techies vs. the tech illiterate

[housepig]

buddy calls, first he needs to know how to do some cd authoring from one long track.

then he calls needing help recovering the file, as it gets deleted somehow.

then he calls with virus questions.

the thing is, he's been doing this stuff as long as I have. he taught me a bunch of stuff, back in the day... now it seems like he's helpless.

to add insult to injury, I'll hit him with a detailed set of instructions to do something complicated, and he'll reply with "man, that's too much work... isn't there an easier way?"

then I caught THIS NY Times article about the techie backlash in the wake of Mydoom...

what do you guys do?

[Baldrick]

RTFM

[SLK001]

This sounds like my dad... And he lives half way around the country.

"Dad, the "ON" button button no longer will turn off your machine. Hit "START", then "SHUT DOWN", then WAIT for your machine to shut off."

"No, pulling out the plug is not a good idea!"

[thayne]

"A good book for you to read is..." "I don't like to read books, they hurt my head and I can never figure that stuff out" "So, you'd rather be a pain in my ass than make your poor little brain think a little???"

RTFM!

[Conquest10]

It weird cuz 3-4 years ago, people would try to talk about computers to me and I had no idea what they were talking about. Now, whenever I start talking about basic html they're all like, "Whoa, slow down". So I have to fix whatever they mess up on their machine. I'm too nice not to help.

[chiapet]

When it's a friend who calls, I laught at them and then i'll take the time to help them cause for some reason I like to do that.

One of these days I'm gonna start charging them butt-monkeys for my services.

[redwudz]

I try to impress my friends with my superior knowledge. Unfortunately they are rarely impressed when they ask a question that I have no clue to the answer. But they still ask. And I still try to answer.

[MrMungus]

Networking, networking, networking. You scratch their back...they might scratch your front.

[lordsmurf]

I cut off needy people. I help those that have exhausted other means already or ask infrequently.

[Faustus]

I would laugh uncontrollably belittling him for what he previously thought was his mad tech skills. Once he has achived the proper level of shame I would assist him with his problem.

[pacmania_2001]

It depends.

If it is someone who only turns to me infrequently and will do me favours in return then for the most part I am happy to do it.

If the person constantly uses me like their own personal tech support line or asks about the same problem over and over again then I will get pissed at them.

Two recent examples come to mind:

#1:

Family Friend: Hey, I got the latest virus on my machine, how do I remove it?

Me: Are you sure its a virus? Did the virus scanner I installed for you pop up and tell you anything?

Family Friend: No, that thing is hopeless I tell you, didnt stop anything.

Me: Hmm... that is strange, when was the last time you updated it?

Family Friend: Duh.. update it??? Um... probably about 9 months ago.

#2:

Family Friend: Hi, I want to sell my product online. How do I do it?

Me: You mean like put it on Ebay or your own site?

Family Friend: Like my own site, like Amazon, is it hard? Could I do it?

Me: You can, but you are going to need to design a web site, get a domain nam...

[interrupting] Family Friend: A what..?

Me: A domain name, like Amazon.com, I can give you a few links on where to start.

Family Friend: Sounds hard. Can you do it for me?

Me:I don't think you should try and sell your stuff online. [hangs up]

[Cobra]

Let's face facts here, maybe put a banner up on the site...

Hard work isn't easy!

[indolikaa]

I charge $90 per hour. Otherwise, it's RTFM!

[rallynavvie]

I stopped doing this unless it's for family. I have friends that are more literate in certain areas of computing than I am that I "consult" with as they know that they can turn to me for help in areas that I know better.

[rkr1958]

RTFM

... RTFM!

It's probably not good ... and I don't mean to be dense, but what's "RTFM"?

[foulplay]

I'm lost!

[bigmicka]

read the f****** manual

as for people that ask me for help, at the moment i say "i aint your bitch"

unless they are paying of course.

mic

[foulplay]

What f******* manual...........

[rkr1958]

read the f****** manual

as for people that ask me for help, at the moment i say "i aint your bitch"

unless they are paying of course.

mic

If you won't do it for free but will do it for pay ... do you know what that makes you ...

[Faustus]

enriched?

[indolikaa]

If you won't do it for free but will do it for pay ... do you know what that makes you ...

A capitalist?

[rkr1958]

enriched?

A capitalist?

Exactly ... If you're in the US just make sure you declare it on your 1040 ... Doesn't everyone?