The Google Search field is for um, what’s it for?
I’ve seen it happen three times recently and each time it happened I gritted my teeth and sighed as quietly as I could. I asked my client to copy and paste a link into a browser window and what did they do? After asking me which mouse button to press during the copy and paste operation, they launched the browser. Up popped their default homepage screen, Google. And then what did they do? They pasted the link into the Google search field.
Premium Rate Support phone numbers
They are obviously a complete rip-off but if you were sitting on the other end of that support line you’d be thinking that you ought to be charging more. The sheer patience of these people is amazing. It’s equivalent to explaining something in French as far as the average punter is concerned. When I’m at a clients house explaining something technical I try and keep it as jargon free as I can. But as soon as I begin to lose my patience or start getting annoyed up pops the jargon. Are you stoopid or somefink?
So even though they are expensive, sometimes it’s much easier for me to refer a client to one of these helplines rather than grit my teeth and sigh for a couple of hours and explain the difference between left and right click all over again.
But surely it’s obvious
To those of a certain level of knowledge and experience the answer would be in the affirmative. But there is a third factor - interest. One of the characteristics of technophobes which I have noticed again and again is that they are not at all interested and they are trying to learn only because they have to. But they can of course opt out of that by paying someone to do it. And so the knowledge gap continues to widen. It’s not obvious at all.
Levels of technical knowledge
I tend to think that there are 3 levels of technical knowledge. This is based purely on observation and I have no studies or data to validate my ideas at all. Here we go.
- Those who have little or no knowledge
- Those that have a working knowledge
- The creators of the technology, the geeks
Of course these are fairly broad categories and could easily be divided into sub-categories. I think I would rate myself as a hobbyist which would rank a bit higher than having a working knowledge but far below the level of geek.
But as the geeks flood the market with more and more technology it’s the ones that have little or no knowledge that use it. Mobile phones, digital cameras, scanners, mp3 players and the list goes on. The onslaught of this technology can no longer be avoided and those that could have avoided it before are now faced with having to come to terms with their technophobia. Even the Back to Nature tribe cannot escape as Organic producers open their online stores.
So how do I figure in all this?
Having stated my level in the hierarchy of geekdom I believe that I can bridge the gap between the geek gods and the mere mortals. Someone who can translate from geek into plain English because the manual is in geek too. (I could write a whole post on manuals. But suffice to say that the troubleshooting section should be at the beginning.)
So I find myself with a purpose in life, as an educator of technophobes. But where did I learn and discover what I know? Why Google of course. I put in a search string and within minutes I have the answer. Now if only I could explain that to my clients. 