babark: I dunno, I seem to be of the almost exact opposite viewpoint. I use a car regularly, and get oil changes done when scheduled to, but if I'm required to do something beyond change the tire, I'll be at a loss. I'd call someone to get it fixed.
These things are all tools, mean to help us lead better lives, not unwritten obligations to get a minor degree in computing.
And I feel that someone refusing to use something like a computer because they feel they're not knowledgeable enough about it is...childish and frustrating.
I learned my first programming language in 1 night. I would've timed myself if i knew so many people would've considered that such a big deal. Granted, I wasn't as good as I am now at it, but i read the book mentioned in the following link back when i was in middle school
http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/Beginning-Visual-C-6.productCd-0764543881.html Didn't take me long at all. I'm not even asking people to have that much knowledge. You should know about alternative booting methods, you should be aware of how to get to your BIOS, and if something breaks inside and you know what it is, you should be able to replace it. None of that's overly complicated, and the number of people that brag about such skills is appalling. You should have enough knowledge to diagnose basic problems and then do research on them. People who don't know how to use quotes and minus symbols on a given search engine is enough to say you shouldn't be left alone on a computer. This is why viruses and such are out of control. This is why IT people spend more time trying to shut employees out of their computers than fixing the backlog of actually broken computers. You should have enough knowledge to turn around and do your own research on how to learn what that degree teaches you if you want the information. If you don't, you should still have enough knowledge to be able to research it when the time comes that you actually need that knowledge.
All that is, of course, besides the main point: No offense to rtcvb32 at all, but I didn't really find the video posted in the original post amusing, or instructive or even beneficial to anyone- I mean that last point in the sense that they "deserve" ostracism. That sort of attitude brings to mind a road-ragey friend of mine who felt the need to "teach the other drivers lessons" when they cut him off by overtaking them and slowing down in front of them to frustrate them- didn't serve any purpose except to make me not want to be in the car with him :D.
They might "deserve" ostracism, but I don't care enough about other people's opinions on their own stuff to bother with it.
Wow, that was certainly a very long post by me about essentially nothing...
A driver on the road who does dumb things has malice and/or a lack of ethics. With computers, people are dangerous and turn around when they do something wrong and said "i didn't know any better." At least the other driver admits they should have been paying attention. And, if they don't, we actually still hold them accountable.
kohlrak: I'm of the opinion that if you use a tool, you should reasonably be informed on how to fix and maintain it to a reasonable degree. If you're trying to use a microwave, and you're standing there confused because it's in timer mode or something, and you can't figure out how to get it back, i am going to make fun of you. I don't care if it hurts your feelings. If you don't know how, to a reasonable degree, something works, you are a danger to yourself and those around you. The same thing can be said about computers, believe it or not. The same thing can even be said about consoles, though to a lesser degree. I don't care if you "don't have an interest," and neither does danger. Making fun of these people is a form of ostracism which is often ultimately for their own benefit.
StingingVelvet: I wasn't talking about basic use scenarios, but more the deep dive of "this runs at 60hz but the animation is 30hz and it feels weird" kind of anal expertise. My dad can use his laptop to order parts and read unfortunately chosen news sites, but could he add more RAM or reformat it? Probably not, and I think that's fine. I know how to drive a car and maybe change a tire, but for everything else there's AAA and mechanics.
I find PC gaming's benefits far outweigh its negatives, but the majority of society disagrees and I understand that.
Changing oil and tires are pretty basic. Maybe headlights too. Engine? nah. But getting RAM, graphics cards, etc, no, that's easy, and if it's not, you should be able to google it.
But there's another issue, here. With your father's knowledge, do you think he'd be sitting there making comments about how the framerates don't match? I certainly hope not. If he does, when he very well knows he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about, deserves to be made fun of. If he keeps quiet, or shows at least some degree of humility with words like "i think," well then that's a whole other story, and I could respect that.
