Part 1: How to communicate effectively with your Techie.

If you are new to using your computer, you need someone to help you when things go wrong. By now, you have probabaly found a person knowledgable with computers. If you haven't, I would recommend finding one.

People who have worked with computers for a long time often assume people know certain things that aren't really obvious to the first timer, like how to copy and paste text, and what a cursor is.
"The first step" in a computer technique may not be the first step to someone who doesn't know things they need to know.
If you don't understand something, especially at the beginning, maybe you started in the wrong place.
Using a computer before knowing the basics is like reading the second half of a novel without reading the first half first : Things don't make sense.
The thing about computers, if something doesn't make sense, it feels better to know WHY it doesn't make sense. Computer systems were made by people, who make assumptions and whatnot about how they will be used.
Oftentimes, these people don't get out in the fresh air enough, and lack a lot of common sense.1
Anyway, the thing to remember is:

If you don't understand something, stop and ask right away.

This is important, because if you don't ask, it is always assumed that you understand everything so far.2
Also, if your techie tells you something overly complex, ask if you really need to know about it.
More often than not, the answer is "not really, but isn't it interesting?"

Another thing to do is make sure you have a pad of paper handy. Taking notes is very important at the beginning, because most techies can remember if they already told you something (three times?) and start to get the feeling you aren't trying.
Write down any useful tips. And try to memorize some of the more often used techniques.

1. This is a stereotype, but you will find that in general, it is true more often than one would expect. BACK
2. Unless the techie says "Don't worry about it." Many times, there is a simple explanation and a real explanation. The real explanation details the historical reasons for it being so, the simple explanation is usually "Don't worry about it." Unless you want to really Know how things work, don't ask for the real explanation.BACK

This file last modified

Count started Feb. 22, 2005.