I think the reason that computer people tend to be mean to non-computer-people is quite simple: It's so easy for us that we forget how hard it is for them. Moreover, they have the impression (sometimes false, sometimes true) that just trying things can cause lots of damage. Sometimes, we yell at them for not doing what would be obvious to us. Somtimes, we yell at them for doing what was obvious to them, and causing damage.

The other day, for example, my aunt had my cousin call me with a computer problem. She needed to take a test online, and it said not to use AOL's browser. She had AOL, and always used their browser, and didn't know what to do... so called me. Now, my aunt is a mainframe programmer. What was obvious to me (just run IE; it will just work) wasn't obvious to her. Moreover, she didn't want to experment, she wanted somthing that worked before the deadline was up (around 24 hours hence; mainframe programmers also have a longer sense of time because they're used to processing huge batches).

Now, consider somebody who doesn't know computers at all, and who has been yelled at before for continuing to run their computer when it stopped being so loud (because, unknown to them, it meant that the fan died). Whenever somthing goes wrong, they aren't going to try doing somthing -- last time they did that, they were told they were stupid and it would be much more to repair it. Instead, they're going to call you for everything.

Like so much, it's all about double-standards, an the subconcious expectation people have that other people are like them.

Warning: Unless otherwise stated, code is untested. Do not use without understanding. Code is posted in the hopes it is useful, but without warranty. All copyrights are relinquished into the public domain unless otherwise stated. I am not an angel. I am capable of error, and err on a fairly regular basis. If I made a mistake, please let me know (such as by replying to this node).

In reply to Re: (OT) The Honest Cherry Bomb by theorbtwo
in thread (OT) The Honest Cherry Bomb by Ovid

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