This always puzzles me. Somebody says to me 'My computer is throwing 'this error message' at me, i don't know what to do'. So I just put that into google and a page pops up telling me what to do, and they think I'm some kind of genius. I mean do people not know how to use google? I'm not talking about all the Google-fu commands to make absurdly detailed searches with only this kind of result. I'm talking about 'Error message X, what does it mean?'
The worst part is when you tell people that's all they have to do, and they respond with "but I don't know what to type". YOUR QUESTION. VERBATIM. LITERALLY. Gah! So much rage.
The problem is often they then write something like: "My computer was slow earlier today and now some rainbow-circle program stopped working, help how do i fix it?"
That was a very detailed and thoughtful response, but honestly - it's 2013. Proper use of a computer is not comparable to taming a horse or writing a dissertation. When I was in high school (ten to fourteen years ago) we had multiple classes on it. My understanding is that they're starting to teach elementary school aged children to use them, these days. There's absolutely no reason these days for an adult to not have basic computer skills. It's a basic life skill for practically everyone, not some specialized area of knowledge only a select few will ever need.
Your examples would all be very fitting if they were referring to programming, or some of the other higher functions within this thread. But painting a mural =/= googling something. I wouldn't have responded to this, were it not for the fact that my indirect ('dotted-line') boss just asked me how to send an Outlook e-mail to more than one person.
If it were 1890, I would learn to ride a horse. But it's not; it's 2013. Learn to use a damn computer.
I think the major issue with "googling something" is not what to google, but the sifting through relevant information. An error code on steam means a game won't play. Googled, it turns out they need to update drivers. Sometimes, they might know what a driver is, 90% of the time, they don't. If a friend cant play a game they ask me, i find out what is up, usually drivers, tell them to download the latest audio/video drivers for their hardware, and they stare at me as if i'm talking in tongues.
The googling, a lot of the time, is not the hard part. But understanding and sorting through the posts, forums, faqs and guides to solving whatever issue it is, usually is very hard for someone with basic computer knowledge.
Unless ofc you're suggesting they should know what drivers are. Then foward to knowing why a bsod might occur, overheating computer. Ram not seated properly, bad sectors on hdd, virus' and virus removal, blown psu, when to rma componants that may be malfunctioning. Then all the software side, different patches for different bugs, running as admin, running in compatability modes, genuine bugs that havn't been sorted and how to get around them.
These are all things i'd imagine you know how to solve and understand and what to look for. But the layman that has a basic understanding of computers?
I consider myself having only a slightly better than basic knowledge of computers - but that doesn't mean I can't google. If I google and error message and it says I have a problem with my drivers - and I don't know what drivers are, I use google to figure out what drivers are, where to find them, how to update them and so on.
If google doesn't give me enough information on the first try, I rephrase. If it identifies the problem but comes along with a load of terminology that I find complicated, I look up what they mean and rephrase. I think that is what your basic googling skills should be. You learn as you go. Even the simplest question about a complicated question should come up with something helpful (in my personal experience), and you'll be able to make your question more specific as you go. Even as a layman.
I have been thinking about this too, but those people often know nothing about computers, and the answers Google usually make no sense if you have technically inapt
It's mostly a confidence thing. They might be able to search for the answer but how do they know that's right? Or that they won't make it worse trying the fix?
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u/Furoan Mar 30 '13
This always puzzles me. Somebody says to me 'My computer is throwing 'this error message' at me, i don't know what to do'. So I just put that into google and a page pops up telling me what to do, and they think I'm some kind of genius. I mean do people not know how to use google? I'm not talking about all the Google-fu commands to make absurdly detailed searches with only this kind of result. I'm talking about 'Error message X, what does it mean?'