What Are You Doing? – It’s Not Helping
July 18, 2009 by Jason Bean
Filed under Computers
After working with people doing some desktop support types of actions for the last few years, I’ve observed some behaviors that have both surprised me and left me wondering what exactly is going on. People do some weird things when they use computers. Let me share.
The first thing people do that confuses me is to hit their keyboard harder as they’re typing. Unless you have a physical issue with your keyboard getting gunked up with something or the sensors not receiving input, hitting the keys harder DOES NOT help you computer think clearer or act quicker.
Another item I see people do is to move their cursors around in circles as their computer is thinking. Although it’s entertaining to watch, it’s not helping your computer any. If you think it does. Stop! If you’re entertaining yourself, feel free to continue.
The last behavior I see that always amazes me is what I can call computer message illiteracy. The number of times I’ve seen an error message display on someone’s screen and then ask them what it said and they don’t know many more times than once. Sometimes it’s not an error message, it’s just an information message or other tip. Usually it’s something like, if you’re tired of seeing this useless message check this box. They don’t check the box. Folks, it’s simple, read the message and think about it what it says.
What crazy behaviors have you seen that confounds you? Would love to hear your stories and examples.
I think that most people know that banging the keyboard and mouse have no effect on the performance of their computers – it’s just an expression of the frustration they feel in the continual poor performance of their systems.
The crazy behavior that really confounds me (and I still fall victim to it, as well) is that people continue to buy and use Microsoft products, and find them seriously deficient. We must be masochists.