1. Computers are not user friendly, if they were we wouldn't need technicians to maintain and support them.
2. What would a computer be like if it needed no, or little, training to use?
3. Users are not technicians, we need to figure out how people go about doing things better, so we can make computers work similar to how other things do.
4. What do people want as output, they need to get from their input to their desired output, does the computer facilitate this really well? I believe there is considerable room for improvement.
So many are so lost using the computers they want to, I want help to fix this, computers should BE support, not NEED support.
Thanks!
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Any technical machine requires understanding to operate it properly. One would not permit an uneducated person to operate an automobile, an airplane, or even a bicycle without a period of training. Why expect that a complicated device like a computer should be operable without a period of indoctrination? Admittedly certain procedures might be made more obvious but a machine that can do so many things such as a computer probably will never be operable without a good degree of education in the many procedures. It may be possible that software would become available that would make a computer into a general instructor but it seems to me to be an impossibility that no instruction would be necessary.
Do note that all appliances come with general operating instructions, even your computer. It is up to each individual to learn the basic procedures and progress from there. Hell, even my toaster isn't foolproof. It can be broken by someone applying old school technology to pop the toast out early by lifting the handle instead of pressing the cancel button.
So read all the instructions. Take a basic computer operating class. Learn the procedures and terminology. Enjoy.
Im not a computer genius. My friends and family think I am because when they have a problem they bring it to me. Im usualy able to "fix" 99% of their problems by deleting all the usuless extra crap they install when they download thier AOL messenger, yahoo messenger, super spyware blocker....
IdiotGenius, what do you suggest doing to address the problems?
To the posters, most of the computers I've seen lately have come with nothing more than instructions on plugging them in. Nothing on mouse use. Nothing on what pulldowns, scrollbars, checkboxes, and radiobuttons are. Nothing that tells where a user can go for help. While there is a Help menu on a number of applications, the help often has been less than helpful. The wizards give up after a few pages and other helps just simply have no information on what a user might be having problems with.
Another big problem I've noticed is that there's no strict standards that developers are following. Everything seems a little loose. An example : If I want to configure an application, which menu do I go to? File? Edit? Tools? Options? What menu item do I look for? Settings? Options? Preferences? Configuration? Why can't anyone agree on where this should go? And why are there so many differences in how the configuration windows look? Some use too many tabs. Some use a collapsible tree on the left pane. Some make all options available on the same screen. Some overdo what options are available, others don't offer enough.
We need for developers to put more thought into how users interact with their programs. Uniqueness should take a back seat to usability. And while they're at it, they should all agree to stop placing their applications in the Start Menu under their company name. They should organise into groups of similar programs. Internet applications can go under Start -> Internet. Multimedia under Start -> Multimedia. Games under Start -> Games -> $TYPE where $TYPE can be things like Action, Adventure, Arcade, and FPS for example.
This would be a start.