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This range of PC literacy made it difficult for me to select the language to use but I got there in the end! The guy who knew nothing about PCs came across as very intelligent but it was difficult trying to tell him about stuff like SEO, etc. when he did not even use a PC.
Anyway, during our talks he made the point that he had decided not to bother learning about PCs right at the beginning when someone told him that to stop or shut down his PC he had to click on the start button :o)
Clearly this is just plain stupid but it had not occurred to me before. I am sure that many of you will read this with wry smile but how many other basic obstacles to learning are you aware of in the Windows operating system?
Windows never seems sure of your intentions.
I guess at Microsoft they assume everyone is an idiot.
Windows asks too many questions when you are already sure you know what you're doing.
Stupid annoying pop-up paperclip you can't get rid of. Grrrrr...
You have to do an "un-install" to remove a program.
Before Windows, there's no such word as "un-install".
There was either "remove" or "install", not "un-install". With computers if you want to get rid of a program, you should be able to just pick it and delete it. Like "removing" my socks and shoes, not "un-installing" them.
Best operating system IMHO - Macintosh System 6. Multi-tasking is switchable - it can permit background operation of OS/programs or singular OS/program operation - you can choose either way. The OS is very tiny (can fit on a floppy disk), robust, very swift, simple to troubleshoot and simple to expand. And it doesn't require giga-anything to run. :)
I guess at Microsoft they assume everyone is an idiot.
Requiring to press the Start button to Stop your machine? I would say that they assume that everyone is psychic!
With a little research you'll find that having a switch perform two tasks, such as turning a device on and turning it off is often referred to as "simplicity in design".
START/STOP buttons are pretty common and predate Windows by many years. Good thing that technically challenged guy didn't have to figure out how to turn a flashlight off huh?
The only obstacle I see is the willingness to learn. The reluctance to learn is often expressed by grade-schoolers in such pithy expressions as, "that's stupid" or "I hate fractions".
Anyway most on/off switches actually have the words on/off printed on them. Do you think it would have been beyond M$'s Windows develoment team to change the text on the button to "Stop" or "Turn Off" while the PC was running?
I think that my non-techie client made a valid point. I mean what is the use of having "Start" on a button when clicking on it offers you lots of options, none of which are "Start"?
The "Start" menu gives you lots of options to "start" programs, including the "shut down" process.
Personally, I'd prefer that people that get confused by the "start" menu stay away from PCs. :)
For myself, I used computers before the mouse or graphical user interface where introduced. Of course, I fell in love with the Mac when it finally happened 20 years ago.
Since then, I used both platforms on a daily basis, comparing them and trying to get the most from each of them as life rolled about.
I tend to believe the Mac better responds on a niche professional market and Windows yielded to consumers demand.
The "Start" menu gives you lots of options to "start" programs, including the "shut down" process.
Do you work for M$? ;)
Me? Not in an "official" capacity. I just try to help them get the most relevant sites to the top of their index. ;)
Seriously though, I wonder when I see someone take a very literal interpretation, if those people end up stuck for eternity at 'Stop' signs waiting for a 'Go' command...
Personally, I'd prefer that people that get confused by the "start" menu stay away from PCs.
I'd just as soon they stayed away from Macs too. ;)
But really, they could have called it something like System, Windows, Command, Mission Control, or whatever. Start is a bit counterintuitive for a beginner.
yeah but then they would have wasted all the money buying musical rights from the Stones ;)
Think about it. Your computer is on. You have no icons on your desktop. You see a button that says Start. You think, "that seems like a logical place to start." You see an item called Programs and you move your mouse over it. Hey there's all of my programs. I want to use the Internet, I'll click on Internet Explorer.
Don't you remember that little arrow that bounced across the taskbar telling you to start here?
If you are going to critisize the word "start" what would you use instead? I've thought about this many times and have never been able to come up with a good word for the "start" button. Maybe "Menu" but thats about it.
This makes me think of the old cheesy Microsoft commercial:
"Where do you want to go today?"
How's that for a Start button? ;)
... but I want to stop?
Well, see in Microsoft terms that means that you are going somewhere ... else. Like to bed, or to work or just out somewhere. And all them menu options shuts down the computer. Very easy to understand for a computer novice. Right?
But then, after going trought the process of understanding you must click the start button to stop using a so called computer, why is the system asks you 4 more questions and plays a loud teenager tune before it finally shuts down?
If I want to shut down my Mac, I simply push a button and it's done. If I want to switch monitor resolution, I click twice and it's done. No pup ups asking if it's I really want to do, followed by another one telling me it might screw up stuff and will take 15 seconds. Even if if I click cancel, stuff is usually screwed up instantly.
Also, why is it so ugly?
The "Start" button simply means it is a starting point for the most used functions in the computer - shutting down the computer is one of those.
Micro$peak ... ;o)
"Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature"
"Press any key ... No, No, No, NOT THAT ONE!"
"I am afraid it's a non-starter. I cannot even use a bicycle pump"
Dame Judy Dench on being asked if she used email
<Picture a boardroom with a few highly stressed software engineers, and a few marketing guys who just slimed their way under the crack in the door after a "two martini" lunch>
<Engineer #1> Ok, we need to have a "catch all" button on the screen, where you can get to all your programs and major functions. Let's stick with "Menu", everyone knows what a menu is.
<Engineer #2> Menu it is. I'll send it off to the flunkies in graphic arts to make a pretty button.
<Marketing Guy #1> Whoa there! Menu! Are we ordering a pizza? I just ate, and I've got a good buzz going from the cocktails. I don't want any more food to weigh me down.
<MG #2> Did someone say pizza? Just don't get anchovies. I hate anchovies.
<Eng #1> We're talking about the operating system. Not food you dolts.
<MG #1> Operating system? (waves hands in denial) that's so passe. We're building a computing environment.
<Eng #2> Whatever. Can we just send a memo to graphics to make a menu button?
<MG #2> Just so long as it doesn't have anchovies. Anchovies on your button would suck, dude.
<MG #1> Hahahaha, ZOWIE! That's tellin' him (high fives MG #2).
<Eng #1> Aren't you guys gonna miss happy hour?
<MG #2> Yeah, but BG, the Big Guy, said this was important. Something about our new computing environment
<MG #1> You don't think we can leave the creation of a (spreads hands expansively) rich computing experience to a bunch of tech-heads and geeks do you?
<Eng #2> It's been working so far...
<MG #1> And look where it's gotten us. Our operating system has no style. Even our own graphic arts guys use Macs.
<Eng #1> And 99% of the rest of the planet uses our OS.
<Eng #2> Look, we just need a button on the screen that when you click it brings up a list of all the stuff you can do. Can you wrap that concept around that Gin Soaked sponge you call a brain?
<MG #2> (pouts) No need to get nasty.
<Eng #1> (*sighs*) Look, its just a button with a list of options, a menu of options, can we just call it that and send it off to graphics?
<MG #1> I don't like it. A Menu doesn't move me. (folds arms and stares off at ceiling.)
<Eng #2> How 'bout Options then, does that move you? Like the cushy stock options BG hands out to marketing?
<MG #2> Those aren't options, they're incentives.
<MG #1> I don't like options. Too vague. Makes me feel like I'm gonna have to think about something and make a choice.
<Eng #1> Well, obiously we don't want you doing any thinking. You might hurt something.
<MG #1> Did you just insult me?
<Eng #1> Don't get me started.
<MG #2> (Eureka moment) That's it!
<Eng #2> (looks suspiscious/dubious) What's "it"?
<MG #2> You click on the button to "Get Started". It's not a menu, it's a "Start"! Yeah, a "Start" for your rich computing experience.
<MG #1> "Start"! Yeah! I like it. It moves me.
<Eng #1> That makes no sense. What if you want to stop something or turn the computer off?
<MG #1> (waves hands in denial) Then you'll "Start" shutting down.
(Eng #1 & #2 look at each other and shrug in resignation... They know how it goes from here... once marketing gets an idea, no matter how inane...)
"Start" shutting down.
awesome, grelmar
