Hi John,
}- I can claim true "expertise" in only one thing: an airborn
}- radar/weapons system that is almost completely retired from
}- the world's inventory. It had it's own complete vocabulary,
}- chock-full of acronyms. The pilots who used it most
}- effectively knew SOME of it, but not one ever mastered the
}- complete "theory of operation". As "users", it wasn't
}- required.
The military does love their acronyms, don't they <grin>? I
suppose if fighter pilots handling very destructive weaponry
can manage without learning the entire language of the system,
then the average user should be able to manage to use a computer
without knowing the whole of the lingo.
But just as an example, I got an email yesterday from someone
who had visited my webpage and is asking for help. He said he
has upgraded from MS-DOS 6.22 to Win95 and then to Win98. He
wants to know how to get 6.22 entirely off the system. He also
wants to know why the system only recognizes 1.99 gig when he has
an 8 gig HD. I asked him if he had checked his CMOS settings
to check for automatic HD detection and/or large drive support.
But he doesn't even know what the CMOS is(!), let alone how to
get into it or change the settings. I just think people need to
know these kinds of things if they are going to have a computer,
because things inevitably go wrong. I told him that I meant
no offense or insult, but that he should probably take his
computer to a service center to have these problems fixed as
it was probably beyond his skills to fix himself. He hasn't
written back yet...
}- I would place THE BIG CHANGE squarely in line with the
}- introduction of the Mac.
Then I am in good company! :-)
}- Until that time, some knowledge of how computers really
}- operate was an absolute necessity to do the "good stuff"
}- effectively. Just as with electronics, I maintain that it
}- takes a particular set of mental pathways to properly
}- understand how a computer does what it does. [snip]
Yes, I think this is very true, as I said before, it's a "way of
thinking." But beyond that I don't know how to explain it...
Giving proper credit to all my teachers (including you) I was
really surprised to find that I could think this way. I'm not
sure whether it's something I always knew or learned how to do.
}- So, IMO, this all leads back to what I believe should [snip]
}- For me, anyway, getting a computer to do what *I* want [snip]
As you know I absolutely agree with your last two statements...
Boanne
- --
FROM: Over the hills and far away...
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
A Dinosaurs Garden (collection of DOS links and files)
http://www.sound.net/~ashelton/dinosaur/dg.htm
*640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates, 1981.
To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message.
Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies.
