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April 17, 2005
Categories of Windows users
A reader, Glenn, having read our column on installing Windows XP SP2 informs us thus:
The world's Windows users are divided, broadly, into three categories - the first are those people who have purchased the technology, keep up to date with everything related to its development, use their machines wisely and understand, broadly, everything that is involved in using them. I suggest that you belong to this group.
The second group are ordinary people who use the technology in their workplaces and who have dedicated backup I.T. teams working in the background to keep them up to speed like the users in group one.The third group - of which I am a member - are ordinary people who have bought computers to help run their homes and their business but who look upon the machines simply as tools. I bought a Vaio and a desktop about a year ago and run my on-line business using these machines. Once, the Vaio wouldn't load up and I had to reload from the restore disks but apart from that everything's gone smoothly.
My point is this - I believe that people in this third group probably constitute at least 75 per cent of computer users. We're aware that sometimes Microsoft downloads mysterious updates and installs them on our computers but I'm hanged if I know what they're for. We're basically sensible people - we use firewalls and virus protectors but we have no idea what goes on in the Windows Registry and we've never heard of SP2.
So this is the question .... are we at serious risk of missing out on something we need to know? Is the educative culture of the modern PC somehow lacking? When I bought my 286 in 1985 I didn't need to know anything other than how to stick the DOS disk in. Are we not taking our tools seriously enough? Should Microsoft be taking more responsibility for this or is it all down to us? And how are we expected to know?
Reading your column and seeing that the date for the installing this mysterious SP2 has been and gone and I didn't know anything about it makes me feel a little like the population of Earth must have felt as the Vogon Constructor Fleet arrived to destroy the planet.
It's an interesting ordering of the world of computer users. Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation does it somewhat differently. Category 1 would probably be "Innovators" and "Early Adopters". Some "Early Majority", "Late Majority" and "Laggard" users would probably have their relations with the bewildering world of technology mediated by those "backup IT teams" working in the background, but the rest would no doubt be struggling along in Category 3.
Category 3 users would presumably tend to belong to those generations that weren't introduced to computers at school. Younger people are more likely to be in Category 1, or possibly what we might call Category 1.5. They might not have a broad understanding of everything that's going on, but they can quickly find out what they need to know.
We think it's a lot more complicated than that. In our experience, computer users can be divided by a heirarchy of needs or interests, somewhat like Abraham Maslow's.
The first are what we call Enthusiasts. Technology represents an opportunity to these people. If something new comes along, they're more likely to invest time and money understanding it, because they can see a possible pay-off, either in terms of financial rewards through new career or business opportunities, or possibly the admiration of their peers. They're happy to lift the hood and tinker, because for them, technology is a process, not just a purchase.
The second category are Pragmatists. They've probably appointed an enthusiast or two as their personal scouts to blaze a pathway through the unknown and financially dangerous new territories. They'll ignore the enthusiasts' wilder fancies, but when they see a demonstrated benefit, they'll hitch up the wagons. These people aren't likely to waste their time bitching about why something doesn't work. They'll happily pay someone to fix it. If not, they'll read technology columns and magazines and visit sites like this, looking for assistance. Enthusiasts quite enjoy helping them out.
The third are Resenters. They actively hate technology, adopt it only when forced to, and in some cases are capable of emitting such powerful electro-magnetic interference that they can unaccountably crash a computer. Resenters can be somewhat wearisome for the other two categories, because they take the view that it's someone else's responsibility to make it all work for them. If you're not careful, they'll appoint you to the task. And blame you whenever anything goes wrong.
Our advice to Glenn is this: if you're not an Enthusiast - and it's not something you can fake - be a Pragmatist. Appoint some scouts. Read a little. Take advantage of services like the Bleeding Edge forum. At all costs, avoid being recognised as a Resenter.
Posted by cw at April 17, 2005 01:04 PM
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Comments
And then there's a fourth category: these are a mixture of enthusiasts and pragmatists---they know about computers, take up new technolgies because they can see the advantages of them; but they are also pragmatists, who want the technology to work seamlessly and well; they put a premium on integration and elegance of design. These people buy Macs.
Posted by: Mark at April 17, 2005 08:13 PM
While resenters can drive one crazy, especially those who actively refuse to remember anything they've been shown ("the file manager, what's that again?") to be fair enthusiasts can cause some resentment when they enthusiastically rip off the hood, tinker wildly, and the damn machine is never the same again. The advice then given, usually over the phone because they've shot off to a swap meet or somesuch, "yes its pretty buggered I think, some incompatability, best to just a do a reinstall, or better still upgrade to a better computer!"
As for the elegant Mac users group, who wants something that that you can't really get the hood open on, let alone accessorise. This group perhaps also buys Volvos?
Posted by: tflip at April 18, 2005 06:10 PM
Apples are like Volvo users! Now THAT, Tony, is bound to buy a fight. Several fights, I imagine. You can, buy the way, take the hood off a Mac - even a Mac Mini - and when you do you'll almost certainly be impressed by the way everything is mounted, and how easy it is to, say, add a hard disk.
Posted by: cw at April 18, 2005 06:50 PM
Ahem, point taken Charles, I think I was thinking more virtually about the hood, for "tinker" read "hack". Then, you'll probably tell me Macs are easy to hack as well!
Maybe those Volvos are really Saabs... but then everyone knows a Saab is really a Volvo in disguise.
Yours in no resentment but some recalcitrance
Posted by: tflip at April 18, 2005 07:34 PM
I'm certainly no hardliner for Macs, just wanted to stir things up a bit: I've used PCs for nigh on 20 years and got my uses out of them ... just think that for the vast majority of things Macs work better. But Volvos or Saabs?!! I'd have thought Macs were more like a Mercedes or perhaps even a BMW: generally well designed with a premium on quality of finish, durability, and driveability. They don't do mcuh more than, say, a hotted up Holden, but they do it more comfortably, safely, and over the long term, with a great deal less stress.
PCs are like hot rods, you can get 'em to go fast, give 'em a fancy paint job, and they can be damned exciting; but they take a lot of care and, some might argue, are for enthusiasts who don't have a lot going on in the rest of their lives!
Sorry. Don't mean to be too provocative.
Posted by: Mark at April 18, 2005 10:19 PM
My new computer which runs Windows XP Home Edition does not recognise my Acer scanner which has a MiraScan driver. I had no problems with my scanner on my old computer which had Windows 98. I have searched the Internet to locate an updated driver to no avail. I wonder if anyone can help?
Posted by: Christina Weate at April 24, 2005 02:58 PM
Hi Christina. This isn't the place to ask tech support questions. You should go to the Forum to do that. But the best solution for scanner drivers is usually VueScan, from Hamrick
Posted by: cw at April 24, 2005 05:55 PM