Clarke's Third Law

[clash42]

So I was at work thinking today about the people who I talk to everyday. Someone was discussing how he was sending someone an email instructing them to call when they were available to perform a data transfer from one computer to another. He said that while he was writing this he stopped and decided to specify that they needed to call when they

Comments

[proletariat_x]

If people don't understand Tech, its magic to them.

Funny, Clarke was actually using the law to mock the fact that science fiction writers would not use plausible tech in their stories. It grew from that to be a rather profound statement.

[clash42]

For me, the really staggering thing is that these people use their computers every single day. (and are paid likely 2 to 3 times if not more than I make)

I mean honestly, how many people think that Gasoline magically appears in your car when you pay at the Gas Station? Granted the Automobile has been around for quite some time, but the computer has been around for longer than many of our parents have been alive.

[strahd414]

It kinda makes sense though, they don't want to have to worry about why things work. They just want them to work so they can worry about other things.

It's like when I was younger, I didn't worry about how a car worked as long as it took me from A to B. I know a lot more about cars these days, but I'd still not want to have to figure out how to change a head gasket or replace my brakes. I'd rather pay someone else to fix them for me.

[proletariat_x]

It is kind of sad, considering that all the info you need is at your fingertips.

[strahd414]

Hey, that's why I love my job so much. I'm like the magical secret agent that makes peoples' computers work again.

It's weird how differently people look at me when I'm wearing my black and whites.

[clash42]

Though our jobs are rather different. While you provide a service at request, I'm closer to a business expense. The people who call me aren't consumers of some product, they're people who work for a Technical Staffing Firm. I'm not expecting them to know how to fix the in house applications that we use that need really cryptic and arcane steps to resolve. I just want them to respond to the direction "Open you Web Browser" with something other than "What?"