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Pastimes : Computer Learning -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J. C. Dithers who wrote (14937)	1/16/2001 3:24:35 PM
From: mr.mark	Respond to of 110652

jc you make perfect sense. the pc industry has paid lip service, at best, to the problems you point out. but i want to call your attention to another part of your post.... "At the same time (and having nothing to do with this great thread!), I do think this discussion illustrates the nagging gap between techies and the rest of humanity" that is precisely the gap we are trying to fill right here, jc. you are without question, 100% correct that things are tougher than they should be. but since they are that way, and probably won't change for quite some time, there's always the Computer Learning thread... a comfortable place to ask your most basic questions, with a variety of folks trying to provide an answer. until and unless the industry as a whole changes, we'll just keep plugging away! <g3> so, now that we all agree that things aren't as they should be, you still have that file transfer challenge to deal with. :) mark

To: J. C. Dithers who wrote (14937)	1/16/2001 3:44:35 PM
From: shadowman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110652

J.C., You make a good point. I haven't been involved with PC's for that long (about 10 years), but I noticed right from the git go a definite "in group"-"out group" mentality. Fortunately this thread does not practice that approach. The jargon is so ridiculous and off putting that it's a wonder that these marketing geniuses ever sell anything to anyone who doesn't have an engineering degree. Add to that the way Microsoft has made the major operating system it's own arcane proprietary product and done such a poor job of making it user friendly for almost anybody, let alone the non techies in the world, is it any wonder that this wonderful contraption (the PC) has hit a few bumps in the road on it's way to universal acceptance? The Yugo approach will only go so far...the initial sale will not be followed up by an enthusiastic repurchase if the consumer is disappointed. These are the same people that brought us VHS VCR's, and still haven't figured out how to explain to the masses in understandable terms...how to program the damn things. When it comes to marketing a consumer product to the consumer a lot seems to be lacking.

To: J. C. Dithers who wrote (14937)	1/16/2001 3:50:31 PM
From: Gottfried	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110652

JC, vent any time here. :) Now are you going to buy Laplink and a cable [maybe it comes with the cable?] and follow the easy instructions and tell us that you did it? Gottfried

To: J. C. Dithers who wrote (14937)	1/17/2001 10:54:07 AM
From: PMS Witch	Respond to of 110652

Thank-you for your post. My micro-computer exposure began with a Heath Kit, and I sometimes fail to fully appreciate the mountain sized obstacles faced by people who have joined the PC party late. As such I tend to get carried away with explanations of things that are needlessly complex and technical. While I find the choices and trade-offs in PC and OS design an interesting study, the next person is probably more interested in getting the e-mail read and the chequebook balanced. The benefit of a thread like this is that those wishing to learn can be helped along, and at the same time, the techies can see how wide the gap between them and the people they are trying to serve has become. YOU HAVE PERFORMED AN ILLEGAL OPERATION!!!! YOUR PROGRAM IS BEING SHUT DOWN!!! Quite a while ago, someone posted that they bought a new scanner. Once connected to their system, they decided to try it out by scanning a $20 bill. Their system decided to choke at just that moment, and produced the Illegal Operation message. They wondered how their computer knew they were counterfeiting. Cheers, PW.