Computer Jargon Too Difficult for Office Workers 601
slashflood writes "Most office workers find computer terms such as javascript and jpeg just as difficult to understand as a foreign language, according to a new survey. A poll of 1,500 staff by recruitment firm Computer People showed that three out of four wasted more than an hour every week simply finding out what some technical term meant. 'A massive 61% don't understand the difference between gigabytes, kilobytes and megabytes and as a result have sent e-mails with huge attachments that have blocked clients' systems.'"
Re:Its not just computers. (Score:5, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TPS_report [wikipedia.org].
jargon too difficult? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:WTF? (Score:2, Informative)
1,000,000 KB = 1,000 MB = 1 GB
1GB = 1024 MB = 1048576 KB! Apparently one more unit of measurement isn't that easy.
Shouldn't they change their name? (Score:3, Informative)
Learning to use your tools (Score:3, Informative)
If they were going to be an auto mechanic would they be "wasting" their time learning the terms "torque wrench" or "floor jack", as well as what they mean and how to use them?
At one point the article says:
'It's like driving a car - you don't have to be a mechanical engineer to drive and most people will learn something about the mechanics of cars, like what the spark plugs or carburetors do. But with the computer people have not got to the point where they are willing to lift up the bonnet and have a go themselves.'
The analogy is faulty. They're not being asked to swap out the hard disk, install a new video card, or bump up the RAM, just know the basics of their tool. In a large corporation the computer is the equivalent of a fleet car or other company asset the employee is being allowed to use. If the employee wants to "lift up the bonnet and have a go themselves" they need to buy one with their own dime and learn. I'm sure most desktop support people have had more than enough experience with repairing systems from users who decided to "have a go themselves". To continue the broken analogy, a driver that doesn't know the difference between an accelerator pedal and a break pedal probably shouldn't be driving.
Nearly 75% of people said they spend more than an hour every week simply trying to find out what something means in order to finish a task, according to the survey by recruitment consultants Computer People.
I've spent huge amounts of time trying to work my way through labyrinthine HR policies, Employee Manuals, and other detritus of the corporate world. It comes with the territory when you have to deal with something new.
Excell - this helps to run programs on your PC.
I feel much better now. Does the author mean Microsoft Excel? If this is what the writer of the article thinks "Excell"does then much of the tone and content of the article itself becomes clearer. And the HR department shoulldn't be hiring people who are this easily confused.
Not so easy for you, either. (Score:5, Informative)
for this:
1GB = 1024 MB = 1048576 KB
you should be using:
1GiB = 1024 MiB = 1048576 KiB
Where the GiB, MiB, and KiB stand for Gibibytes, Mebibytes, and Kibibytes.
Do I use them? No. They sound funny, and like many programmers I'm cranky and stuck-in-my-ways. But you should be prepared to accept that the standard "power of 10" usage of the SI prefixes mega, giga, and kilo you were taught in college science classes is indeed correct, and that the way we've been using them is an awkward legacy kludge that grafts a second meaning onto a widely-used standard.
Obligatory link. [wikipedia.org]
Re:Its not just computers. (Score:5, Informative)
Knowing about files and their sizes is a basic part of operating a computer. That's like driving a car and not knowing that you have to change the oil.
Not anymore. Any new car you buy, they tell you to bring the car in for service every 3000, 5000, or what-have-you miles. They don't tell you every specific thing they're going to do. They might not even necessarily mention that they're changing the oil. Obviously most people have been brought up enough around cars to realize that you need to change the oil every so often, but that's often the extent of their knowledge. If you bring up other maintenance, like flushing of coolant, suspension alignment and greasing, brake fluid changing; a lot more people will know a lot less information about it. While it may be obvious to an auto-enthusiast, people just don't know what they have to do, which is why manufacturers have "service intervals" where they do _something_ and your car continues to work. It stands to reason that most people probably need something like this for thier computer, something that automatically scans/protects/assumes things for them, such that for 99% of people, their computer "Just Works", just like for 99% of people, the service you get at the dealership so your car "just works" is ok-happy-fine.
-Jesse
Re:Its not just computers. (Score:2, Informative)
The problem is there are too many of these and not enough "letters" ;-)
The current one that jumps out at me every time I hear it is: SOA
To these aged ears that is clearly 'Start of Authority' as one would see on DNS servers. Now those letter have been co-opted with some new buzzword compliant term that I still don't remember because when I hear it I first think of its orignal meaning.
Re:Its not just computers. (Score:4, Informative)
Oh come on...:
* If you wear it: wash it in cold, or luke warm if it's really dirty. Separate white and colours.
* If you sleep on it (bedsheets, you dirty bastards): wash it warm
* If you dry or wash yourself with it, wash it on hot.
As far as the dryer is concerned, never, ever, use the hottest setting (which my dryer does by default for some stupid reason) unless you intent to shrink everything
Seriously, it's not that hard. Most things you wear have instructions on the label. You do know how to read a manual, right?
Re:Its not just computers. (Score:3, Informative)