal with it. Life sucks. > > Don't like the interfaces available on "free" software? Don't use > them. No one is forcing you to. > I think no one has never, ever, put into words (to me at least) something so perfectly like Bart did above. Anyone who has worked with tech support for at least a week, can recognize the truth in those lines. I think I'll have them framed ( translated to portuguese so users won't have to ask someone to do it for them) and hang it on my office door ! Thanks Bart !! -- //| //| // |// | // // | // // |||||||| ---------------------- mario.lobo@ipad.com.br http://www.ipad.com.br (FreeBSD since 2.2.8 - 100% Rwindows-free)
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