Epic ignorance *wtf???

Damn, I had this idea NY was supposed to be one of the most tech-savvy among the big US urban centers. Damn.

Adding video to channels (Wtf) - requested by EDD.

Is it that surprising how many people don't understand the technology they use in their daily lives? Heck, I've built my last 2 PCs and admit I don't know all that much. I think there are a lot of reasons for it, but it scares me a bit to see how incurious many people are.

Not surprising at all. Too many people use technology without understanding it. Just in the last two weeks I have had 3 people call me to help them disinfect their computer because a pop-up advertisement told them they had an infection... one of them even downloaded a virus by following that pop-up's instructions.

The vast majority of computer users are completely clueless.

Yeah I was completely shocked when I started my job in IT I thought I knew nothing about computers because I dont know a programming language. I always wonder how some of them keep their jobs when they have to ask me how to do simple tasks.

I think these interview videos of ignorant Americans can be explained in part by stagefright. If you had a camera shoved in your face while you were out shopping, would you give your best answer?

[edit] and Google's editing, natch

This isn't surprising, but it isn't really a bad thing. Many of the people using the internet today didn't use it before search engines, so to them the ability to search seems like it is simply part of the program they're using (especially with things like the Google searchbar).

Lots of people drive cars, but not many could give you a good explanation of the difference between a carburetor and fuel injection. Still, they know enough to operate it, and that's fine for most.

Some of us may cringe when we hear people using terms like "hard drive" and "memory" interchangeably, but that isn't a difference I'd expect everyone to know.

The browser... that's like the faucet that's hooked to the big tubes.

What would you have said?

I would've said "um...does it has gigabytes on it?"

>> ^Skeeve:
Not surprising at all. Too many people use technology without understanding it. Just in the last two weeks I have had 3 people call me to help them disinfect their computer because a pop-up advertisement told them they had an infection... one of them even downloaded a virus by following that pop-up's instructions.
The vast majority of computer users are completely clueless.

I'm the 1,000,000th visitor? Click 'here' to claim my prize?!

Noobs! I hate them all. How can you not understand the difference between software and a website? Of course this kind of ignorance is exploited by Google and Microsoft - setting that homepage to your search engine is absolutely critical.

If Google wants to push Chrome they could stick a big prominent link on the site. Why don't they?

Browsers are the kiddie-porn stations that let you download communism directly into your home, destroying our civilized way of life!

I actually use chrome its faster than Firefox at least for me it is only its not really compatible with everything I use yet.

I work in tech support, and my favorite part of the day is having someone ask me a seemingly-simple question, and then watch them go into sleep mode when I give them an extremely detailed answer.

Gets rid of the smug "you're here to support me, so get moving, IT slave" attitude some of the more obnoxious people have very quickly.

What is a WEB browser?

A browser is a picky peeping tom.

I can't decide if people are stupid or I'm a nerd.

Knowing the difference between a carburetor and fuel injection doesn't affect life outcomes, but being a fan of computers and the internet and using them well can mean a vast competitive advantage.

A browser is an animal that feeds on leaves, young shoots, and other vegetation.

>> ^alizarin:
I can't decide if people are stupid or I'm a nerd.


People are stupid and you are a nerd.

I use chrome too - A browser benchmark confirmed what I thought - on a netbook Chrome is twice as fast as Firefox 3

Firefox + Adblock Plus = UNSTOPPABLE

Chrome is great for those 5 second facebook check ups. Firefox is more of the endurance all-day-at-work sort of browser.

I would not have guessed people would be that stupid.

It's not stupidity to not recognize the jargon of the internet.

^ I disagree. People should be at least basically aware of what the tools they use on a daily basis actually are. I think humanity is getting significantly more helpless; as complexity of our infrastructure has grown the average person hasn't been able to keep up with the concepts. This could be a huge liability in the event of any sort of large scale catastrophe. :-(

using firefox now, but use chrome for stuff that doesn't require compatibility or firefoxe's zoom mode, and firefoxes download manager, and firefoxes tabs.

I'm sort of halfway between Chrome and Firefox because I work on both PCs and Macs (no Chrome for Macs yet) and I enjoy a lot of Firefox's extensions -- esp. as I get into Twitter (no such options for Chrome... but will be soon, I hear).

ROFL INTERWEB NOOBS!

I build web sites...and I don't care if they know what a browser is as long as they don't touch internet explorer. If they know that IE is bad then they can be ignorant about browser vs. search engine all they like.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Shocking. I think we all live in a nerd bubble.

First, I would bet that the responses were edited so only humorous or ignorant responses were included.

Second, the selection was not random; the interviewer may well have selected the people based on some criteria (consciously or not).

But it's almost certainly true that most people don't differentiate the terms very well, as it's not necessary for the use of their computers. They simply learn methods for doing particular tasks that they are interested in.

>> ^ant:
What is a WEB browser?


Of course you can browse your local files with a browser so "web browser" might in fact be too limiting a description.

Isn't Browser Mrario's arch enemy?

Hate, hate, hate videos that are obviously edited to weed out people who know what they are talking about.

Also, ask people if they know the difference between Internet Explorer and Google and they could probably tell you. Most people don't use the term "browser", they just say IE or Firefox or whatever.

Sure it would be nice if people were intimately familiar with the tools they use, but it's just not necessary for most. And their ignorance earned me a good living for nearly five years.

>> ^Skeeve:
Not surprising at all. Too many people use technology without understanding it. Just in the last two weeks I have had 3 people call me to help them disinfect their computer because a pop-up advertisement told them they had an infection... one of them even downloaded a virus by following that pop-up's instructions.
The vast majority of computer users are completely clueless.


yeah i worked as a tech support (2nd level) for 2 huge companies. basically, i think its a profound apathy. most people just don't care about why or how a computer works - they just want it to do what they expect it to do and get angry when it doesn't.

What? Nobody here use Opera?

>> ^MaxWilder:
Hate, hate, hate videos that are obviously edited to weed out people who know what they are talking about.


You must absolutely hate anything by Sacha Baron Cohen or Michael Moore.

Oh, and BTW, the attractive chicks at 0:25 are 100% correct in as far as they use a browser.

He also probably introduced himself like, "Hi there, my name is ----, I'm from Google, the largest internet search provider in the world, a bandwidth-chewing monster of epic proportions, devouring ALL that stand in its way! ...Do you know what a browser is?"

People drive cars/boats/planes without knowing all the technical jargon used by experts. They cook food without knowing all the cooking terminology, do their hair without knowing the technical phrases known to hair dressers and use the computer without being intimately aware of the phraseology.
Some of the very select group of interviewed people shown here did know the difference, they just didn't know the keywords "browser" and "search engine". And that doesn't make them stupid.

>> ^Haldaug:
What? Nobody here use Opera?


Opera for teh win. (unless the page was written for IE)

maybe its a new york term. i know a guy that lives in Minneapolis and they call ATMs time machines there because of the old time is money saying. different places have different terms. or these people could be fucking retarded haha

>> ^alizarin:
I can't decide if people are stupid or I'm a nerd.

The answer is "yes"

>> ^Haldaug:
What? Nobody here use Opera?


Opera always causes problems for our web developers. And 9 times out of ten we don't care. In fact, I'd say IE6 is a bigger concern than Opera due to the amount of users it still has.

>> ^Deano:
If Google wants to push Chrome they could stick a big prominent link on the site. Why don't they?


Because they would get sued to hell and back. As you may recall Microsoft got into the anti-trust case because it bundled IE with Windows.

>> ^Farhad2000:
>> ^Deano:
If Google wants to push Chrome they could stick a big prominent link on the site. Why don't they?

Because they would get sued to hell and back. As you may recall Microsoft got into the anti-trust case because it bundled IE with Windows.


I doubt that. Unlike Windows Google is a free service, and they can put whatever link they want on their site.
I think it is rather because Google never ever screws with its homepage design. (Except the logo for special occasions)

>> ^maatc:
&I think it is rather because Google never ever screws with its homepage design. (Except the logo for special occasions)

Oh come on don't be so naive. Look at the opposition Google faces from record companies for Youtube, and the printing press for Google News.

Google is great and all but it's becoming entirely too ubiquitous.

>> ^Kreegath:
People drive cars/boats/planes without knowing all the technical jargon used by experts. They cook food without knowing all the cooking terminology, do their hair without knowing the technical phrases known to hair dressers and use the computer without being intimately aware of the phraseology.
Some of the very select group of interviewed people shown here did know the difference, they just didn't know the keywords "browser" and "search engine". And that doesn't make them stupid.


I have to disagree. People can drive their cars without knowing what a carburetor does, but if they don't know the difference between the gear shifter and the emergency brake then they are fucked. People don't need to know how to code a webpage, but they need to know the difference between a browser and a search engine.

That said, this video is obviously edited to remove the intelligent answers. It just shows that there are some people out there who are hopelessly clueless.

>> ^Farhad2000:
>> ^Deano:
If Google wants to push Chrome they could stick a big prominent link on the site. Why don't they?

Because they would get sued to hell and back. As you may recall Microsoft got into the anti-trust case because it bundled IE with Windows.


Not sure I agree with that. Microsoft's anti-competitive practices are rooted in owning the operating system. But Google promoting their browser software doesn't seem like it would land them in court. If it did I'd love to hear the legal arguments particularly as they have a tiny share of the browser market.

>> ^pipp3355:
>> ^Skeeve:
Not surprising at all. Too many people use technology without understanding it. Just in the last two weeks I have had 3 people call me to help them disinfect their computer because a pop-up advertisement told them they had an infection... one of them even downloaded a virus by following that pop-up's instructions.
The vast majority of computer users are completely clueless.

yeah i worked as a tech support (2nd level) for 2 huge companies. basically, i think its a profound apathy. most people just don't care about why or how a computer works - they just want it to do what they expect it to do and get angry when it doesn't.


I'm sure we know many people who fit that profile and your last point is so true.

I have a mate like that and while people like him enjoy the web and find it useful they get frustrated so quickly.

It's still early days for the web and I imagine the future web in 5-10 years will be the one their kind will actually embrace and understand - in the sense that alot of complexity will be encapsulated and obscured for them, not to mention they'll receive lots of virtual hand-holding.

Where *are* those autonomous AI agents anyway?