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Fewer People Want to Know About Computers, Says Google

14 points by nsns 14y ago

JoeAltmaier 14y ago
...or the number of non-technical people using Google search has grown in the same time period.
jaybill 14y ago
That is quite a leap of logic based on a single correlation.
- vm 14y ago
  A lot more of these low-quality "research" pieces from The Atlantic are popping up on HN. For a while, the only Atlantic pieces that trickled up were well-researched and well-thought. So now I'm eager to click on links from what I thought was a solid news source, but disappointed when I find fluff. Maybe they write less of those research pieces nowadays? I sure hope they don't become one of those link-bait crap news sites.
gdeglin 14y ago
I've noticed that for a surprising number of searches, google trends shows a steep downward decline. If you browse through the categories on the left side of the link in the article (http://www.google.com/finance?q=GOOGLEINDEX_US:COMPUT http://www.google.com/finance?q=GOOGLEINDEX_US:COMPUT) you'll see that 9/10 are declining. It's probably best to take this article with a grain of salt. Even when you think logically about the headline this story doesn't make sense.
short_circut 14y ago
I suspect that the decline has something to do with Microsoft and Apple getting their games together and releasing products that actually work. Windows 7 has never given me trouble except for when I had hardware problems and OSX seems to do the same,
b0rsuk 14y ago
Are you sure it's the number of computer-related searches decreasing and not the ratio of computer-related searches to all searches ? That would explain a lot. Computers are increasingly used by people who don't care or even like technology. It even affects my favorite field - computer games. Games for techies were games for problem solvers, geeks, fantasy/SF lovers. Games for mainstream people are quite often mindless fun, sports, or sims. I have noticed this trend years ago, when I tried to compare the popularity of Linux versus other operating systems.
PaulHoule 14y ago
It's amazing how many things are in terminal decline according to Google trends http://www.google.com/trends/?q=new+york&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0 http://www.google.com/trends/?q=new+york&ctab=0&geo=...
guscost 14y ago
I definitely want to know about computers.

14 points by nsns 14y ago

JoeAltmaier 14y ago

...or the number of non-technical people using Google search has grown in the same time period.

jaybill 14y ago

That is quite a leap of logic based on a single correlation.

vm 14y ago
A lot more of these low-quality "research" pieces from The Atlantic are popping up on HN. For a while, the only Atlantic pieces that trickled up were well-researched and well-thought. So now I'm eager to click on links from what I thought was a solid news source, but disappointed when I find fluff. Maybe they write less of those research pieces nowadays? I sure hope they don't become one of those link-bait crap news sites.

gdeglin 14y ago

I've noticed that for a surprising number of searches, google trends shows a steep downward decline. If you browse through the categories on the left side of the link in the article (http://www.google.com/finance?q=GOOGLEINDEX_US:COMPUT http://www.google.com/finance?q=GOOGLEINDEX_US:COMPUT) you'll see that 9/10 are declining. It's probably best to take this article with a grain of salt. Even when you think logically about the headline this story doesn't make sense.

short_circut 14y ago

I suspect that the decline has something to do with Microsoft and Apple getting their games together and releasing products that actually work. Windows 7 has never given me trouble except for when I had hardware problems and OSX seems to do the same,

b0rsuk 14y ago

Are you sure it's the number of computer-related searches decreasing and not the ratio of computer-related searches to all searches ? That would explain a lot. Computers are increasingly used by people who don't care or even like technology. It even affects my favorite field - computer games. Games for techies were games for problem solvers, geeks, fantasy/SF lovers. Games for mainstream people are quite often mindless fun, sports, or sims. I have noticed this trend years ago, when I tried to compare the popularity of Linux versus other operating systems.

PaulHoule 14y ago

It's amazing how many things are in terminal decline according to Google trends http://www.google.com/trends/?q=new+york&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0 http://www.google.com/trends/?q=new+york&ctab=0&geo=...

guscost 14y ago

I definitely want to know about computers.