Tech Idiots

We all know them - those people who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near things that are remotely electronic. Sometimes, I'm tempted to bang their heads against the computer to see if they absorb the information better that way. Unfortunately nothing seems to work. I tell the same people the exact same things over and over again, and they still don't get it.

It's one thing if someone is learning something relatively new. For example, my uncle just bought a new iPhone. He has no idea how to use it. He's never had anything close to it before. One morning at about 7:15, he was in a meeting and texted his daughter, "Are you awake?" Unfortunately, he sent it to everyone in his contacts list. In the middle of the meeting, he was getting texts from people he didn't even know asking if everything was okay. I'm betting he didn't know how to turn it on silent either.

But that is excusable. Sure, he looked like an idiot in that moment, but he'll get it down eventually. It never ceases to amaze me how many young, traditional students don't know the basics of computers, though. I have to teach at least 25 students how to use the most basic functions of Microsoft Word each semester. Students will come into the Writing Center and show their paper to me on the computer. As we begin to read through it and make some changes, it becomes clear that they don't know how to make it double spaced. They've simply gone through and pressed the enter key at the end of each line. It takes a while to fix something that they should have been doing all through high school.

I make no claims that I am a technical genius. Far from it. There are many things that I don't know, but I try to learn as I go along. Apparently, that is somewhat of a novel approach. I used to think that most people of my generation were so used to computers that they could deftly handle basic usage. I have learned, however, that when my contemporaries write on their resumes that they are "proficient with Microsoft Office," many of them are lying. I can't help but wonder what kind of rude awakening awaits both them and their future employers once they enter the job market.

But by far, the worst kind of tech idiot belongs in that group of oh-so-knowledgeable people who don't need any help. After all, we mere mortals couldn't possible offer any assistance to them as they single-handedly conquer the machine. Those are the people who make technical support services want to kill themselves.

And with that, I leave you with this funny little website that has given me hours of amusement:
http://clientsfromhell.net/