Experiences with non-techies

[Cybertism]

DRAM it, you still believe in those DIMM-wit superstitions?

That made me chuckle..

[Guest]

DRAM it, you still believe in those DIMM-wit superstitions?

Best one I have heard in a while.

[Jambls]

My Reg teacher (the same on in the powerpoint rant) was showing us pirated dvds in class. They even had the Copyright notice at the start that said that they weren't supposed to be shown in public places including schools and something else or pirated.

[Gambit52]

So, here's my experiences, that I can come to think of now:

 

- After I've fixed a computer for a friend or relative, they always blame me for every future problem.

- Two guys were talking in an MMORPG I used to play, and one of them said that he overclocked his hard drive and his computer is now more than twice as fast.

- Whenever I tell someone that I like computers and technology, they always assume I just post stuff on Facebook and play Farmville all day long.

- My mom freak out every time an email from someone she doesn't know, slips through the spam filter and end up in her inbox. Something worth mentioning is that she use hotmail, so she freaks out a lot.

 

Edit: fixed the formatting.

This is funny and so true on you getting the blame for everything that goes wrong after you work on their computer.  My biggest pet peeve (and I don't do this for a living) is when they don't have an anti-virus program on their system.  I have had more than one family member tell me:  "well I was told it only slows your computer down and it doesn't really protect your computer from viruses".  or.. family and friends who "never" back up their computer or put the back up on their one main hard drive.  Sigh..

[holytoledo]

This is funny and so true on you getting the blame for everything that goes wrong after you work on their computer.  My biggest pet peeve (and I don't do this for a living) is when they don't have an anti-virus program on their system.  I have had more than one family member tell me:  "well I was told it only slows your computer down and it doesn't really protect your computer from viruses".  or.. family and friends who "never" back up their computer or put the back up on their one main hard drive.  Sigh..

 

That's kind of true. I've enabled my closest family members by teaching them that most unwanted programs come from them not reading the installation wizard enough. Now they don't have an active av program, they just run malwarebytes if something seems off.

 

I think that should be standard user practice. :v

 

Edit: I should say that that's what they want to protect from. The unwanted programs they install by not reading enough on the installation wizard. I know that no-anti-virus won't protect them from someone truly malicious who is trying to take over their system but it will protect against the majority of unwanted things that are on the internet, that install with other programs or try to trick you into running them (email attachments anyone? docs?) User awareness really helps.

 

I think they need to learn it before they are 40. My grandmother was no good.

[Gambit52]

That's kind of true. I've enabled my closest family members by teaching them that most unwanted programs come from them not reading the installation wizard enough. Now they don't have an active av program, they just run malwarebytes if something seems off.

 

I think that should be standard user practice. :v

 

Edit: I should say that that's what they want to protect from. The unwanted programs they install by not reading enough on the installation wizard. I know that no-anti-virus won't protect them from someone truly malicious who is trying to take over their system but it will protect against the majority of unwanted things that are on the internet, that install with other programs or try to trick you into running them (email attachments anyone? docs?) User awareness really helps.

 

I think they need to learn it before they are 40. My grandmother was no good.

I am hoping that schools start creating classrooms for learning the computer basics early on for kids.  This might eliminate a lot of the newbie mistakes for newer generations.  As far as the old folks go.. well, not much you can do..lol

[Atmos]

 

 

This must be a real anoyance to sales staff when they are in the middle of their patter to have some other random person come up to them and say "well actually you are wrong there" you wouldn't (I hope) just but in to someones conversation on the street so why do it in a shop? 

The sales assistant may well have a good reason for trying to unload XYZ (even if it is more expensive) such as keeping their job which feeds their kids[1] . As long as it does the job does it matter to you (enough for you to be so ignorant as to butt in) if the customer is getting the best possible bang for the buck?

 

[1] The manager may well have said "sell XYZ or there's the door", they may be trying to maximise their commision as their wages are crap (not everyone can have quarter of a million developer jobs :some must just be sales assistants)

No i am normally not that blunt. But if you see someone being lied to and misguided by a car salesmen who might say something along the lines of "this prius will do 180mph in 6s flat!" Then to not step in and help the hapless customer from being mislead and tricked into buying something that, yes, will be a car but not the best car they can get; would be the wrong thing to do.

 

If you were in a shop and were tricked into getting something less for more, would you not have wanted someone to step in and tell you the truth about what you were getting? 

 

The sales assistant still got the commission from the guy and he got to learn something about what he was trying to sell. What i did was not so much an annoyance as much as it was a completely valid and helpful engagement to stop a tricksy salesmen  from cheating a customer. So no, i don't feel bad in the slightest, i did a good thing for what turned out to be a really good guy.

[soup]

What i did was not so much an annoyance as much as it was a completely valid and helpful engagement , <snip>  i did a good thing

OK. You keep believing that.

[Guest andyysplash]

OK. You keep believing that.

 

If there's ever one single thing that is guaranteed to raise tempers I'd bet on that coming in the top 10. I think the problem is with sales reps who either don't know enough (in which case someone please help them) or do know enough but want to/are forced to mislead customers. The want to is a problem as people like that shouldn't be allowed jobs. Sadly the world doesn't seem to care. As for being forced to mislead customers then that's bad practice by the business.

 

Some people won't be able to get a higher paid job than sales rep but they should have the decency to not be misleading customers. They may be living on the edge of their budget but so are a lot of other people and what they're doing effectively amounts to claiming more money off customers by tricking them or lying to their faces. As I said before, I don't have a problem with those reps who simply didn't know and were going on a false assumption because they're trying to be honest.

[Redliquid]

My mother called me earlier this week quite hysterical telling me i have to help her because the computer said her computer firewall was going to explode in 30 seconds.

Dem popups,

Btw i scanned my sisters computer with malwarebytes,

Found around 1200 non malware items x)
Not sure exactly what those were tho, what kind of non-malware items does malwarebytes notice and quarantine?

[soup]

 what they're doing effectively amounts to claiming more money off customers by tricking them or lying to their faces. As I said before, I don't have a problem with those reps who simply didn't know and were going on a false assumption because they're trying to be honest.

'Kay. There is a big difference between out and out lying and having a different opinion to the shoppers (I'll lump in those that are bullshitting into this difference of opinion category, though they should have the gumption to say "I don't know").  Matters of opinion should be left alone .  Out and out lying is a different matter. .  I don't know what the answer to lying sales assistants is but I still don't think it is a random shoppers duty to just butt in.  Have you heard the whole conversation?  Maybe YZX has already been disconsidered.

[holytoledo]

Would your friend be pleased that you stepped in and helped? Yes/No?

 

I think we can tell if something is a good deed or not based on this. Suicide and extreme cases not withstanding.

[Atmos]

'Kay. There is a big difference between out and out lying and having a different opinion to the shoppers (I'll lump in those that are bullshitting into this difference of opinion category, though they should have the gumption to say "I don't know").  Matters of opinion should be left alone .  Out and out lying is a different matter. .  I don't know what the answer to lying sales assistants is but I still don't think it is a random shoppers duty to just butt in.  Have you heard the whole conversation?  Maybe YZX has already been disconsidered.

Bro please just leave it now. All you're doing is trying to incite a flame war over something minor. The jist is i helped someone who was being mislead by a tricky sales rep trying to make an extra buck. I was there from when the convo started and through to its end. Might it have been rude for me to but in to the sales rep? yes; but was't is just as rude if not more for him to be flat out lying to the innocent customer?

 

You're entitled to your own opinion and the few that support it. What I did is considered to be the right thing to do by a vast majority of people, and that's just that matey. Now let it end please.

 

EDIT 

 

Would your friend be pleased that you stepped in and helped? Yes/No?

 

I think we can tell if something is a good deed or not based on this. Suicide and extreme cases not withstanding.

 

 Yes, the customer was VERY happy that i stepped in. The sales rep wasnt so happy though because he didnt get his extra few bucks.

[soup]

 All you're doing is trying to incite a flame war over something minor.

 

I am not trying to incite anything.  I just don't think the way to combat lying shop assistants is to be pig ignorant and butt into someone else's conversation.

C.F. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Anyway we will just have to agree to disagree, we will not convince each other of the right course so I will leave it.

Oh and I do NOT respond to "matey", kindly don't use such passive-aggresive phrases.

You may now have the last word.

[holytoledo]

I think someone in this thread is a tad too pedantic.

[Guest andyysplash]

I am not trying to incite anything. I just don't think the way to combat lying shop assistants is to be pig ignorant and butt into someone else's conversation.

C.F. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Anyway we will just have to agree to disagree, we will not convince each other of the right course so I will leave it.

Oh and I do NOT respond to "matey", kindly don't use such passive-aggresive phrases.

You may now have the last word.

I think the whole thing's situational. You have to be there to know whether it was right. At the end of the day the worst that can happen is that the rep or other customer kindly ask you to leave them be and/or the customer ends up with a worse off deal. Sales rep to customer with a possible second customer joining in is a different thing to two people having a conversation in a more social context and having someone else interrupt.

Why does this thread always descend to this sort of level? Some of the stuff in here is worse than the ignorant nontechie who argues with you about something they won't acknowledge they were misinformed about

[Mistersprinkles]

@Atmos

@Mistersprinkles

 

This must be a real anoyance to sales staff when they are in the middle of their patter to have some other random person come up to them and say "well actually you are wrong there" you wouldn't (I hope) just but in to someones conversation on the street so why do it in a shop? 

The sales assistant may well have a good reason for trying to unload XYZ (even if it is more expensive) such as keeping their job which feeds their kids[1] . As long as it does the job does it matter to you (enough for you to be so ignorant as to butt in) if the customer is getting the best possible bang for the buck?

 

[1] The manager may well have said "sell XYZ or there's the door", they may be trying to maximise their commision as their wages are crap (not everyone can have quarter of a million developer jobs :some must just be sales assistants)

 

Ya ok. We, knowing about PC hardware are going to let some idiot sales clerk who knows less than us shaft a customer with a part they don't need. Ya. That makes sense. I care more about the customer getting the right part than I do about a sales clerk who isn't even qualified for his job as far as I'm concerned. Go flip burgers at McDonald's where nobody will correct you.

[DigitalHermit]

Easy there guys...

 

I recommended a few low-end cards for a low-budget customer looking for a graphics card for some very casual/light gaming... The clerk was recommending something along the lines of a 760 or a 270... Even if I hadn't stepped in, the clerk still wouldn't have sold a graphics card to that customer since his budget was only 2kPhP (approx 40USD) and it was short of a few hundred getting a 6570...

[holytoledo]

Easy there guys...

 

I recommended a few low-end cards for a low-budget customer looking for a graphics card for some very casual/light gaming... The clerk was recommending something along the lines of a 760 or a 270... Even if I hadn't stepped in, the clerk still wouldn't have sold a graphics card to that customer since his budget was only 2kPhP (approx 40USD) and it was short of a few hundred getting a 6570...

 

Do you know what Linus says about low end cards?

[DigitalHermit]

Do you know what Linus says about low end cards?

 

"Why do these even exist?"

 

I know... If you check my location, it's a 3rd world country where the economy is so screwed minimum wage can't even sustain a person...

 

I don't want to tell him to go get something way out of budget since all he's looking for is a cheap card that can play MOBAs at an acceptable fps (coming from a GeForce 210)...

I recommended a 740 to a 750Ti or an R7 250 to a 260X and strongly recommening a 250X...

[Johannes_Lazor]

My friend always asks what he should do about Everything that has Anything to do with computers,
"Should i download stuff from 3rd party websites that is known for crapware?"
"Should i allow this program i want to use?"
"Should i do anything about this virus"
"Should i uncheck babylon?"
"should i buy this computer, it is a intel with 2gb ram and 2gb graphicscard, Is it good?"

He is pretty good at gaming.. But he is not good at computers.

[holytoledo]

Ouch.

[Akolyte]

 

What you cant download RAM???  Oh $h*t... 

Thats guys lying don't beileve him.  Of course you can download RAM!   I downloaded RAM yesterday, and another 8GB of it!  

 

 

My grandma once called me freaked out complaining that the internet was gone. Turns out that her homepage on Chrome was AVG and not google.

AVG likes doing that.   And I work for AVG too, some people are angry.  But the truth is, its now an opt-in feature and theres a tool on the AVG website that lets you completely remove and revert AVG toolbar.    I think the question we get from this is:

 

Why do basic people love their Toolbars so much!?!?  

 

 

 

My friend always asks what he should do about Everything that has Anything to do with computers,
"Should i download stuff from 3rd party websites that is known for crapware?"
"Should i allow this program i want to use?"
"Should i do anything about this virus"
"Should i uncheck babylon?"
"should i buy this computer, it is a intel with 2gb ram and 2gb graphicscard, Is it good?"

He is pretty good at gaming.. But he is not good at computers.

Mate, be grateful your friend finds you as a good source of knowledge and is not like the idiots some of us face who won't ask anyone about their problems.  

 

 

I am not trying to incite anything.  I just don't think the way to combat lying shop assistants is to be pig ignorant and butt into someone else's conversation.

C.F. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Anyway we will just have to agree to disagree, we will not convince each other of the right course so I will leave it.

Oh and I do NOT respond to "matey", kindly don't use such passive-aggresive phrases.

You may now have the last word.

I'm not trying to take sides here at all but I just want to say this, do you know what I do when I hear a lying shop assistant lying to a customer? 

 

I try to help the customer and answer some questions for them, if they don't want my help they don't want it.  But, sometimes the people are willing to hear me out and take another opinion.  All I can do is try though isn't it? 

[NumLock21]

One thing I just don't get is why do some people get a Mac and yet run Windows? Wasn't getting a Mac because they want to get away from Windows in the first place, since they complain about how bad Windows is with all the viruses, popups, and other problems. So they spend like at least $1,500 or up to $2,000 on a Mac and then install Windows. By running Windows on a Mac, doesn't that defeat of getting a Mac in the first place? If one gets a Mac, then take the time to learn how the OSX works. Don't just spend your hard earn money just to rock a fruit as your logo.

[HexaGuy]

HAHAHAHA. I just heard something very very stupid.

 

 

'The louder the audio on a video, the more data you need to download.'

 

 

 

BAHAHAHA

 

How stupid.