"Good with Computers", "Tech Savvy"?

[Simo98]

Its interesting, computer ability is something that people either have or they don't, you can learn it to an extent, and its very easy to learn when you are younger, however it often depends on the individual.

I have been considered "Tech Savvy" All my life, sure, I used computers from a young age, however I also think it is partly due to my personality. I expect I could sit down at a completely foreign operating system and have it doing what I wanted in under an hour, without any outside help. Give me access to the internet and i'll probably have it in 15 minutes

As I type this my brother is sitting next to me trying to find his way around Microsoft Word, he's 10 years old and has being using computers for years now, yet still has trouble with a lot of simple actions inside a computer (curently getting very frusterated trying to explain to him how to change the font size). It probably comes from the fact that he is a very active person, I have a friend who is a similar personality who has trouble with computers, yet he used to have one before I did.

I also have a friend with very good hand eye co-ordination (He plays state level cricket) who has trouble with videogames, its amazing how someone who is so co-ordinated in the real world has trouble just walking around using a controller.

Im not sure exactly what makes a person 'tech savvy', and there are different levels of it, I think good problems solving ability plays a large part in it, however like I said, some people just have 'it', and others don't.

 

[Komakino]

I'd disagree with the statement that you need to know more than one operating system to claim competence. I'm pretty good with anything Microsoft but not so hot with Mac stuff and haven't a clue with Linux. If I needed to, I'd work on that - but I don't.

But that's exactly my point - if you can't work with mac or linux then you're not good with computers, you're simply good with windows.

 

[Simo98]

But that's exactly my point - if you can't work with mac or linux then you're not good with computers, you're simply good with windows.

No, your just good with most computers. Then again the philosophy behind Windows is to make most people "good with computers".

 

[Komakino]

No, your just good with most computers. Then again the philosophy behind Windows is to make most people "good with computers".

Sorry, but if you can't use multiple operating systems then you're not good with computers. Being good with Windows is totally different to being good with computers - it's like saying you're good with cars but can only drive an automatic. I encounter people all the time who claim to be "Windows power users" and yet when presented with a Mac just look bewildered. That is not being good with computers.

 

[Simo98]

Sorry, but if you can't use multiple operating systems then you're not good with computers. Being good with Windows is totally different to being good with computers - it's like saying you're good with cars but can only drive an automatic. I encounter people all the time who claim to be "Windows power users" and yet when presented with a Mac just look bewildered. That is not being good with computers.

Er.. I think you missed my point, thats exactly what I meant, maybe you misunderstood my use of """

 

[BassyBill]

Sorry, but if you can't use multiple operating systems then you're not good with computers. Being good with Windows is totally different to being good with computers - it's like saying you're good with cars but can only drive an automatic. I encounter people all the time who claim to be "Windows power users" and yet when presented with a Mac just look bewildered. That is not being good with computers.

A better car analogy would be someone who's a competent mechanic at a Toyota service centre but has never worked on a Nissan and so is unfamiliar with some procedures on the latter.

I think being good with computers that run Windows means you have certain traits, knowledge and transferable skils that mean you could easily pick up how to work with Macs or Linux systems if necessary. I know I could, no problem. Just haven't really needed to (although I did help someone troubleshoot their Mac wireless system a while back, just by doing a bit of research and suggesting things they could try to get it working).

 

[Komakino]

Er.. I think you missed my point, thats exactly what I meant, maybe you misunderstood my use of """

I believe I did. It looked like you were simply quoting the OP's use of the phrase.

 

[Simo98]

I believe I did. It looked like you were simply quoting the OP's use of the phrase.

No worries, thats what happens when I go talkbassing at work, incoherent sentences

 

[fdeck]

A better car analogy would be someone who's a competent mechanic at a Toyota service centre but has never worked on a Nissan and so is unfamiliar with some procedures on the latter.

I think a good analogy would be somebody who lives in a house with a crumbling foundation and leaky roof, filled with decaying clutter, and occupied by cretins shouting drivel at one another, and knowing how to jiggle the toilet handle just right, to stop it from leaking.

 

[anyonefortennis]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers

 

[mindgrinder]

At my place of employment "good with computers" = The person that will really screw everything up royally before they call us. Of course thats sometimes better than an emergency call to the other side of the county because the monitor is turned off.

 

[Simo98]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers

Its funny because its so terribly terribly true.

 

[rarbass]

I agree with the "Google It" method. I know a fair bit about computers, but anytime someone has an issue for me, I know just what to type into Google to get the job done. I pride myself on being good at using Google lol if that's a skill.

 

[tk421]

At my place of employment "good with computers" = The person that will really screw everything up royally before they call us. Of course thats sometimes better than an emergency call to the other side of the county because the monitor is turned off.

we call that "just smart enough to be dangerous" ... like when a non-IT guy somehow gets putty installed on his machine so he can remote his pathetic "home server" with it's swiss cheese security.

 

[froovs]

But that's exactly my point - if you can't work with mac or linux then you're not good with computers, you're simply good with windows.

ive been "good with computers" most of my life, and made a living doing it freelance for about the last 12 years...

although ive been using Macs going right back as far as my father's 1986 Mac Plus and been au fait with linuxes since the mid 90s in my area at least (rural scotland) dyou know how many non windows machines have passed through my hands?

1, precisely 1 Macbook last year, plus a pc that needed de-linuxed so its just been swindled owner could actually use the thing!

theres a great deal of snobbery around people who see themselves as "elite" because they can install a linux or afford a Mac (no personal offence meant there btw)

in the environment i work in at least "UK home users" computer is synonymous with windows box

cheers
froovs

 

[Absentia]

I'm usually called "The @&*$%%^& IT guy"

I like when people use the word "Hacker" referring to people who wouldn't know how to write a hello werld program in basic.

Web designer: someone who can plug text into a dreamweaver template, make a wiki space or googlesite.

Webmaster: Someone who can use twitter or facebook

Project Manager: Put a list together of crap their crap their pissed off about then give to me.

Audio Visual Specialist: Can hook a laptop with a powerpoint presentation up to a digital projector.

Digital artist: Can crop an image in paint

Network Administrator: Can load windows on a PC but doesn't know windows server exists nor what a switch does.

These words mean nothing to me, my profession is becoming more and more of a joke each day.

 

[Komakino]

ive been "good with computers" most of my life, and made a living doing it freelance for about the last 12 years...

although ive been using Macs going right back as far as my father's 1986 Mac Plus and been au fait with linuxes since the mid 90s in my area at least (rural scotland) dyou know how many non windows machines have passed through my hands?

1, precisely 1 Macbook last year, plus a pc that needed de-linuxed so its just been swindled owner could actually use the thing!

theres a great deal of snobbery around people who see themselves as "elite" because they can install a linux or afford a Mac (no personal offence meant there btw)

in the environment i work in at least "UK home users" computer is synonymous with windows box

cheers
froovs

It's not elitism. If you can't use more than one operating system you are not 'good with computers'. Whether you've had any non-windows computers pass through your hands is irrelevant.
If you can fix a diesel engine but not a petrol engine you're not 'good with engines' you're 'good with diesel engines'.

Perhaps windows users have more trouble than users of other OS's? Perhaps Linux users sort their own problems out as they're already good with computers? Perhaps Mac users prefer to send their computers back to Apple when they have a problem? See what I'm getting at? Your experience of non-windows computers is totally irrelevant and does not change my point that you can be the master of Windows, but unless you can at least navigate your way around some other OS you will remain simply 'good with windows' and not 'good with computers'.

Let's ignore Linux completely. Apple has around 8 - 10% of the personal computer market. If you can't at least change some basic settings (background, screen resolution) and, say, open a website on 10% of computers out there can you legitimately claim to be good with computers? No.

 

[tk421]

It's not elitism. If you can't use more than one operating system you are not 'good with computers'. Whether you've had any non-windows computers pass through your hands is irrelevant.

Let's ignore Linux completely. Apple has around 8 - 10% of the personal computer market. If you can't at least change some basic settings (background, screen resolution) and, say, open a website on 10% of computers out there can you legitimately claim to be good with computers? No.

yes, let's ignore linux completely. so by the same token, we'll ignore OSX along with it, cause it's nothing more than a shiny gui on top of a 'nix kernel.

outside of the "arts" - music, graphic design, web wrangling - there is no business market for apple. like it or not, Windows makes the business world go round.

in my company - there are approximately 250 windows servers. approximately 520 windows laptops. over 1500 windows desktops. number of macs - 1. and to top it all off - it's a 17" MBP running xp. all because our CIO wanted a pretty laptop.

 

[BassyBill]

If a computer with a GUI OS exists where I couldn't change screen resolution or open a website, then it's a crap OS.

To return to our car analogies, saying someone is not "good with computers" because they haven't used every OS out there is like saying someone's a lousy driver because they've never been behind the wheel of a Subaru.

 

[fdeck]

If a computer with a GUI OS exists where I couldn't change screen resolution or open a website, then it's a crap OS.

To return to our car analogies, saying someone is not "good with computers" because they haven't used every OS out there is like saying someone's a lousy driver because they've never been behind the wheel of a Subaru.

Early Macs had fixed resolution, determined by which computer and monitor you bought. Mac users didn't have a problem with that, especially because resolution beyond the dot pitch of the display was useless anyway. Changeable resolution on PC systems was simply due to the proliferation of graphics cards and monitors that had no way of "recognizing" one another.

Better not get a computer with an LCD monitor. A modern computer with an LCD panel doesn't need but one resolution, equal to the dot pitch. Variable resolution on CRTs is a legacy feature for achieving compatibility with antique hardware.

I'm mentioning all of this, just because you've raised a good example of a "skill" that involves manipulating the settings of obsolete hardware, and configuring stuff that shouldn't need to be configured. A vast amount of computer "skill" is of this nature.

Bottom line is that "good with computers" means different things to different people. For you, changing resolution is important. For me, knowing how to choose a system that doesn't need extensive manipulation of arcane settings is important.

For many computer enthusiasts, knowing how to dramatically fix every problem that crops up is valuable. But what I value is knowing how to keep a system running with minimal administrative effort and no drama. That's the dilemma of technology. Being "good with technology" could be beneficial or it could be dangerous. If somebody is really good at fixing problems, you should always look to make sure they aren't the ones causing the problems. Look up "Münchhausen By Proxy Syndrome."

Also, the list of skills that anybody might deem to be important changes over time. How many of you know what this is: