ggull said:
Ah, but that's the difference -- when a new gadget, say a satellite
tracking
system, is put in a fancy new car, the steering wheel still turns left
and
right the way it used to, you don't have to relearn how to open and
close
the door, etc. You generally have to only learn to use the ADDED
capabilities .. even if you have remote entry, you can choose not to
use it
and use the key. The problem, as Lois G. points out, is that one has
to
relearn to drive from the very basics with each new updated operating
system. All of sudden the gear shift has moved behind the driver's
seat and
it's a rotary dial instead of a stick, and you have to hold in the
cigarette
lighter before it works.
Excuse me, but when you switch to driving a different car that you've
never been in before, you're going to have to learn where all that stuff
is and how it works which will very likely have some differences in
their operation. Your car was an automatic but the new one is a manual,
so now you get to figure out how to share one foot between two pedals
and learn how to shift while clutching (not everyone wants automatics,
by the way). Or you switch the other way around and replace a manual
with an automatic and then don't get the control you were used to as to
when the car shifts or how much torque you have at what speed. Your old
one had separate knobs on the dash for headlights, wipers, and whatnot
and the cruise control had buttons embedded in the center of the
steering column, but that new car has it all on a pair of 20-function
stalks sticking out of the steering column. Your old one has easy to
use heat-A/C controls with just sliders and a few push buttons but now
the new one is digital and programmable with front and rear sensors.
Your windshield-mounted compass got replaced by a GPS unit. And the
differences go on. So your car analogy is a poor one. Of course when
you go to a different car then you're going to have to learn all the
differences. Even the steering wheel might take some relearning; else,
you're driving down the street and all of a sudden it falls down to your
knees because you didn't tighten up the tilt angle adjust knob, plus it
might now be power steering instead of manual, and the turn rate isn't
linear at all speeds because the wheels now rotate faster at slower
speeds, and so on. So even steering might not be so globally constant
as you would like to claim.
Some folks learn a trade and then don't have to learn much of anything
new thereafter. They're lazy. It's comfortable for them. Once they're
out of school they don't want to go back or do anymore learning. It
hurts, aaahhh, poor boy. Folks usually get new cars and computers not
because they really need them but because they've been convinced,
usually by someone else, that they need them. Need and want are not the
same thing. You really need that 3GHz P4, 2GB PC3700 RAM, three 300GB
hard disks in RAID-5, Audigy2 ZS Platinum Pro sound card, gigabit NIC,
$800 3Dlabs Wildcat video card, and overpriced large-sized LCD monitor
just to use a word processor to write your résumé (because you need a
better paying job to offset your lavish needs for unnecessary hardware
and software)?
The real problem is that this stuff is all
designed by people whose very lives revolve around computers, and
specifically Windows, using state of the art hardware, and unlike auto
manufacturers no one seems to have checked in with ordinary
drivers/users
(as opposed to racing buffs or heads of corporate systems
departments).
You are in the group of users that would like computers to fall into the
category of an appliance, like their dishwasher. Ain't going to happen,
unless what you want is a non-programmable calculator or a
specific-purpose computer. So stop buying general-purpose computers.
There is also the problem that it takes education and expertise to do
simple
things simply and to stay out of trouble, although things are getting
somewhat better -- e.g., computers ship with the system settings wide
open
to vulnarabilites, and to make them secure the user has to restrict
browser
and email settings (or get other software), install virus and
firewall, etc.
Rationally, the DEFAULT would be for secure systems, allowing the user
to
open them up for specific purposes as they gain an idea of what
they're
doing and (hopefully) the dangers involved.
And, of course, when we buy that new muscle car with the 300HP power
plant we certainly would never want to use all of that power and want
the manufacturer to give us instead a "safe" version muscle car that
peaks out at 65 mph and doesn't accelerate too fast. It is a
GENERAL-purpose computer. That means the user ultimately gets to define
how THEY use and configure that platform. Your complaint is that users
don't educate themselves before using something that they're not
equipped to handle. What happens when you put a shotgun in the hands of
a 4-year old? Duh! Just because a computer can be put into the hands
of an idiot doesn't mean the computer should be designed for use by that
idiot. You train to be a doctor so you don't have to learn-on-the-fly.
Why are computers any different than anything else you train for? You
go buy a car and as a complete idiot then think you should be
disassembling the engine to replace the lifters without risk based on
your uneducated actions just because a car got put into your hands?
Eventually you have to treat users as the adults they're supposed to be
rather than the children they choose to be.
Excuse me, but don't go blaming the deficiencies of the OS based on it
not providing anti-virus software, anti-spyware scanners, trojan and
root kit scanners, intrusion protection system (IDS) software, choking
the hell out of the available features of the software, and all that
crap that may be needed because there are nasty people in the world
along with users whose only qualification for owning a computer is that
they can fork over the money for one. Gee, I got the money so were do I
go buy that space shuttle? Weeeeee, crash! Would you want to pay all
the extra money for bullet-proof glass and reinforced steel sheeting
with the incumbent loss of gas mileage and reduced at-the-wheel
horsepower just to protect you against the potential of looters and
criminals shooting at you as you drive by? You buy the car. It's your
choice to add the rollbar, 5-point harness, explosion-proof fuel cell,
bullet proofing, and whatever you deem that YOU want on YOUR particular
GENERAL-purpose computer to flavor it the way YOU like. I want
something different for mine.
Your solution is to take away choice, reduce functionality based on the
lowest common denominator (i.e., idiot users), and put a dozen condoms
on the user to protect themself from screwing themself. With your
description of the perfect computer, I would have to spend lots of time
getting rid of all that crap to get ALL of what I paid for.
Burn and learn.
That's life.
Pain motivates.
Time to leave the womb.
Welcome to the real world.
