I've had it! I can’t take it any more!
I love my family. I love my friends. Heck, I even love some of their friends. But when does it end? When do we, as the friend in this all - to - common line, “I have a friend that works on computers”, finally put our foot down? Does this sound familiar...
You get a call to help your friend for the umpteen time fix a problem with their computer. “What's it doing?” you ask. “Its not running right” “But WHAT is not running right?” “I'm not sure, it's just slow” “Have you loaded anything lately?” “No, can you come over and take a peek at it?”... Sound familiar?
So you go over, being the good friend you are, and look at the screen. “What is this?” you ask. “What?” they say. “This bird that's on the screen.” “Oh, that. Well it helps me out when I'm online.” “I thought you said you didn't load anything?” “I didn't, I just
clicked a link when I was on line and they loaded it. And have you ever heard of (insert name here) browser helper bar? It's great!”
ARRRRRRrrrrggggggg!!!!!!!!!!
Does this sound familiar? It happens all too often, and I have a thought on it. The computer industry and the Internet has made people dumb! Not just plain dumb, I mean Star Fish dumb! When I was growing up, people used their heads, asked questions, listened to people who knew more about a particular subject than they did. People wanted to LEARN about what they had an interest in. But it seems to me, when it comes to computers, people loose all common sense. “I use the same password on all of my accounts because it's easier to remember.” Sigh....
Sometimes as a Linux user, I feel like I'm in a Star Wars movie. I am a member of the Rebel Forces, and we're up against the Evil Empire. And who is that, you might ask? (and then again, you might not). The WinTel-AOL axis of stupidity! And here is why I say this.
Windows has made people dumb by not making them take more responsibility for learning how to use a computer. I stopped at Win2000. Don't even come near my computer with that phone-home, pop-up reminder mad, looks like a kindergarten-class color scheme. I do NOT need you freaking out because I try out 4 different video cards, or go thru 5 modems to find one the works RIGHT with your virus infected, firewall off by default, SP2 – adds – more – bugs – than – it – fix's software! Now at this point I have to say this, I do NOT hate Microsoft Windows. I am still very happy with 2000 when I have to use it. I just dislike their business practices. I know of NO other company that gets away with putting out a faulty product, and gets away with dumping the responsibility of fixing it on the consumer. Read the EULA. When my friends finally do, they are shocked. If it was not for DOS - Windows 3.1 we might not have had a personal home computer. (I have to insert here that I think BeOS was WAY ahead of the game) The GUI that Microsoft introduced/ripped-off made the command line, which scared lots of people, disappear. Not perfect by a long shot, and we will not get into ethics, but it made every day computing doable, and at the same time started the “dumping down” process. One argument I hear when I say something like this to people is “Yea, but I can drive a car but don't have to know how it runs or what's under the hood.” That's true, but you have to learn THE RULES OF THE ROAD! You have to learn HOW to drive before you get your license. Again, I am not calling every person on the planet that uses computers dumb, I just think some people are just not informed enough on the basic's of how computers and software work. Apple, with their OS X GUI, has made it even simpler to use a computer, but that's where the difference end's. Even with all the past mistakes they have made as a company, they went and put at the core of their new OS a UNIX based kernel. That, in my opinion, makes them light years ahead of Windows, because the underlying system is based on a solid, stable foundation. I don't own a Mac, but I would like to. A friend has a Mac, and has very few problems, if any. And most of them are user based.
Intel... What can I say? In this imaginary axis of stupidity they were the Microsoft of hardware. They owned the CPU side of the Force. But there was a disturbance in the Force, and it was called AMD. Now we have two titans fighting for your motherboard. And it has been a good thing. Speed has increased, and prices have been pretty steady because of these two super powers. But there is still a problem. These two make the rules, so to say, about how a motherboard will be made, what standards will be in place. If you take a close look at the average, everyday user, what does he do? What do most of the people who call you for help do with there computers? In my case they surf the net, write an occasional letter, listen to music, burn CD's full of mp3's, and play the odd game, on and off line. Do you really need a 400ghz computer with 10gig of memory and 300 terabytes of hard disk space? Yes, some people do, but not the majority of the people I run into everyday. Now if your running a Recording Studio, laying 64 tracks of audio, or you play some of the latest, newest games, yes I can see having that much power. But you want to know something? Every studio I have worked in, (semi-pro musician here), and every person I know that plays these ultra super-duper games have one thing in common, THEY KNOW THERE SYSTEMS! They know how to add a patch, update a program, and what to do if it messes up their system. Sometimes having all of that power means you have to know how to work it. With the Smart Chips that keep a password and ID inside on your motherboard, it relieves you of the responsibility to BE responsible for your security. They are selling features that most people don't need, nor understand how to work. Again, making people not have to THINK about protecting their information. And what about that great (insert item here) that was a must have 2 or 4 years ago, and is still perfectly usable, but will not work with that new system because the new system is not USB1 compatible – don't have a floppy to load the drivers – the drivers will not run with this OS - whatever the reason. And before I start getting flames and larks from people, please remember this is a RANT! And everything I write here might not be 100% correct in terms of technology, but are correct in terms of the people I deal with weekly.
And now the Final Blow... AOL. I was a very happy user up until 8.0 craptomized. Then I started getting “problem” pop up's, “Please Run Auto-Fix”, “Please wait until new features are added”.... on and on. Over and Over. At least 2 or 3 times weekly, or so it seemed, a “new and improved” feature was added. And you know what, the system got worse with every “feature” that was added. And what really pissed me off, I had no choice whether to load these “features” or not. And if I just quit and not let it download, I just had twice as much to “improve” the next time! And do NOT get me started on their “Auto-Fix”! When I decided to go to Linux as my main OS, the hardest part was finding a good ISP that did not have a propriety interface. I finally settled on one called all2easy, and it just works great. Now, when I show people how to get online without AOL, the first thing out of there mouth is “Where is all the link buttons” followed by “I have to do what to get my mail!” I mean, come on. I like the integration AOL has, and yes it makes surfing a lot easier, but some people think AOL IS the Internet! It is just frightening. But I also was one of those, and that is even more frightening to think about!
So here is the deal. I started what I call “Project Liberty”, and here is how it goes. When I get a call I ask the usual questions, then I say “When can you take about 4 hours out of your on-line life to sit down with me.” After I get an answer, I get together all of my “Windows Patch Kit”. This has been narrowed down over the years to the following items...
A computer tool kit, to open the box, and a can of compressed air.
6 CD's of drivers that I have collected over the years from the net and friends. Because I just KNOW when I get there they don't have a clue where their driver disks are. (Kids and Windows have a way of eating drivers, you know)
Spybot, Ad Aware, Zone Alarm, XP Reg Scaner, and a few odd ball others.
All the Windows updates for 95 98, 2000 and XP. I will not touch ME!
So I get there and tell them that this is the last free call I am going to make, class starts NOW. I sit them down and start with virus protection, what Bonzi Buddy and other so called “free” downloads are, and just go thru cleaning their system. I let THEM run, download, and update ALL of the programs so they have a grasp of how to do it. I have done this with 3 people so far. 2 have been great students, and have taken on the responsibility of learning and protecting their own systems. One thought it was a joke, and just called me 2 nights ago. I told him $20 to look at it, $10 an hour after that! He got all pissed, said it was way too much for “running a few programs”. He called back today and asked me to come over and “show him again how to run all the stuff” I asked why, and after much beating around the bush, he finally admitted that he called all over, and found out it would cost him $65 just to LOOK at it anywhere else, plus $35 after that. (Cleveland, Ohio area)
I only charged him $20 for the class
It’s been a few months since I have started “Project Liberty” and I have to say it has been the most fun, frustrating, surprising few months I have had in a long time! Everyone I have sat down with has gotten a grip on Internet Security, how to Update, Patch, and Troubleshoot their systems, and create good, secure passwords for their systems, both on and off line. Half have dropped IE and Outlook and switched to Firefox and Thunderbird for surfing and email. The ones that did switch did it not because of me or anything I said, but because they went out there in cyber-space and read up on them. They LEARNED about the security risk's and took steps to protect themselves.
Two are now dual booting Windows and Xandros OCE 2.0.1. One has ordered the new Lycoris 1.4. After doing some homework they have decided to try out the Linux side of the OS world. And it almost brings a tear to my eye...
The steps I took to make my friends take more responsibility for there computers, and their on line life, has to be one of the most satisfying, and hardest, things I have done. They were a little pissed when they finally got it in there heads that I was not running over every time something happened, but now there is a feeling among them that they can DO something to fix their computers, and that in itself gave them the confidence to try out new things, Linux being one.
So, here is my question to you, are you still trying to figure out how to bill M$ for all the fixes that you do to their flaky OS? Are you still fixing everyone's computers, or are you helping them learn how to do it themselves? Friends help Friends out, but not by keeping them in the dark. You help them move into a new home, feed their animals when their on vacation, be there when there is a tragedy in their lives. We help each other by doing all of these things, and we also learn from each other. I have to say, it is really nice to get together with my friends and not talk about their computer problems for half the evening.......... and that has made getting them all pissed at me in the first place Priceless
I love my family. I love my friends. Heck, I even love some of their friends. But when does it end? When do we, as the friend in this all - to - common line, “I have a friend that works on computers”, finally put our foot down? Does this sound familiar...
You get a call to help your friend for the umpteen time fix a problem with their computer. “What's it doing?” you ask. “Its not running right” “But WHAT is not running right?” “I'm not sure, it's just slow” “Have you loaded anything lately?” “No, can you come over and take a peek at it?”... Sound familiar?
So you go over, being the good friend you are, and look at the screen. “What is this?” you ask. “What?” they say. “This bird that's on the screen.” “Oh, that. Well it helps me out when I'm online.” “I thought you said you didn't load anything?” “I didn't, I just
clicked a link when I was on line and they loaded it. And have you ever heard of (insert name here) browser helper bar? It's great!”
ARRRRRRrrrrggggggg!!!!!!!!!!
Does this sound familiar? It happens all too often, and I have a thought on it. The computer industry and the Internet has made people dumb! Not just plain dumb, I mean Star Fish dumb! When I was growing up, people used their heads, asked questions, listened to people who knew more about a particular subject than they did. People wanted to LEARN about what they had an interest in. But it seems to me, when it comes to computers, people loose all common sense. “I use the same password on all of my accounts because it's easier to remember.” Sigh....
Sometimes as a Linux user, I feel like I'm in a Star Wars movie. I am a member of the Rebel Forces, and we're up against the Evil Empire. And who is that, you might ask? (and then again, you might not). The WinTel-AOL axis of stupidity! And here is why I say this.
Windows has made people dumb by not making them take more responsibility for learning how to use a computer. I stopped at Win2000. Don't even come near my computer with that phone-home, pop-up reminder mad, looks like a kindergarten-class color scheme. I do NOT need you freaking out because I try out 4 different video cards, or go thru 5 modems to find one the works RIGHT with your virus infected, firewall off by default, SP2 – adds – more – bugs – than – it – fix's software! Now at this point I have to say this, I do NOT hate Microsoft Windows. I am still very happy with 2000 when I have to use it. I just dislike their business practices. I know of NO other company that gets away with putting out a faulty product, and gets away with dumping the responsibility of fixing it on the consumer. Read the EULA. When my friends finally do, they are shocked. If it was not for DOS - Windows 3.1 we might not have had a personal home computer. (I have to insert here that I think BeOS was WAY ahead of the game) The GUI that Microsoft introduced/ripped-off made the command line, which scared lots of people, disappear. Not perfect by a long shot, and we will not get into ethics, but it made every day computing doable, and at the same time started the “dumping down” process. One argument I hear when I say something like this to people is “Yea, but I can drive a car but don't have to know how it runs or what's under the hood.” That's true, but you have to learn THE RULES OF THE ROAD! You have to learn HOW to drive before you get your license. Again, I am not calling every person on the planet that uses computers dumb, I just think some people are just not informed enough on the basic's of how computers and software work. Apple, with their OS X GUI, has made it even simpler to use a computer, but that's where the difference end's. Even with all the past mistakes they have made as a company, they went and put at the core of their new OS a UNIX based kernel. That, in my opinion, makes them light years ahead of Windows, because the underlying system is based on a solid, stable foundation. I don't own a Mac, but I would like to. A friend has a Mac, and has very few problems, if any. And most of them are user based.
Intel... What can I say? In this imaginary axis of stupidity they were the Microsoft of hardware. They owned the CPU side of the Force. But there was a disturbance in the Force, and it was called AMD. Now we have two titans fighting for your motherboard. And it has been a good thing. Speed has increased, and prices have been pretty steady because of these two super powers. But there is still a problem. These two make the rules, so to say, about how a motherboard will be made, what standards will be in place. If you take a close look at the average, everyday user, what does he do? What do most of the people who call you for help do with there computers? In my case they surf the net, write an occasional letter, listen to music, burn CD's full of mp3's, and play the odd game, on and off line. Do you really need a 400ghz computer with 10gig of memory and 300 terabytes of hard disk space? Yes, some people do, but not the majority of the people I run into everyday. Now if your running a Recording Studio, laying 64 tracks of audio, or you play some of the latest, newest games, yes I can see having that much power. But you want to know something? Every studio I have worked in, (semi-pro musician here), and every person I know that plays these ultra super-duper games have one thing in common, THEY KNOW THERE SYSTEMS! They know how to add a patch, update a program, and what to do if it messes up their system. Sometimes having all of that power means you have to know how to work it. With the Smart Chips that keep a password and ID inside on your motherboard, it relieves you of the responsibility to BE responsible for your security. They are selling features that most people don't need, nor understand how to work. Again, making people not have to THINK about protecting their information. And what about that great (insert item here) that was a must have 2 or 4 years ago, and is still perfectly usable, but will not work with that new system because the new system is not USB1 compatible – don't have a floppy to load the drivers – the drivers will not run with this OS - whatever the reason. And before I start getting flames and larks from people, please remember this is a RANT! And everything I write here might not be 100% correct in terms of technology, but are correct in terms of the people I deal with weekly.
And now the Final Blow... AOL. I was a very happy user up until 8.0 craptomized. Then I started getting “problem” pop up's, “Please Run Auto-Fix”, “Please wait until new features are added”.... on and on. Over and Over. At least 2 or 3 times weekly, or so it seemed, a “new and improved” feature was added. And you know what, the system got worse with every “feature” that was added. And what really pissed me off, I had no choice whether to load these “features” or not. And if I just quit and not let it download, I just had twice as much to “improve” the next time! And do NOT get me started on their “Auto-Fix”! When I decided to go to Linux as my main OS, the hardest part was finding a good ISP that did not have a propriety interface. I finally settled on one called all2easy, and it just works great. Now, when I show people how to get online without AOL, the first thing out of there mouth is “Where is all the link buttons” followed by “I have to do what to get my mail!” I mean, come on. I like the integration AOL has, and yes it makes surfing a lot easier, but some people think AOL IS the Internet! It is just frightening. But I also was one of those, and that is even more frightening to think about!
So here is the deal. I started what I call “Project Liberty”, and here is how it goes. When I get a call I ask the usual questions, then I say “When can you take about 4 hours out of your on-line life to sit down with me.” After I get an answer, I get together all of my “Windows Patch Kit”. This has been narrowed down over the years to the following items...
A computer tool kit, to open the box, and a can of compressed air.
6 CD's of drivers that I have collected over the years from the net and friends. Because I just KNOW when I get there they don't have a clue where their driver disks are. (Kids and Windows have a way of eating drivers, you know)
Spybot, Ad Aware, Zone Alarm, XP Reg Scaner, and a few odd ball others.
All the Windows updates for 95 98, 2000 and XP. I will not touch ME!
So I get there and tell them that this is the last free call I am going to make, class starts NOW. I sit them down and start with virus protection, what Bonzi Buddy and other so called “free” downloads are, and just go thru cleaning their system. I let THEM run, download, and update ALL of the programs so they have a grasp of how to do it. I have done this with 3 people so far. 2 have been great students, and have taken on the responsibility of learning and protecting their own systems. One thought it was a joke, and just called me 2 nights ago. I told him $20 to look at it, $10 an hour after that! He got all pissed, said it was way too much for “running a few programs”. He called back today and asked me to come over and “show him again how to run all the stuff” I asked why, and after much beating around the bush, he finally admitted that he called all over, and found out it would cost him $65 just to LOOK at it anywhere else, plus $35 after that. (Cleveland, Ohio area)
I only charged him $20 for the class
It’s been a few months since I have started “Project Liberty” and I have to say it has been the most fun, frustrating, surprising few months I have had in a long time! Everyone I have sat down with has gotten a grip on Internet Security, how to Update, Patch, and Troubleshoot their systems, and create good, secure passwords for their systems, both on and off line. Half have dropped IE and Outlook and switched to Firefox and Thunderbird for surfing and email. The ones that did switch did it not because of me or anything I said, but because they went out there in cyber-space and read up on them. They LEARNED about the security risk's and took steps to protect themselves.
Two are now dual booting Windows and Xandros OCE 2.0.1. One has ordered the new Lycoris 1.4. After doing some homework they have decided to try out the Linux side of the OS world. And it almost brings a tear to my eye...
The steps I took to make my friends take more responsibility for there computers, and their on line life, has to be one of the most satisfying, and hardest, things I have done. They were a little pissed when they finally got it in there heads that I was not running over every time something happened, but now there is a feeling among them that they can DO something to fix their computers, and that in itself gave them the confidence to try out new things, Linux being one.
So, here is my question to you, are you still trying to figure out how to bill M$ for all the fixes that you do to their flaky OS? Are you still fixing everyone's computers, or are you helping them learn how to do it themselves? Friends help Friends out, but not by keeping them in the dark. You help them move into a new home, feed their animals when their on vacation, be there when there is a tragedy in their lives. We help each other by doing all of these things, and we also learn from each other. I have to say, it is really nice to get together with my friends and not talk about their computer problems for half the evening.......... and that has made getting them all pissed at me in the first place Priceless
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