Change in computers as a hobbiest... 2852

The thing is; it doesn't add more stuff to study if you have a basic understanding. It actually saves time and makes people more productive and *independent* in their work when they understand what they are doing, instead of simply pressing the blue button when a picture of a banana appears on the screen.

So when you play a recorded message over the line saying that you can't connect because the trunk is full, do they go to the attic or the garage to empty their trunk?

Do you know what to do if the power steering fails?

Do you know what to do when the brake servo fails?

Do you (know how to) check tyre pressures? Do you know why you should check tyre pressures?

The standard of driver education is almost universally abysmal. In most places, it's limited to pbutting a test. There is no appreciation of appropriate driver atbreastude. Being able to recite mysterious phrases learnt by rote is not proof of appropriate atbreastude. There is no appreciation that drivers need to understand some basic physics and how that limits what they can do with their car.

So driver training is in many ways, similar to that of computer training. Which explains the vast numbers of pbuttengers at the wheel of a moving vehicle; eating, drinking, grooming, telephoning, watching TV, reading papers-books... There are 2 million injury crashes a year in the USA working out to about one every 280,000 miles; probably 5 to 10 times as many crashes with just property damage.

Based on "exposure" in terms of time, that's pretty close to the number of problems people have because they don't have an inkling about what they are doing with a computer. Fortunately, direct injuries and baneities directly related to computers are minimal. What one reads in comp.risks is the tip of the iceberg in terms of "collateral damage",

How can they learn if they don't understand?

On Friday, I ran into a problem with the FTP server at another site. Unfortunately, none of the three people I spoke to had sufficient understanding-knowledge-privileges to try to fix the problem. It's hardly efficient if there isn't a broad overlap of understanding between related areas.

The system that they are using is btw *extremely* reminiscent of one I put together for another employer some 15 years ago.

Professional "support" people really have no idea about what's beyond their myopic horizon. They are obsessed with applying their band-aids to all problems; even if the problems can't be resolved that way. -- "Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning, Perth, Western Australia ASCII ribbon campaign "Laws do not persuade just because X against HTML mail they threaten." and postings Lucius Annaeus Seneca, c. 4BC - 65AD.