(or How You Too Can Learn To Live With The Computer)
The source of the quotation escapes me, but the number is indelible in my mind – “In a recent study 42% of those interviewed did not own a computer, because they didn’t like them!” This feeling is visible every time Phil Donahue does one of his hand clapping audience surveys on the question “How many like computers and want to use them?” Inevitably, the majority clap louder meaning a resounding “NO”! Why does this feeling exist?
The computer industry can be blamed for much of this public attitude. Some of the companies have been responsible for the biggest technological breakthroughs in history, yet they do not communicate the “power” of the computer very well. Add to this the perplexing advertising campaigns that are based on “You’ve GOT to have a computer or you’ll fail in life” leaves people intimidated. Most of us don’t understand how this “black box” does such marvelous things. The industry doesn’t have to give us a detailed accounting of how the computer works any more than the auto industry has to explain how a carburetor works in order for us to drive a car! But the great mysteries of the “black box” have to be minimized!
The industry (to include most “expert computer users”) then set out to make us “computer literate” and everything “user friendly”. More than just a few new terms, “computerese” is now a new language, often spoken only by “insiders” who still think we know how the “black box” works!
The “power” of the computer leads people to another conclusion-that it is fragile. Watch a first time “computerer” touch a keyboard. They are very tentative and think if they press the wrong key the whole thing may blow up, or worse yet they will accidentally activate the Defense Department ala Matthew Broderick in the recent movie “War Games”. When they inevitably do press the wrong key, causing some innocent but unexpected thing to happen like changing the screen they -using appropriate learning mechanisms- reinforce their preconception that this very complicated equipment must be hard to learn to use. They do not take the attitude they had when they learned to swim or ride a bike, namely that mistakes were inevitable and could be avoided with a little practice. The “power” of the computer misleads people into thinking the machine can TEACH you since it is “smart”. In fact, ask even occasional computer users if they are smarter than the computer and they will almost always say “No”. They do not hold this attitude about their pocket calculator or digital watch which use the same technology, nor would they feel that way about an early “data processing device”-the player piano.
To all of these factors we must add the multi-million dollar advertising campaigns that still fail to point out the things we can use the computer for. If they put one on your desk they expect it will make you a more productive worker. If you bring one home, how can it make life easier, more fun, or you more productive?
First, we have to admit we are entering a learning process and we will not become expert overnight, but we CAN become proficient if we will simply try. Next, we must learn we cannot hurt the thing if we only type on it, and we will not activiate some unstoppable doomsday device by pressing the wrong key. We may well be faced with occasionally overcoming the poorly written “users manuals”.
If you don’t balance your checkbook, a computer is not going to change that! BUT, if you start a budget every year and about March 1 just give up on it because you are overwhelmed with the numbers, then a computer can make life easier. It also is one of the most effective tools in learning new things and a real tool in communicating-be it using your telephone lines to reach other “friendly black boxes” or using a “word processor” to help communicate the written word. (Word processing uses computer “power” to help you write more easily and knows that carbUrEtor is correct!”). Additionally, it can help you find recipes or Aunt Milly’s address or keep an inventory of the household contents for your insurance company or keep track of the maintenance schedule of the fleet of family vehicles. It is a source of entertainment. You can “fly” a flight simulator or replay the “Bobbie and Boris” chess matches or solve the myst[illegible] of the pirate’s cave and find the lost treasure-all good me[illegible] exercise!
CAREERS magazine, (April 1985) quotes International Data Corporation (IDC), a market research firm covering the information industry, as reporting:
“Learning to use a personal computer will be
a very common expectation, if not a rite of
passage soon, much as learning to drive a car
is for the great majority f Americans.”
Add the intimidation of “We are going to learn to use them or we will learn to sweep around them!” and you see the dilemma.
“Computer literacy” will come to pass as the children are introduced to the computer before they have a chance to get “computingphobia”! The adult, however, should not surrender to this new tool. You can easily learn to use it to make your life easier if you will but try. Be patient, work at it, and when you have become an experienced user, don’t speak of Ram, ROM, K, bits, bytes, and other buzzwords- help the next person to have an easier time learning to use the mysterious “power” of the black Box.
GARY ENNIS
@2K EXPRESS
SINCUS NEW, P.O. Box 523
Owego, New York 13790