Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsunami
If you drive a car, and do it wrong, you crash.
If you build something and do it wrong, it falls apart.
If you cook meals without knowing how to, it burns.
However, this is a computer. It's easy. Everybody can do it. See?
The document looks right, but they don't know, until someone shows them, that it isn't built right.
In the 80's, using a computer was like driving a car, or cooking a meal. If you did it wrong, the thing crashed, provided the wrong output, or just plain didn't work. Everybody knew that you needed to understand computers/software to use them fully and efficiently. Nowadays, computers/software are presented as easy, everybody-can-do-it, but it's not true. It's not easy, and not everybody can do it. Still, people believe it, and have no interest in learning more than the extreme basics 'because it is/should be easy'.
One of my ex-colleagues is a graphics designer. In his new company, he has been looking into writing some HTML/CSS and Javascript so he can make little changes to templates. Some time ago he told me:
"I've followed some tutorials, and it's going quite well. Programming is way easy; one doesn't need an education for that."
Well... excuse me?
I've seen embedded software, written by 'self-taught' mechanical engineers, wo thought to program their machine themselves. The fact that it actually does something after powering it on is a miracle in itself. Spaghetti-code would be a very *nice* term to use.
For some reason, people don't seem to understand that using computer software well is difficult, and writing good software is hard. As soon as a computer and/or software comes into play, people either don't touch it, or they underestimate it.
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I can cook and I still burn dinner on occasion. (Usually the cream style corn).
Also do not try to shred lettuce with the kitchenaid shredder.
Now as to computer software, I once spent 3 days looking for word wrap on MS Word 97 or 98. I thought it would be a useful feature for printing recipes. Turns out it was just the concept and meant nothing more than don't hit enter when you get to the end of the line.
If I was a professional anything, I would want to use the best tool for that particular job.