Internetbrowser.. whats that?.. *facepalm
Posted by LxZer0@reddit | talesfromtechsupport | View on Reddit | 25 comments
i love my work in Tech support but its getting increasingly harder to talk to customers on a Level they understand. I talk to People of all ages but many of the younger ones dont even know what an Internetbrowser is.
and even when i say "please open your google chrome, firefox or internet browser of choice" they respond with "what is that?" " i only google" ...
it is disappointing how little many People know about the Tech their use on a daily basis.
And the rise of Ai like Chat GPT only increases the Problem. In a few years many people will stop thinking all together because they dont need to think anymore.
My 96 Year old Grandma learned to use Whatsapp, so there is no excuse for others.
outerzenith@reddit
I think today's tech is very seamless in using them, on android for example, there's the Google app where you can search stuff, and when you tap on a link, a chrome custom tab will display the link's content without the user even know that it's Google Chrome opening the site.
I don't know if the problem is more apparent on desktop PC, because when you double click an icon, the name is usually right there or in the new tab page
what's concerning is if they really don't know what is an internet browser lol
meitemark@reddit
The "today's" tech started in 2001 with Windows XP and iPhone. Since that point on it has been a point to dumb down and make tech "intuitive". And they have done just that. Kids can use advanced technology before learing to speak or walk. Anyone can become a customer and use it!
Problem is that learning by just seamless use is pretty fucking hard. So no learning, no understanding what things are and how they connect. Plug and play, albeit there is almost no plugging anymore. Just pay and play.
KelemvorSparkyfox@reddit
I'm monderately distrustful of "intuitive" technology. If it doesn't want me to think while using it, what else doesn't it want me to think about?
meitemark@reddit
No thinking. Just pay, with money and data, beautyful data. All about you and what you want. CONSUME!
sidenote, maybe not relevant:
Sometime in the early '00 I did take a test, "Datakortet" the Norwegian version of European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) (basic windows use). Because of my otherwise pretty good computer knowledge, all I did to prepare and ace the powerpoint test was to read the names of all the icons.
benjymous@reddit
It's apparently becoming more and more common for someone to enter the workforce and have never used a laptop or desktop computer their entire lives - only phones and tablets, so are utterly baffled by things like mice and physical keyboards, or desktops and files.
ALazy_Cat@reddit
At least the anti gamer moms will soon get their will then. No future gamers
meitemark@reddit
There will be gamers. Gaming when I started with computers was rearranging memory in autoexec.bat, multiplayer was making my own null-modem cables by guesswork and soldering. LAN gaming was writing new drivers for network cards since they only came with OS/2 drivers. I have jumped through loads of learning moments to get my gaming fix. Now you no longer have to learn anything to get your dopamin fix and show off your "skillz". It is just "Pay and Play".
The will be gamers, and there will be moms that thinks that using a computer for games means that the kid is a computer expert.
My once epic insult of "I have forgotten more about computers than you will ever learn", now only makes me sad.
Zonnebloempje@reddit
But that's my problem. I don't like Google, let alone chrome. So I use Vivaldi browser and DuckDuckGo as my search engine... Then again, I am not a "young one", I still experienced the old fashioned phone with turn dial...
ikonfedera@reddit
"Consumers" should've never been given PCs, when all they need is a simple, limited and locked down iPad. Shame it didn't come out like a decade earlier.
AdreKiseque@reddit
I think I'd rather live in a world where the average person is literate and capable than one where they haven't the slightest idea how to use technology.
meitemark@reddit
Then we would have had "this problem" a decade earlier. It is the simple, limited and locked down that is the problem.
ikonfedera@reddit
I disagree.
Unknowing (a.k.a. average) consumers are overwhelmed and confused by choices and details that are so unneeded for them. They don't care whether they use Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari or whatever. They use "Internet", or at best "Google". Whenever a problem appears, they're like a 5 year child sent into the mall to buy a loaf of bread. Utterly lost.
That means we (the tech support) have to account for their lack of knowledge when doing the job, which is annoying at best. And the almost unlimited scope of Windows makes it easy to get lost when you don't even know what an "internet browser" is. Android phones (which I love by the way) have similar problem, albeit to a lesser extent.
Since iPads are quite limited in scope, they're a good way to filter out the majority of users that don't need anything more (let them play in a safe sandbox) from the users that actually need the power of a PC.
It's a bit wishful and naïve, but so be it.
meitemark@reddit
Personally I would rather have a world were you had to be capable to learn stuff in order to use it.
Simple, limited and locked down only makes the user stupid. Yes, a lot of users are stupid from before, but removing any posibillity of learning does not help.
Ill3galAlien@reddit
i foresee the days of the giant buy and large ship and fat lazy american arses sitting in chairs and being fed by AI robots
Realistic_Ratio8381@reddit
Soon enough you will be upgraded to double facepalm.
LxZer0@reddit (OP)
i bet XD .. sometimes i feel like iam talking to a 5 year old in a grown body ..
__wildwing__@reddit
Nah, the five year old would have programmed the VCR, the coffee pot, and upgraded their phone.
LxZer0@reddit (OP)
xD
pakrat1967@reddit
While I do empathize with you. I also have a question. If you aren't a mechanic, do you know exactly how a car works? Sure you understand that it needs gas to go. Hopefully also aware that it needs oil and other fluids plus regular maintenance. But can you describe exactly what the process is for the gas making the car go. Or do just turn the key/press the button to start the engine.
ryanlc@reddit
Using the car analogy, I think a mechanic is the wrong way to go. We're not asking people to be a mechanic and to troubleshoot, clean, and maybe replace a fuel injection system.
We're asking them to drive and to know what the steering wheel is vs. the brake pedal. But the answers we get are "the spinny thing" and "the flat panel on the bottom of the car".
A mechanic doesn't expect their customers to be repairmen, but they do expect their customers to be drivers who can safely operate the equipment.
meitemark@reddit
Putting in new fluids in the car is akin to updating drivers.
ryanlc@reddit
Right?! And plugging it in is akin to filling the fuel tank.
faeriemelon@reddit
Yup, back when I worked at 1st line tech support via phone my go-to was asking the customer to describe the icon they use to open Google, in those cases.
You needed the website or the desktop application to access the company thingamabob at that time.
TallGreenhouseGuy@reddit
Could be worse - ”everything is outlook”:
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20070101-12/?p=28543
From Microsoft legend Raymond Chen
FraaRaz@reddit
People are starting to share Google links via Whatsapp with me. Well, that in itself is not so much a problem, albeit annoying, but it adds to the illiteracy that you mention. If you search something in, say, Safari browser, Google will ask you to use the Google app. People just click on the fat and shiny "yes, take me there" link. So now they're getting stuck inside the Google app and don't find any way out ever again.
Browsers are dead then.