What are some things you think tech people presume others know, and know how to do?
What are some things you think tech people presume others know, and know how to do?
It's helpful to take a few steps back from time to time to reassess where we're each coming from on our knowledge of tech (or anything) to better communicate.
You're viewing a single thread.
Basically everything.
Like, even filling out a basic Excel sheet can be difficult to some people who have absolutely no experience in it.
I had to stop watching how other people use computers for my own sanity. Even people who use computers (allegedly) 40 hours a week for the past 20 years are no better than those chimps who learned to touch squares on a screen. If a triangle pops up they start throwing shit.
But I no longer assume a user knows anything. If someone asked me what a curser was I wouldn't even blink. The only thing that really annoys me is a refusal to try anything. I don't even care if you learn about what you are doing, at least try what I'm telling you.
I have a coworker who had literally never used a computer his entire life before getting this job. He's almost 50 and was hired shortly aftet me.
But he's put in the effort. He can now type relatively fast, he knows what the file system is, what browsers do, how to send and read emails, how to send and read slack messages. He's even starting to get a sense, when something goes wrong, whether he did something incorrect or whether the software he's using is just shit. Tabs took him a long time to wrap his mind around but he's getting it. All this in about a year.
Because that person care to learn. A lot of people don't give a shit and that's why after 20 years, some people still think a computer is a magic box.
Tabs are weird because they only make sense intuitively to someone who uses paper files, which is becoming less common
I work with people who have no email and use flip phones. Knowing how to do basic formulas in excel is something people in my industry put on resumes as a brag. I blew minds with a pivot table last week.
Then tech people will come in like "if you dont c38÷<#æ&÷>h§tg your &÷8]ă2& on your ejẅińë6÷&7g/g5 then youre stupid and support facism, you dumb corporate apologist with your basic windows platform."
Or at least that's what lemme feels like sometimes.
What job is that? I'd be a God there after I automate my entire workflow and just get paid for sitting on the chair.
Manufacturing, not a ton of behind the desk work required. What little office work is required is still often done on paper or on very manual entry heavy basic excel sheets.
I dont know why tech people always forget non tech jobs still exist. You definetely wouldn't get paid for just sitting in a chair unless you've cracked industrial line automation in a way that should have already made you a billionaire. Still more automation of any kind would also be a good thing in a lot of plants.
Still more automation of any kind would also be a good thing in a lot of plants.
Controls engineer here. I will get to you eventually.
Pulling a tech worker move, i'd just convince the tech illiterate boss that the excel thingy is too complicated and that i should use all the time i have to handle it while i then make some software that handles that annoying part of the job until it becomes too important that someone has to maintain it. of course, i'd write no documentation so i only know how the program works, as a leverage in case they think it would be a good idea to fire me lmao.
At that point that's just fraud lmao.
I know xD that's tech industry for you
You clearly just don't understand manufacturing. They'd still be willing to fire you and make us use a paper and pencil. In fact if the techs that important then no it isn't because they don't trust it, and we're keeping paper backups anyway.
I know that because youre in tech you think you can "out smart" the guy who can build a house with a paper and pencil, but I promise that you aren't half as clever as you think you are.
I automated my workflow once and started drinking heavily. My manager hated my guts but couldn't get rid of me. So it was just me in a server room reading for 7 hours a day and pretending to look interested during meetings for the other hour.
Look, I'm a software engineer, and I still fucking hate filling out spreadsheets. I'm honestly at the point where I'd rather make everything a
QUERYfunction than deal withARRAYFORMULAbullshit. Honestly, if Google Sheets could add SQL language formatting, we'd be golden.I said basic Excel sheet.
Yes. Those words. They are things.