Context is important, here. The author is the chairman of SIPB, a group of students at MIT who spend part of their time helping anyone who happens by the SIPB

Context is important, here. The author is the chairman of SIPB, a group of students at MIT who spend part of their time helping anyone who happens by the SIPB office with computer problems. A low level of computer knowledge on the part of the questioner is the correct default assumption in her context.