[Courses] [Spineful Living, lesson 7: Assumptions Make....]

[Olusola Fadero]

On 31/05/07, Isabelle Hurbain <isabelle.hurbain at pasithee.fr> wrote:
>
> Le Tue, 29 May 2007 07:38:35 +1000,
> Kathryn Andersen <kat_lists at katspace.homelinux.org> a écrit :
>
> > - "You know all about computers, can you fix my PC for me?"
> > I've managed to train my family out of that by repeated "No, I don't
> > use MS-Windows, I can't help you."
>
> Many people do not have any idea of what is computer science. "I'm a
> Ph.D. Student in CS" got me more than once "oh, then maybe you can fix
> my printer" and other stuff of this kind... Or, because my thesis
> subject had to do with H.264 encoding, the assumption that I know every
> tiny timsy option of every piece of software ever written to encode or
> read a DiVX.
> And then, when you explain that no, you can't, your considered either
> as a bad or as an incompetent person in your field. Nice indeed.
>
>
>
You may be considered it but as long as it doesn't make you feel guilty who
cares. You are also teaching that person that not everyone who mentions the
word "computer" or "IT"  in their job description can fix their problem.

I've learnt from other IT people as I've gotten older to either introduce
myself  as "Working in the finance/transport/defence/whatever industry", say
"I'm a software engineer"   or to say whatever meaningless job title that
particular company has decided to give me.    This has significantly
decreased the number of strangers who ask me to fix their computer or
printer. [This is because they are still trying to work out what I do.]

With friends' and family because there is more than one person in every
group I hang out with who has some interest in computers, they know asking
me or the other person to fix something will lead to a long discussion and
it may be quicker for the person with the problem trying to fix it
themselves.  :)

However it doesn't stop me from doing stuff like removing viruses of
people's computers.

Olusola