A joke at work....
 

I work for a tech support for a phone company and I get this call and this guy is messed in his head and says that for some reason the phone always switches off when he puts it in his trouser pocket :). I smile as to where the conversation is going to go. I am almost tempted to ask him what all does he have in his pocket but I refrain (might be against the data protection act). So I tell him that try the phone in the shirt pocket and I would call back after 3 days to check on the issue.
Called back 5 days later - issue resolved :)

That is one very stupid guy.

This is why software should be free and hardware/devices should be cheap. All the money can be made on tech support, which 3/4's of it is user stupidity.

I would say that it is no more than half is user stupidity, and probably less than that. Poor design, ambiguous instructions, poor instructions, they all probably cause more grief than user stupidity.

For example -- how about adding a meaningful layman's description of what the computer error is to the engineer-ese description one gets so that a user could possibly investigate things himself? That's a case of poor instructions: It's engineers talking to laymen by using engineering terms and not lay terms. For that you want to blame the user? On what basis? The user not being a computer software engineer?

Detroit makes cars that lay people can drive, not just mechanical engineers and professional drivers. Why should computers and other electronics be any different?

You need a license to drive those cars. May be should be the same with computers.

Yep, with that I agree.

One should know that driving a car off of a cliff is a bad idea. That the car needs gas, oil, maintenance, etc. If you leave the windows open and it rains, the car will get wet inside. If you step on the gas peddle to stop and the brake to go, well... And the list goes on. These all fall under the "DUH" category. You don't need to be a mechanic to know this. Just have a little common sense.

The same applies with computers or technology in general.

Sadly a license hasn't helped with people and vehicles, doubt very much it would with technology and people either.


Edit: Also I am not an engineer and I have my share of "DUH" days. So I am not being judgmental of people. I am just stating the facts. And people that are learning or trying to understand and make mistakes are completely different then the ones that just make the mistakes and never learn from them. By the ones that never learn I mean the ones that can't figure out why their toaster doesn't work in the bath tub but keep trying anyways and blame the toaster.

It is not that I am complaining. I have too at times exceeded my quota of stupidity but then does it require instructions from tech support to not to put the phone in the trouser pocket? Not even an elderly person - I would go out of my way to help these people.
I dunno whats happening - devices getting smarter or people getting dumber...

It's the Russkies violating our bodily fluids with fluoridated water. That's why I only drink pure rain water.

Either way, There are many valid reasons to put a phone in a pocket. I put my cell phone in a pocket. The more useful tech answer would have been "You are probably hitting the power button/whatever button when it's in your pocket." If it was a cordless telephone, you should have told him to get a clip so that he could hang it on the belt loop or other means.

lumak, don't you know, they shoot the fluoride into the atmosphere to make sure the "rain water only" drinkers get theirs too!

I think the point is, he should have known he was probably hitting the power button when it was in his pocket. As far as the rest of your paragraph: Why would he carry around a corded phone in his trouser pocket?

Laugh,

Forrest

I always get mobile phones with a hinge ... that way you can't press buttons without opening it.

Or you could just lock the keys -_-
I haven't seen a phone yet without a key lock...

Yes, I have tried that, but sometimes it somehow unlocks itself in my pocket ... I much prefer the hinged ones, they also tend to be more compact.

But I don't need to be an engineer just to get the thing to work. That's my point. The only reason I need a license to drive is to prevent harm to others. A malfunctioning computer presents no such danger.

Our PRECIOUS, bodily fluids . . .