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September 18, 2003

The User Menace

[Quoted from The Register]

Based on experience, I don't think these people are kidding:

The results of a study released this week confirms what the world's BOFHs and sysadmins have known for ages: that users are a dangerous menace who should not be allowed near anything more advanced than a fridge.
A staggering one in seven technologically challenged employees needs help even switching their computers on and off, according to research commissioned by City & Guilds.
The UK vocational awarding body's study of 405 random UK financial directors revealed that, despite the fact that PCs have been around for over thirty years, getting to grips with the devices is totally beyond many British office workers. A fifth were found to struggle to save a document, more than one in five need assistance printing, while a quarter cannot understand a spreadsheet.

Click the link at the top for the rest of the article....

Posted by Ozguru at September 18, 2003 07:09 AM


Comments


You have to wonder how these people get hired in the first place. If you have an office environment, where computers are regularly used by the majority of staff, then sorry but you should hire more competant staff (or train those you have to a better level). This sort of thing should just not happen anymore.

Posted by: Prasad at September 18, 2003 07:09 AM

Well, that's part of the answer. The other part is to make computers simpler to use. They still remain insanely complex for even the simplest tasks. My dad still cannot figure out how to play a VCD on the computer. The technology has been around for ages, but it still isn't as easy or as natural as popping it into a player and pressing play.

Posted by: Kingsley at September 18, 2003 07:09 AM