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I think I'm being misunderstood here. People don't seem to understand the concept of WHERE data is housed very well. My mom probably doesn't know that the emai

I think I'm being misunderstood here. People don't seem to understand the concept of WHERE data is housed very well. My mom probably doesn't know that the email she reads is stored on Yahoo's servers. To her there is just a screen that she types into and her email is there.

cstejerean 18y ago
That seems fairly odd to me. Most people at least understand that since they have to go to Yahoo to access their email Yahoo is storing a copy of their email. The exact details of how that email is being stored might not be relevant. People have traditionally entrusted companies with lots of data and there is usually the expectation that a company will not allow it to be misused. A good analogy might be a bank. I know my money is in the bank. I don't know exactly where or how the bank keeps my money, but I would not like it very much if I found out they actually let their employees take a small chunk of my money home for safe keeping in order to reduce storage costs.
- orib 18y ago
  Seriously, go talk to some real people. You're way overestimating the average user. Many of them (cough my family cough) don't know the difference between Windows and Office. Many of them don't understand that the internet doesnt consist of that big blue 'e'. Etc. They're not stupid, they just don't care. Most people consider a computer a magic box. To them it's about as mysterious as the internal workings of a processor are to the average programmer. (Explain why you need to increase voltage as a processor shrinks, all other things being equal, for example. hint: it has to do with quantum effects.) Also, banks not only give out the money that you stored, they don't even give it to employees. They invest it in loans and such. -- in other words, they give it to complete strangers who they suspect have a good chance of bringing it back with a bit extra.
  - cstejerean 18y ago
    All of this is very interesting to me. I've talked to my parents and family friends about computers, none of which are computer savvy at all, but I've yet to encounter anyone that thinks computers are a magic box, thinking that IE icon == internet, etc (even though they don't understand for example that the difference between the URL bar and the google search text box). I guess it just shows just how little I understand of the "average" user (I'm glad I don't have to design applications for them).

cstejerean 18y ago

That seems fairly odd to me. Most people at least understand that since they have to go to Yahoo to access their email Yahoo is storing a copy of their email. The exact details of how that email is being stored might not be relevant. People have traditionally entrusted companies with lots of data and there is usually the expectation that a company will not allow it to be misused. A good analogy might be a bank. I know my money is in the bank. I don't know exactly where or how the bank keeps my money, but I would not like it very much if I found out they actually let their employees take a small chunk of my money home for safe keeping in order to reduce storage costs.

orib 18y ago
Seriously, go talk to some real people. You're way overestimating the average user. Many of them (cough my family cough) don't know the difference between Windows and Office. Many of them don't understand that the internet doesnt consist of that big blue 'e'. Etc. They're not stupid, they just don't care. Most people consider a computer a magic box. To them it's about as mysterious as the internal workings of a processor are to the average programmer. (Explain why you need to increase voltage as a processor shrinks, all other things being equal, for example. hint: it has to do with quantum effects.) Also, banks not only give out the money that you stored, they don't even give it to employees. They invest it in loans and such. -- in other words, they give it to complete strangers who they suspect have a good chance of bringing it back with a bit extra.
- cstejerean 18y ago
  All of this is very interesting to me. I've talked to my parents and family friends about computers, none of which are computer savvy at all, but I've yet to encounter anyone that thinks computers are a magic box, thinking that IE icon == internet, etc (even though they don't understand for example that the difference between the URL bar and the google search text box). I guess it just shows just how little I understand of the "average" user (I'm glad I don't have to design applications for them).