CYBER NOTES October, 2004 by Dave Benore

Why Does Learning to Use Computers Seem So Hard?

The short answer is because most of the books that come with new computers are terrible. They do a very poor job of explaining how that new computer works.

Each new computer, of the PC variety, has its own idiosyncrasies. Each computer company also has its own way of doing things on the most basic level. This is not bad if the computer manuals were any good, but they are not. I’m not talking about Windows here, rather the setup of any computer. The setup may use Windows but offers some special features. The setup includes things like how the display looks, how the monitor works (they all have differences), how the mouse behaves, and how fast the keyboard keys repeat. (If one holds down a letter or number key, that key repeats until it is let up.) That repeat rate can cause a person frustrating problems if it is set too fast for slow fingers.

Here is an example of a setup problem: I spent 4 hours trying to make a second monitor work correctly. The second monitor was hooked up to a laptop computer. It was supposed to show the same identical screen as the laptop’s monitor but it would show nothing except a blue field! The laptop’s monitor worked fine but the second one would not. Why? The manual sure as heck did not tell me. The help files for the computer did not tell me either! Finely I discovered the problem myself. One little check mark on a dialog box under settings, display, control panel, needed to be erased. That’s all it took to make the darn thing work correctly. But the manual said nothing about it so I wasted 4 hours trying to read the programmer’s mind!

So how does one combat this lack of information? Three ways come to mind. First, buy one or two books, or more, on your type of computer (PC or Mac) and its operating system (Windows for PCs)—and not books that are published by the computer manufacturer. The manufacturers don’t seem willing to write a decent manual. Look for aftermarket books by others like the “Dummies” books. Several people publish books that give tips and tricks to use on your system. They are usually very good. Study the books you buy and personally try each suggestion at least once or twice. Doing the steps plants the stuff in your mind. You can’t just read it, you must do it!

Second, learn to use the Help (sometimes called help and support) files of your operating system or application program (like WORD). The real trick to using the help section is to know what the programmers call things, since all help searches look for key words. The best way to learn the common key words is to prowl around the help files and read the stuff there. It’s time consuming but it will save time later when you are trying to find a solution to a particular problem. (In my case of the non-working second monitor I found a clue, just a faint clue, in the help files that finally led me to the solution.)

Third, take one or more classes on computers—classes where you can ask questions of an instructor. (Books are fine but they can’t talk back to you.) Ask every question that occurs to you. There are no dumb questions, just shy students, so don’t be shy—ask! (There is actually a fourth way—ask a friend who knows. The problem with this is you can only use it infrequently or you soon won’t have a friend anymore!)

In defense of the programmers, computers have become so powerful, with so many features, that programming is terribly complicated. Don’t blame the programmers for the manuals—they don’t write them. (I sometimes wonder if the manual writers really use their own products.)

It is very true that the more a person understands what is going on inside the computer, the easier it is to troubleshoot problems, so make a friend of your computer. Pat it on its head when it does good and scold it when it doesn’t. Give it a warm home in the winter and a cool one in the summer. It will love you forever!