Ah, a good thought provoking thread.

I think the difference is simply an experienced user gets their experience from having an actual interest in computers themselves as opposed to just what they are capable of doing.

Someone interested in the computer itself will want to learn nearly ALL aspects of it. (hardware, software, internetz)

Someone interested solely in the computer's use will only care about what the the computer can do for them. ("where I get ROMs?", forum rules?, what's Goolgle?, Search button?, Readme file?)

There's a wide margin for what can potentially make up a PC noob. Some people just see a PC as a machine in a similar way to how many of us see a toaster. They don't see it as a multifunctional device capable of so much more.

There's also the view that some have that computers are this autonomous, self-thinking AI. These people think that blue screens and data loss are done solely by the computer because it "hates" them. (yeah, seriously, they think this)

When a true, honest to God noob shows up here asking stupid questions that make me want to tear my hair out, they're asking these questions because they think that we're on the same level of thinking as they are and don't realize that there exists a huge gulf of know-how between themselves and forum "regulars". Their questions may be somewhat annoying, especially if they could have just performed a quick Google search.

EDIT: What's up with your "reason for editing post", Interverse? Been eating purple-gilled 'shrooms while smoking green cheeba? :lol:

 

I think the kind of knowledge one gains from using a computer solely depends on the type of work one performs on the computer.
For example if one has only done c++ programming and MS office on a computer and not learned about the basic hardware then there is a strong possibility that he would not know much about RAM, HDD and so on.

As for me at first when I got my computer all I knew was c programming, I didn't even know how to copy paste and had no knowledge about computer Hardware.

 

You knew C, and didn't know about copy paste? :lol:

 

EDIT: What's up with your "reason for editing post", Interverse? Been eating purple-gilled 'shrooms while smoking green cheeba? :lol:

My "special" meter was running low and I had to fill it with originality lest I become stale and morbidly dead from the neck up.

 

Nothin' wrong with fillin' up special.

 

yes there is, its not ****ing efficient.

 

You knew C, and didn't know about copy paste? :lol:

back then I only knew how to switch on the computer and when the desktop is ready click on the icon called C. That's all. And yeah I also knew how to play solitaire and pinball. Every time something went wrong or the computer got stuck, I had to call someone to fix it up until I learned the magic keys Ctrl+Alt+Delete.

 

I guess we all started somewhere.

 

I think how you were brought up and what you were learning or exposed to as a kid probably has a lot to do with it.

 

I have been a computer freak from the beginning. I actuaaly am looking to purchase an original Mac in the near future......the thing is, Some Apple 2's can reach over $2,000.....

 

It has nothing to do with the mentality of a person. A "computer literate" person is just someone who finds computers to be interesting, he/she delves deeper into its working and functions and thus, is more acclimatized to it then your average Jo. The average Jo or, in this case, "computer illiterate" people are those who, for some reason or another, aren't interested in the workings of a computer, they don't know much about it, and thus, feel uneasy and suspicious about what it does.

Just like someone who doesn't know how a car engine works might soil his pants if he hears a small noise from his running car.

I suppose a person's age also has a lot to do with this. Younger people tend to grasp new things easily while older people might have difficulty doing this.

 

viruses >>>

ive learned more from viruses infecting my computers than college and University put together.

for example.
http://forums.ngemu.com/web-development-programming/119254-ngemu-web-browser.html

when i tested the NGEMU Web Browser i used Sandboxie just in case i learned that it used IE in my 1st test so i put proxy 0.0.0.0 in IE just in case .

 

Hi, I.V. here, once again and I'd like to ask "the question".

What is your explaination for simple; well defined folk that just don't get computers? What mentality does a fine-tuned PC user have that a completely illiterate PC user doesn't?

A willing-ness to fix their own problems.
That's it, simple. No?

I'm the kind of person who learns to fix things for the sheer joy of learning a new skill.
From building (I refloored my room with metal joists)
Fixing washing machines, any other pseudo mecha-electrical equipment.

Luthiery, woodwork, engineering concepts.
I even have been developing a new type of medication with my friend (a pharmacist) that's revolutionary

Like my brother pays people to do his maintanence, that's lazy and doesn't better his knowledge.
Screw money, learning new stuff is awesome!!!

 

A willing-ness to fix their own problems.
That's it, simple. No?

Why...wouldn't...they?

I mean, it's their property; men like to fix things. It's in the bloodstream somewhere like little hammers and nails running through next to lymphocytes and platelets. The question at this point, Kaizen is why they wouldn't want to fix them or what drives people that want to; to do so.

 

Why...wouldn't...they?

I mean, it's their property; men like to fix things. It's in the bloodstream somewhere like little hammers and nails running through next to lymphocytes and platelets. The question at this point, Kaizen is why they wouldn't want to fix them or what drives people that want to; to do so.

Complacency, laziness, alterior motives?

I've never had a girlfriend who didn't want me to come over and fix their pc..

You could say this is just them not willing to exert effort.
But maybe its because I would always demand some kind of reward in return for helping

(reward means ***** stuff)

 

Complacency, laziness, alterior motives?

I've never had a girlfriend who didn't want me to come over and fix their pc..

You could say this is just them not willing to exert effort.
But maybe its because I would always demand some kind of reward in return for helping

(reward means ***** stuff)

To be honest, that has nothing to do with computers.

 

Well, from my personal experience the people who don't work well with computers are primarily those who could use them but are afraid to figure things out for themselves without someone holding their hand (figuratively or literally). I don't think age really makes too much of a difference *if* a person wants to get into the innards of a computer. However, as mentioned earlier, a person who hasn't grown up in a computing environment will likely be more hesitant about getting too involved in the technology simply because of a lack of familiarity. It's not like everyone is an expert in computing from day one.

Now what baffles me is when some of my coworkers in the PC industry are also afraid of and don't know how to use computers. There's something terribly wrong there, I think...

 

The difference is.

One has the balls to risk ****ing up, where as the other does not.

 

Well my experience tells me there are alot of people (especially older teachers above the age of 40 usually) who refuse to even consider that they could actually use a PC, for some i think its a mental state, cause after hours of explaining to still **** thing up is to strange.

 

What I find most interesting is how there are actually quite a few good programmers there are actually afraid to open their pc, or build their own. Wonder how that happens.

 

Old people tend to be more conservative and cautious of new things then younger people.

 

Also another thing i cant understand the programers at my mom's work place, they do some preaty cool programs when i see there work it just astonishes me, but when it comes to some basic computer stuff they dont know what to do (one of them actually didnt know he's computer at work had an dvd-rw not a CD-rw and after he learned that (from yours truly) he was stucked at making a dvd in nero)

 

I was kind of the same way a few years ago. I was getting good at Java, and I honestly didn't really know much about hardware. Sure I knew the basics[CPU, GPU, RAM, HDD, etc], but I didn't really know what made a computer tick.

 

A logic gate makes a computer tick . Or a rusty fan