Sean Reiser
On Behalf of the IT Industry, I apologize
February 19th, 2009 While on the phone last night with a friend who was trying to clean a spyware infection off of her machine I finally was able to articulate something that has been bothering me for a while. The computer industry has long engaged in a passive - aggressive game with the average home user.
We expect everyone to be as fluent in computers as we are. Here's a secret for you: people who use computers recreationally an hour a day aren't going to be as fluent as those of us who spend 14 hours a day in front of these boxes. For us, computers are an adventure, figuring out how and why they work is a pleasure, they don't want an adventure they just want their email. When they aren't as fluent, we blame them for not knowing (and quite frankly, not wanting to know) everything that we do we look down on them or treat them like children.
When it comes down to it, the average person wants a very simple experience when it comes to their computer. They want 4 buttons : Mail, Internet, Word Processing and Spreadsheet. Odds are they wouldn't mind if each of these applications was modal, meaning they could only run one at a time. When we ship computers, by default we load all sorts of software on their machines, but, generally speaking, we only include 2 of those 4 by default. Even odder if someone using is Internet Explorer, we treat the person like some uneducated rube, "Why haven't you installed FireFox?", we'll ask.
As I type this I bet someone was thinking "They don't want a button called Internet, they want a Web Browser". This is a perfect example of my point. Here's the deal, Joe Sixpack doesn't realize that Web is a subset of the Internet nor does he care. He's not likely to use FTP, IRC, Usenet, Archie, Veronica or Jughead, and if he is, he is going to go though a web interface on his browser.
Why, in the name of all that is Holy, do we expect people to be able to manage their own network security without prompting or help? Why do we ship wireless access points which require the user to choose which method of encryption to use? Why do we expect home user to know that a pre-shared key is? Why isn't there a piece of paper taped to ever router on the planet sold which says "TURN ON WPA OR THAT 14 YEAR OLD LONER DOWN THE BLOCK WILL SEE EVERYTHING YOU DO!!!!"? And, when they inevitably screw it up, why do we act as it it's their fault? When you buy a car they hand you a key, when you buy a router, you have to design a lock!
So, for on behalf of the industry, for making all this more difficult then it should be, I apologize.
Rick Umali - Infrequent computer users aren't like us.
Sean Reiser - "We expect everyone to be as fluent in computers as we are. Here's a secret for you: people who use computers recreationally an hour a day aren't going to be as fluent as those of us who spend 14 hours a day in front of these boxes. For us, computers are an adventure, figuring out how and why they work is a pleasure, they don't want an adventure they just want their email. When they aren't as fluent, we blame them for not knowing (and quite frankly, not wanting to know) everything that we do we look down on them or treat them like children."Christa C - Because there are those same users who I tell how to use the software to protect them after spending several days fixing their software and holding their hand through training. Next day they turn it off the popup blocker, parental software, and disable the virus protection or even better they tell their teenagers the password to get around it. Then I get a call 2 days later telling me I have to spend another 6 hours removing a nasty virus from a porn download because they didn't do what they were told because it was hard. I will not apologize to people who can't be bothered to help themselves.Sean Reiser - Christa, it's not their fault, why are we seeing machines with so much flexibility to folks? They want 4 things, in general: Mail, Web Browsing, Word Processing and Spreadsheets. Why do they need general computing machines? Why aren't we making simpler appliances available to them?Sean Reiser, 40, is a developer, technologist, and amateur photographer. Sean has spent the past 20 years as a programmer, system architect and development manager. He is a life long New York resident.
Sean currently serves as the President and Chief Geek Officer of Repair Sense, Inc.. Please go to that site with any professional inquiries.
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Fri, 2010-03-12 07:09
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Wed, 2010-03-10 19:27
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I'd take this even further - no one wants a computer, they want to see what their friends are doing on FaceBook, or check their bank balance, share their vacation photos, or find a new album they heard on the radio...
And sales figures show that people are turning to their cell phones to do this, especially the huge percentage of the world who can't afford a computer to start with.
I don't have a lot of faith that it will work out all that well, but the newer TVs with Yahoo widgets and WiFi connections are another example of what I mean here.
Hopefully the IT industry can learn from our mistakes and make these tasks easier for real people.
OK... this makes a little more sense than your tweet.
But, there are things that can be done on a cell phone and things that can't. Streaming the last episode of Lost or doing personal financial management (not just checking your balance, but budgeting and taxes) require a larger display and a little more horsepower. If we can give them that without requiring them to be an expert in security and administration we'll be ahead of the game.
As far as price is concerned, I think that's part of the reason why we're seeing the interest in netbooks.
Sean,
Thanks for noticing what the rest of us have been thinking. The truth is we want out computers to work like lightbulbs, or and the very worst like your average TV remote.
We want to say "do what I want", and have it done the way we want, when we want. Its a tall order, but that is the goal for most users. This is why my mom has a Mac. It is easy to use. She doesn't know why, or care why. She doesn;t know what it is missing, or how or why it could be better. She can do three of the four things you mentioned (no spreadsheets) and play games. We even have got her to the point where she does video Skype.
If the "computer guys" really want to be considered as geniouses they need to find a way fool the rest of us into thinking that we are geniuses too.
The big problem, Dan, is the history of the industry. These machines were designed for a very niche market of certain businesses and hobbyists are still being used today by a much wider market. Where the machines today are faster and can address more memory, they are architecturally the same machines we were using in 1984. The last 25 years have only really brought us evolutionary changes, not revolutionary ones. The DOS program we were working with at StockPlan will still run under Windows 7.
The big thing we need to fix this is really give the home user less. Where I'm sure your mom is a wonderful woman (she was responsible for bringing you up) the last thing she needs is a general purpose computing machine, which would include a Mac, BTW. She needs a machine that can do 5 things and that's it. Unless she's doing resticted stock releases for you in her free time, she needs less not more.
I'm going to address this more in a post over the weekend but here is a question: Why do home users need computers with the same interface and capabilities as business's? A business's needs are much different then a home user's, we should be treating them differently. More in a fresh post over the weekend.
I agree, we need to continue lowering the barrier for all devices, and we certainly have lots to apologize for!
While there doesn't seems to be specific technology available just yet, a Technology Showcase from IBM ( where I work ) seems to try and address this: Smart-4-me Interactions enable online users to individualize and simplify complex web interactions to precisely the level of functionality they want, through simple points and clicks. Smart-4-me helps users get things done online efficiently yet securely.
https://www-927.ibm.com/ibm/cas/toronto/showcase/smart4me.shtml
I look forward to your next post! Even as a techie, and someone who has a whole list of reasons the iPhone and iPod touch are irritating, I find that now that I have an iPod touch, I'm using my computer, and TV, way less around the house.
Computer tasks: The iPod is perfect for checking my e-mail ( although often I'll revert to the computer to respond to notes ), FaceBook (read other people's status, update my own), check a few RSS feeds I have set up for my 'important' Twitter friends ( I don't follow my whole feed on the iPod though, back to the computer for that ).
TV: We canceled our broadcast TV a few months ago and never looked back. I watch one or two TED videos and/or YouTube videos on the iPod each night, and buy and watch DVDs on our TV once or twice a week. I want to buy a new snazzy 42" flat panel, but realize I wouldn't watch it much at all, and when I did, it would likely be content streamed through WiFi and/or USB keys... Maybe a scrolling Twitter feed?
My point is that for many tasks I'm not using a PC at all, so I don't really need a dumbed down PC interface, I'm using a different device altogether. Can the stereotypical "grandmother" keep in touch with a device 'up' from a smartphone, rather than 'down' from a PC? Maybe a netbook running Android?