Experiences with non-techies

[Nicktrance]

occasionally i like going into my local pc world and watch there sales team sell low end pc's at inflated prices and listen to the patter they use to sell em... then when they go to get there payment plans or some other bits and bobs, i walk over and tell em to look on the web for better hardware at the same or lesser price... reason?... because it sickens me to see people deliberately being ripped of because they dont know the difference between a gts 450 and a gtx 680. 1 guy was gonna pay £145 for a cheap end gfx card which retailed elsewhere for £79.99 (gts 650) thinking it was cool because he had just been told it had 2 gigs of vram. i pointed out that the vram has little to do with overall performance and he needs to know how many cuda cores the card has. i then pointed him to a cheaper 660 gtx from ebuyer only 1 gig. he walked away happy but the salesman wasnt. i got escorted out the shop and told not to return lol....

 

Isn't that exactly what Apple does? and then customers come away impressed with the performance of a macbook compared to their previous laptop... completely ignoring the fact that there is a 1000 EUR price difference which is somehow suddenly viable because it has an Apple logo.

[Nicktrance]

From some of these posts I think my experiences weren't too bad :D.

 

I thing this one is common, but too many people I know end up installing everything any websites or program suggests, to a certain degree it's understandable, I mean programs like McAffee's trial or Babylon search can easily be downloaded and installed with other products that you need (such as Flash or Reader, if I remember correctly) if you're not paying attention, but sometimes you find people with some 5 toolbars on their browser, tons of spyware, random programs which they don't even recognise or remember installing. Then they have their desktop full of shortcuts which they don't need, installers which they have already run years before, attachments which have been downloaded some 5 times over.

 

I find it really stupid and surprising how many people just keep ignoring all the alerts for updates... I mean if it's annoying just accept and it will stop bothering you, and many times they're a year or more out of date, I know people who are still running iOS 4 on their iPhone 4 and Firefox 13 :D.

 

Here's a recent story: a friend was complaining how her laptop was full and she needed to upgrade her laptop (notice how I said laptop, not hard drive)... I checked My Computer and sure enough she had about 200GB free in a completely empty partition and her system partition (some 20GB) was completely full (which was, admittedly, not helped by my attempt to quietly update to SP1 which she had been ignoring).

 

In the past few years I was present pretty much every time anyone in my or my girlfriend's family was going to buy some sort of electronic device, usually it ends up with me talking to the salesperson while they stare not comprehending a single word we were saying, but I guess it's better that way, although I do try to involve them and explain what the difference really was but it would be very obvious they had no idea and do not really care which to choose, even though they'd be spending up to 1400 EUR on it :lol:.

 

Another girl from my school said that she liked the Sims games. I asked her why she hadn't installed the game on her Mac so she could enjoy them, then? Well, apparently because games make the computer run slow.

 

You'd be surprised how many people I've heard saying this

[Godlygamer23]

He is that type of kid who will tell you that he is right and you're completely wrong. You can't correct him.

 

Funny think is that we both are in the same class. COMPUTERS class !

He think he knows everything and he don't even know what thermal paste is! Sometimes I want to punch him in the face. :D

oh.. and another think that I remember he was saying, that HD image don't lose quality if you zoom at it.

Me thinks he just wants to be smart.

[deltamagna]

I used to have a friend who would get to me install computer programs for her because she didn't know how.

[Jimbo]

Here's a recent story: a friend was complaining how her laptop was full and she needed to upgrade her laptop (notice how I said laptop, not hard drive)... I checked My Computer and sure enough she had about 200GB free in a completely empty partition and her system partition (some 20GB) was completely full (which was, admittedly, not helped by my attempt to quietly update to SP1 which she had been ignoring).

 

This happens to me all the time, I wish manufacturers would just stop partitioning the drive already, it makes things difficult when I'm constantly explaining that even though there's only one hard drive, it appears as though there are two. These days I generally just create a folder called downloads, change the default save location in their browser and point the shortcuts there. They seem to adapt fairly quickly.

[Godlygamer23]

This happens to me all the time, I wish manufacturers would just stop partitioning the drive already, it makes things difficult when I'm constantly explaining that even though there's only one hard drive, it appears as though there are two. These days I generally just create a folder called downloads, change the default save location in their browser and point the shortcuts there. They seem to adapt fairly quickly.

I personally (for my personal computers) put everything right on the desktop for browser downloads. It's a little easier to manage. And requires less work.

[eshbop]

My mate currently wants my help in trying to find him a good deal on a 2nd hand laptop that he can game on. He doesn't seem to understand that laptops are terrible for gaming (especially when he wants to pay like $600-800 for it) and that he could pay a little extra for a much better experience. He already has a laptop so it's not like he wants it just because it's portable. I just don't get it...

[Nicktrance]

This happens to me all the time, I wish manufacturers would just stop partitioning the drive already, it makes things difficult when I'm constantly explaining that even though there's only one hard drive, it appears as though there are two. These days I generally just create a folder called downloads, change the default save location in their browser and point the shortcuts there. They seem to adapt fairly quickly.

 

The laptop was in need for a format anyway, so I just made it into one partition. I usually point their downloads to the desktop rather than the downloads folder, it clutters up the desktop slightly, but at least it prevents them from downloading the same file 5 times or panicking that they lost a file they were working on :lol:.

 

 

I personally (for my personal computers) put everything right on the desktop for browser downloads. It's a little easier to manage. And requires less work.

 

Yeah, me too, except then I sort/delete them so I end up having nothing on my desktop other than my recycle bin :D.

[joelthezombie15]

my dad told me to get windows 8 because the metro is super useful

[ixi_your_face]

The other day, my friend paid $1650 canadian for this build: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/Y5h1

 

I kid you not. I told him specifically to wait for haswell and i'd give him a specific parts list and talk him through building a PC, what does he do? Goes into a store and buys that. For $1600 CAD.

​I'll just let that soak in a second.

 

Please tell me my anger is justified. Please.

[Nicktrance]

The other day, my friend paid $1650 canadian for this build: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/Y5h1

 

I kid you not. I told him specifically to wait for haswell and i'd give him a specific parts list and talk him through building a PC, what does he do? Goes into a store and buys that. For $1600 CAD.

​I'll just let that soak in a second.

 

Please tell me my anger is justified. Please.

 

I most definitely is :). I wonder hwat your reaction was when he told you :lol:.

[ixi_your_face]

I most definitely is :). I wonder hwat your reaction was when he told you :lol:.

 

I was in a skype call, i'm pretty sure i reacted about the same as a parent would if they just got told that their kid got ran over and the driver backed up to do it again

[Hoppa]

My mum always thinks people are either hacking, or our internet quota has been used up whenever she loads up chrome and it take forever to open.

 

and YES!! WHY DO ALL NON-TECHIE PEOPLE ALWAYS DOUBLE CLICK ON EVERYTHING!!!!

 

My Grandpa has been using computers long before my family had our first computer and to this day he still double clicks on everything.

[Nicktrance]

My mum always thinks people are either hacking, or our internet quota has been used up whenever she loads up chrome and it take forever to open.

 

and YES!! WHY DO ALL NON-TECHIE PEOPLE ALWAYS DOUBLE CLICK ON EVERYTHING!!!!

 

My Grandpa has been using computers long before my family had our first computer and to this day he still double clicks on everything.

Because more clicks = more faster as the PC realises you're in a hurry... I have noticed this too though :lol:.

[ixi_your_face]

Because more clicks = more faster as the PC realises you're in a hurry... I have noticed this too though :lol:.

 

And they look at you funny when you do a shortcut combination and do what they took an hour to do in five minutes

[MdX MaxX]

This one time in 9th grade I was on the computer in my English classroom and I copied a PowerPoint slideshow to my flash drive.

 

My English teacher says something along the lines of "Did you just put that on your thumb drive without opening it in PowerPoint?"

 

I was like "Uhh...yeah."

 

"Really?  Are you sure it saved?"

 

"..."

 

Apparently moving the file itself was a strange concept.  Apparently a lot of people think you have to open the PowerPoint and Save As to somewhere else.   :lol:

[Volbet]

Worked as a temp at a it-support center. One day a customer called, because her printer wasn't working. I offered to drive to her house to fix it (she lived about 100 miles from my workplace). I got there just to find out she had not plugged the power cord into the wall, and the printer was fine.   

[GeneralBear]

my dad not wanting to upgrade from his intel 486idx win 95 rig because it dose word

[ixi_your_face]

Worked as a temp at a it-support center. One day a customer called, because her printer wasn't working. I offered to drive to her house to fix it (she lived about 100 miles from my workplace). I got there just to find out she had not plugged the power cord intp the wall, and the printer was fine.   

 

That kind of stuff gets ridiculous after a while.  I remember a few years ago, i built a PC for my aunt. She called me a day or so later "IT'S NOT WORKING, YOU MADE ME WASTE £400!" 

 

The wall socket wasn't turned on.

[Volbet]

That kind of stuff gets ridiculous after a while.  I remember a few years ago, i built a PC for my aunt. She called me a day or so later "IT'S NOT WORKING, YOU MADE ME WASTE £400!" 

 

The wall socket wasn't turned on.

Apparently it is not only technology that baffles people, for some people it is the whole concept of power and electricity.  

[AroundWayOtherThe]

God, it gets painful reading these...

 

Took my mum 10 minutes to open Control Panel despite very clear instructions over the phone.

When reformatting my HDD, she told me to be careful not to get a virus. Same with installing Windows. In fact, anything I do, regardless of internet connectivity, can get me hacked or infected. 

[ixi_your_face]

Apparently it is not only technology that baffles people, for some people it is the whole concept of power and electricity.  

 

I swear, we should all just go back to basics with some people, teach them that the internet is a series of tubes that's friends with the electricity tube, and when you turn them off they die a little...

[ccaian]

My computer crashed from overheating and I told my father I needed to buy some fans. I came back and he put a bigass house fan blowing directly at it. He told me it was fine now and asked me to try it. Predictably, it crashed but he asked me "Do you think its too cold?"

[SirReallySam]

So my mate Franco is like "Oh I'm thinking of getting a new phone because my iPhone 3G is getting a bit slow. So right now I'm thinking good good. Then he turns to me and says "So iPhone 5 is the best performance wise right?" Not even kidding my mate Dan who is a hardcore Android Fan-boy, SPRINTS towards us and says... "What on earth did you just say?" I laugh a bit because I know what's coming and Dan just unleashes a whole ton of hate about how consumers assume that an Apple product must be the best and then shows him on his Samsung Galaxy 2 the "3 best phone out on the market" the HTC one, the Sony Xperia Z and the Samsung Galaxy S4. Franco is dazed and confused and just accepts all the stuff Dan has shouted at him. XD

Was truly hilarious.

[Maxibonbits]

My mate needed to buy a laptop, solely for playing games... 

 

Firstly he ignores my advice of just get a desktop.

Then he ignores my advice which was "Buy it from msy" (they are by far the cheapest place around to buy a laptop)..

Next day on the bus coming home from work, i get a phone call... "Hey i bought a laptop from JB Hi-FI".

 

I didn't say anything bad he did choose a rather good laptop, but i cant get over the fact it was about $200 more then what it would have cost if he took my advice.