Seniors

I'm a senior, and what makes me so crazy is that I've been working on computers longer than almost anyone.

In January of 1969, before a lot of people were even born, I went to work for an airline that was the second airline in this country to go to a computerized reservations system. My first day at work it was the old manual system. My second, the computerized system.

Yes, it was much simpler then, and everything was a command line, none of this Windows crap. But still. I think what makes me the most crazy is the claim that it's all intuitive, that anyone can do this. Yeah? So why can't I, who've been working on computers for almost fifty years now, not figure things out right away? Intuitive? Really? Only if you define intuitive as: It's really easy if you already know the system.

I wish that everyone writing a programming would test it on on his mother. Or grandmother. And when Mom or Grandma gets a bit too savvy, find someone else's Mom or Grandma. As I've already pointed out, I've been using computers since before most of the current programmers were born, and if it's not obvious to me, then it's probably not very obvious.

Simple things, like just how far in you have to plug something. I recently bought an IPod, figuring it was about time I joined the 21st century. The young (she's 41) friend who helped me out here, got me started, continues to be helpful. I downloaded some CDs of mine to the IPod, then couldn't get it to play. Couldn't hear a freaking thing. Turned out I didn't have a plug pushed in all the way, even though I kept on checking that connection, pushing it in as hard as I could. And no, I'm not that frail. But too often the first time you plug something in it simply won't go all the way in. Had a similar issue with my brand new video recorder. Sigh.

It shouldn't be this hard or mysterious. We shouldn't need to ask a kid next door to help us. I mean that. If they really tested these things on real people, it wouldn't be so opaque.

Today I went to see the movie "The Hundred Foot Journey" and it was very satisfying to listen to untranslated French, since I know the language reasonably well. A lot of computer stuff is like untranslated French. I know the language, but lots of folks don't. I shouldn't have to have the same issue with computers.