the takers: an age old problem
Beware, this is a cranky rant.
it's the age old problem, givers vs takers. we were trying to share some work files via a torrent, as most of the group already participates. Yet a couple of folks screamed "no! What do you mean, let someone "into my computer." They're bright and capable, yet can't get their heads around the concept of "give to get."
One of the office young'uns did a good job of explaining torrents to them, but then said something that irked the hell out of me. He ended his explanation with "and then as soon as I'm finished, I stop seeding. Because I figure if it takes me an hour to get a file, well i've spent an hour giving back and that's equal. besides, there are other people still up there. I've got other stuff to do"
When i told john about this, he said he'd poll some of his students. His report? he polled about 20. 17 said they agreed that was ok. Interestingly, all those who disagreed were returnees---his older students.
Which maybe helps to explain why i'm so happy to share things, yet find myself surrounded in some groups by folks who are constant beggars and rarely offer us anything in return. Doesn't keep me from shaking my head though....
So that was my peeve of the week. John had a good one, too. Why are his internet savvy kids incapable of finding things online? And why are some of my equally savvy adult friends in the same boat?
My cranky goal for the year: to stop at least one person from always saying "how did you find that?" Cause I'm tired of saying " oh, I just typed *insert query of choice here* into google and went from there.
OK, rant shoes off. In fact, so far off i'm going for a pedicure.
it's the age old problem, givers vs takers. we were trying to share some work files via a torrent, as most of the group already participates. Yet a couple of folks screamed "no! What do you mean, let someone "into my computer." They're bright and capable, yet can't get their heads around the concept of "give to get."
One of the office young'uns did a good job of explaining torrents to them, but then said something that irked the hell out of me. He ended his explanation with "and then as soon as I'm finished, I stop seeding. Because I figure if it takes me an hour to get a file, well i've spent an hour giving back and that's equal. besides, there are other people still up there. I've got other stuff to do"
When i told john about this, he said he'd poll some of his students. His report? he polled about 20. 17 said they agreed that was ok. Interestingly, all those who disagreed were returnees---his older students.
Which maybe helps to explain why i'm so happy to share things, yet find myself surrounded in some groups by folks who are constant beggars and rarely offer us anything in return. Doesn't keep me from shaking my head though....
So that was my peeve of the week. John had a good one, too. Why are his internet savvy kids incapable of finding things online? And why are some of my equally savvy adult friends in the same boat?
My cranky goal for the year: to stop at least one person from always saying "how did you find that?" Cause I'm tired of saying " oh, I just typed *insert query of choice here* into google and went from there.
OK, rant shoes off. In fact, so far off i'm going for a pedicure.