All hail our mechanical overlords

[andrewducker]

Techies by Necessity, Not by Choice is an amusing article on the people who got a computer to do work and then found themselves doing technical support for themselves, and then for their family and then for their friends.....

For Ms. Kilhoffer-Reichert and others, such expertise derives from economic necessity, as their livelihoods depend on the technical tools they use. "If my computer isn't working, I equate it directly to lost income," she said.

Yet Mr. Marcuse says he has learned just the amount he must, perhaps slightly less. "I can get my computer to operate most of the time, and frequently there are things wrong with it that I just tolerate," he said. "I don't want to deal with some company's tech support bureaucracy. I'd rather just suffer with the imperfection."

Instead of calling tech-support lines, she also navigates her way through Web site lists of frequently asked questions, or FAQ's, which are growing more detailed and widespread to accommodate the technically proficient.

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I'm in exactly that situation, but my answer is to know people who can help me with my computer, then again I don't drive either and not infrequently use the same strategy for transportation.

[andrewducker]

I use the same one for transportation, but then Edinburgh has a fantastic transport system.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

As does Portland, definitely the best of any US city I've ever been in - which likely means it's (at most) about average for the EU.