Point of View and Communication
Mar. 2nd, 2007 02:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanjuSo I'm sitting at the front desk today to cover the receptionist's lunch break and a woman who works for us on contract (not a regular employee) comes by. She mentions that I'm something of a computer guru around here* and she has a question that maybe I can answer.
She has created a web site and she can't figure out how to upload it onto the server. She's got an FTP program called Coffeecup (or Coffee Cup or something), but she can't figure out what she's doing wrong.
Alas, I've never heard of Coffeecup. I mention that I use Linux, so whatever program I'd use probably isn't one she'd have any use for. She seems to think that Linux is an FTP program. I explain that it's an OS. An operating sytem? An alternative to Windows? Nothing.
So I try a different tack. I ask what ISP she's using. She has no idea what I'm talking about. I use Pacifier, I tell her. Blank look. We go around a couple more times before she says that she use Yahoo. Okay, that's probably where she has her email account. But how does she access it? She uses Firefox. No...
I finally ask about the server she's planning to put the website on and she tells me she's bought/leased/whatever server access. I suggest that maybe the people providing the server have online help. My ISP provides chat-type access to tech support, in addition to email and phone support. Maybe they could walk her through it. So that's what she'll look into next.
In the words of the cop in Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here is a failure to communicate!"
I don't think of myself as especially knowledgeable about computers, or operating systems, or the internet. And yet.... The gulf between what I think of as ordinary understanding of the subject and what many people have is sometimes vast. Then I think about my relationship with computers.
My previous PC (the one before the one I use at home now), I built myself. After boning up via some "Complete Idiot" books on building/repairing PCs, I visited Frye's, filled a shopping cart with parts--everything from the case to the motherboard and CPU--bought them, took them home, and assembled it myself. I used it happily and successfully for years before the relentless march of progress left it hopelessly inadequate to the task of running games. I could have done the same with my current PC but I had proven to myself that I could do it myself, so I was happy to simply specify the hardware and OS (Windows 98) I wanted and let a shop do it for me.
When I got tired of hassling with Windows 98, I installed SuSE Linux 9.3 in a dual-boot configuration. I spent a year or more playing with that. Added more memory. Replaced the video card. Eventually I eliminated the Windows partition and went to all Linux all the time. Upgraded to 10.1. I've reinstalled it a couple of times, for various reasons. I routinely search for, install, try one and the adopt--or remove--various pieces of software. Got a DVD drive added to the system for my birthday so backups aren't quite so onerous (six or eight CDs or one DVD--hmmm, let me think....).
Just today I bought a couple of Linux-oriented magazines at the news stand.... Oh my god--I'm a HOBBYIST! Some guys tinker with cars. I tinker with software. I suppose that I'm really not a typical user. On the four-level NLP scale of competence or ability** I've moved from Unconscious Ignorance (you know nothing, and don't even know how much you don't know) to Conscious Ignorance (I know very little, and I know just how much I don't know).
*It's true. I'm frequently amazed at how much more I know about working with the computers and software than a lot of people here. And it's not like I'm an IT type, there's lots and lots I don't know. But I'm also not afraid of simply playing with a program and exploring the menus to see what options there are. Or Googling for questions and answers about how something works--there aren't a lot of questions I'm likely to ask about, say, Excel or Outlook that someone hasn't asked before. So the answer is almost certainly floating around out there if I can just perform the correct incantation in Google....
**The third level of competence is Conscious Mastery, when you know what you're doing but it takes constant attention and thought to manage it (like a new driver). The fourth and final level is Unconscious Competence, where you don't even have to think about it--you just do it, whater "it" happens to be.
She has created a web site and she can't figure out how to upload it onto the server. She's got an FTP program called Coffeecup (or Coffee Cup or something), but she can't figure out what she's doing wrong.
Alas, I've never heard of Coffeecup. I mention that I use Linux, so whatever program I'd use probably isn't one she'd have any use for. She seems to think that Linux is an FTP program. I explain that it's an OS. An operating sytem? An alternative to Windows? Nothing.
So I try a different tack. I ask what ISP she's using. She has no idea what I'm talking about. I use Pacifier, I tell her. Blank look. We go around a couple more times before she says that she use Yahoo. Okay, that's probably where she has her email account. But how does she access it? She uses Firefox. No...
I finally ask about the server she's planning to put the website on and she tells me she's bought/leased/whatever server access. I suggest that maybe the people providing the server have online help. My ISP provides chat-type access to tech support, in addition to email and phone support. Maybe they could walk her through it. So that's what she'll look into next.
In the words of the cop in Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here is a failure to communicate!"
I don't think of myself as especially knowledgeable about computers, or operating systems, or the internet. And yet.... The gulf between what I think of as ordinary understanding of the subject and what many people have is sometimes vast. Then I think about my relationship with computers.
My previous PC (the one before the one I use at home now), I built myself. After boning up via some "Complete Idiot" books on building/repairing PCs, I visited Frye's, filled a shopping cart with parts--everything from the case to the motherboard and CPU--bought them, took them home, and assembled it myself. I used it happily and successfully for years before the relentless march of progress left it hopelessly inadequate to the task of running games. I could have done the same with my current PC but I had proven to myself that I could do it myself, so I was happy to simply specify the hardware and OS (Windows 98) I wanted and let a shop do it for me.
When I got tired of hassling with Windows 98, I installed SuSE Linux 9.3 in a dual-boot configuration. I spent a year or more playing with that. Added more memory. Replaced the video card. Eventually I eliminated the Windows partition and went to all Linux all the time. Upgraded to 10.1. I've reinstalled it a couple of times, for various reasons. I routinely search for, install, try one and the adopt--or remove--various pieces of software. Got a DVD drive added to the system for my birthday so backups aren't quite so onerous (six or eight CDs or one DVD--hmmm, let me think....).
Just today I bought a couple of Linux-oriented magazines at the news stand.... Oh my god--I'm a HOBBYIST! Some guys tinker with cars. I tinker with software. I suppose that I'm really not a typical user. On the four-level NLP scale of competence or ability** I've moved from Unconscious Ignorance (you know nothing, and don't even know how much you don't know) to Conscious Ignorance (I know very little, and I know just how much I don't know).
*It's true. I'm frequently amazed at how much more I know about working with the computers and software than a lot of people here. And it's not like I'm an IT type, there's lots and lots I don't know. But I'm also not afraid of simply playing with a program and exploring the menus to see what options there are. Or Googling for questions and answers about how something works--there aren't a lot of questions I'm likely to ask about, say, Excel or Outlook that someone hasn't asked before. So the answer is almost certainly floating around out there if I can just perform the correct incantation in Google....
**The third level of competence is Conscious Mastery, when you know what you're doing but it takes constant attention and thought to manage it (like a new driver). The fourth and final level is Unconscious Competence, where you don't even have to think about it--you just do it, whater "it" happens to be.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
You're a lot more than "conciously ignorant"
Date: 2007-03-03 12:32 am (UTC)I've been in the software industry for 25 years (developer - 15 years; tech writer - 10), and I don't know how to build a computer or install an OS that's different from what the PC was originally designed for. For me, this probably has a whole lot more to do with lack of interest, rather than lack of brain power, but since we're talking about knowledge, I guess it doesn't matter. The point is, you know a lot more than I do, and a lot of people consider me to be an expert.
Regarding the failure to communicate, I think one issue here is jargon. The woman clearly is not familiar with the correct terminology. If you were to try to have this discussion with her again, you might put a little time up front into defining terms, so you both have the same understanding. I had to do this with a guy I worked for a couple of years ago. I built him a website, and the conversations we would have where he tried to communicate what he wanted - your story sounded familiar! He's a smart guy, but he just has a completely different area of expertise from mine. Teaching him some key terminology (and what those things mean) helped our communication a lot.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-03 12:50 am (UTC)I can see where someone who is just getting into setting a website wouldn't be as familiar with the terminology as someone who's been on the 'net for the last decade; the technology has become so readily available that it's often marketed as "you don't need to know anything, we'll host your website for you and have free website design templates/wizards available." What the marketing fails to address is that you have to learn at some point how to upload a file, how to fix your code, and how to stand out from the rest of the herd by not using the same template as everyone else.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-04 02:24 pm (UTC)But I like to think that the ones who like to look under the hood drive better.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-05 06:53 pm (UTC)Although you did the best you could, considering what you had to work with. Her problem will probably turn out to be that she doesn't have an ISP.
Yes, I've seen it happen. Many, many times.