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I actually recently had a talk with my parents about just that; how, unlike years ago, computers have gotten better to the point where nothing they can do will
by tgriesser 16y ago
I actually recently had a talk with my parents about just that; how, unlike years ago, computers have gotten better to the point where nothing they can do will 'break' them, so they should feel free to click around and try to figure out what they might be looking for. Software tools like CrossLoop have also made my life a hell of a lot easier in maintaining this promise, since anytime anything goes wrong I just tell them to click on the loop icon on the dock and I can usually solve whatever problem they have in ~5min or less.
Then I printed this out and put it next to the computer. http://xkcd.com/627/ http://xkcd.com/627/
I do think that the blue screen of death and similar things of the past have created this idea of the possibility of catastrophic failure on a computer and it is important to make the users feel more confident that their actions will not cause any irreparable damage.
- Encosia 16y agoI think that's one of the best things about the iPad that goes relatively unheralded. It's most of a computer, but nearly impossible for a user to accidentally get into an unusable state. I bought my Dad (74) one this year, as his first "computer", and the first thing I told him was not to worry because he couldn't break it by doing the wrong thing. Now he's sending email and playing Words with Friends. It's been transformative for him, and I believe his acclimation has been made possible mostly by the software's resilience to mistakes.
- elblanco 16y ago> It's most of a computer, but nearly impossible for a user to accidentally get into an unusable state. Thank you for this. It seems so obvious now, but this wonderfully captures something about the iDevices I couldn't quite put my thumb on...I think I need to go and do some deep meditating on this.