 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Computing Myths Tom Coleman tomc@melbpc.org.au |
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One of computing's most persistent attributes has been its ability to generate myths. Long before the advent of the Personal Computer, way back in the days of "Electronic Brains" there were misconceptions and outright fantasies. I won't go into them or I would get bogged down in nostalgia.
It is enough to say that computing has even changed nostalgia. It's not the same as it used to be.
However in this day and age the current batch of myths is a serious barrier to learning to use a computer. They make buying a computer a nightmare for the uninitiated. Let's take a look at a few.
It is unfortunate that there is so much hype. The sales machine keeps churning out intelligence insulting rubbish that is only believed by computer salesmen. We are now at a stage where regardless of what you buy, it is going to be gross overkill for the kind of computing that most people do.
Don't misunderstand me. If your kind of computing is editing the holiday videos or playing 3D games, then you will need a bit more grunt than someone who will writes the odd letter, balances the books and surfs the Net.
Let's take an example of an allegedly fast computer. You know the kind I mean. One for which you would pay $1500 or $2000. Now compare it to an old Pentium /60 with 16 MB RAM and a 500 MB hard drive. This will run Windows very adequately. Adding more RAM will make a slight difference but the laws of diminishing returns is well established. At 32 MB you have lost most of the memory disadvantages.
It is a myth that you need a fast computer for the Internet.
Your modem plugs into the serial port of your computer. The RS232 standard that your serial port complies with has a speed of 115,000 KB. Here is the rub; your V90, 56K modem runs at only half the rated speed of your serial port. So your Internet connection is not going to run any faster for plugging it into a $2000 computer. In fact, so far as the serial port is concerned it would run just as fast on a $5000 (1982 dollars) IBM PC with 16 KB (that's kilobytes) of RAM which was the original PC that started all the rot. However, none of your Internet programs would run on that venerable clunker. (OK! So I nearly lied. You would have to put a 16550 UART chip into the port electronics. I said this to pacify the purists.)
So spending up big on your computer does nothing for your Internet speed. If you have 32 MB RAM then you have plenty to run Windows and Windows has no problem managing the resources to handle any downloading. Your typical download rate on the Internet is much slower than your hard disk can handle so the hard disk is not a slowdown either. You do need to have your Web browser and Net software set up correctly and well tuned, but that's all in the software.
If you want faster Internet then invest in cable or ADSL. There are problems there too, but it is usually faster, and much more expensive. We have reached the end of the line so far as the current modem technology is concerned. We need the next generation of hardware technology and the price of that has not yet dropped sufficiently. Alternatively we could get a patience upgrade, or an expectations downgrade.
This Pentium 90 I mentioned earlier would typically save a file or execute a mouse click in about a tenth of a second. Your pride and joy $1500 computer is about ten times faster so it saves the file in a hundredth of a second. Guess what - you cannot tell the difference! So far as you are concerned a tenth of a second and a hundredth of a second are both instantaneous. Sure, one is faster but it makes no significant difference.
Somehow the emphasis on speed warps perceptions of what is good. The
equation seems to be FAST=GOOD.
So we spend $500 upgrading the motherboard to speed up the Internet or worse still a function that is hard
disk intensive. If you want your computer to run faster then apply upgrades to the things that are running
slowly. If you have a task that is hard disk intensive such as loading a large file or interrogating a large
database you will get an improvement by installing a faster hard disk. Adding more RAM will do very little
and putting in a faster CPU affects only a small portion - the processing of the data. On the other hand
adding gobs and gobs of RAM and creating a RAM disk to hold the data will blow your socks off. That is still
speeding up the slow bit.
Recently I had a client in my workshop who saw me playing FreeCell, the card game that comes with Windows. He commented that the cards moved very quickly compared to his computer. He had an 800 MHz Pentium with 128 MB RAM. My workshop computer has a 133 MHz Pentium with 64 MB RAM. The thing that was making the difference was that he had a 1 MB video card and I had a 4 MB video card. My video card had a much better chipset too.
This is a good example of supposedly faster computer running slower because the video card was inadequate. Once again: If you want to speed things up then fix up the functions that are running slowly. It is a myth that faster computers are quicker. It depends on what you are doing.
The Leading Edge
The leading edge of computing is being driven by games. Games are the resource guzzling software that will bring any computer to its knees. Some more so than others. Have you noticed that virtually none of them run in Windows? Many run in DOS or take over the whole computer and run some operating system to manage only that game. You have to reboot the computer to restart Windows. In other words Windows is a resource hog that slows your computer and if you want to get any meaningful performance boost you must get out of Windows. Another way of putting it is that DOS is still the fastest kid on the block. Old does not equal slow.
Of course DOS scares the daylights out of the current generation of computer
users. Once upon a time if you did not know DOS you could not use a computer. Back in those days you had to
structure commands in a meaningful way for example: dir win.com
/s
Broken down it means
dir = show me a
list of files
win.com = the
name of the file you want to find
/s = look in the
current directory (folder to Windows users) and all directories below the
current directory.
In other words you had to learn the language. Then came the mouse where you point and click. This reduced computing to pointing and grunting as opposed to speaking the language. Language fluency assists expression of thought.
Don't get me wrong. You can do all sorts of things in Windows that you
cannot do in DOS and much easier.
Yet when it comes to being able to find your way around and seriously trouble-shoot your computer, knowledge
of fundamental DOS is vital.
There is no truth in the rumour that I am a DOS fundamentalist on a Jihad.
Another computing myth is that somehow you need to be a nerd, a boffin, and a whiz to be a good computer user. Utter rubbish. I have been teaching computing for about 15 years. Before that I had been teaching diving, seamanship and so on for 20 years so I have had some contact with people in a learning situation.
Your ability to use a computer has nothing to do with your education, your sex, your sexual preference, your religion, your political outlook or your mental health. The only critical attribute is your attitude. Nothing else matters. Curiosity helps. If you are scared of computers you are at a disadvantage. To some extent a lack of confidence when you start out is understandable. Regrettably the computer marketing industry exploits this lack of confidence. You are being bombarded by television commercials that tell you that the "class idiot" can be turned into a winner by purchasing a Canon printer, or that this mid-twenties mother is too old to learn computing but that she can assure her kids future by buying the latest whizzbangery.
People of all ages seem to feel that "Computers are for kids. I am too old.
My generation fell off the back". Now there is a normal and natural part of the learning curve that tries to
convince you this might be true. "Some people are cut out for computing but I am not". Every computer user
went through it. Welcome to the club. You will get over it.
The Melb PC Retirees Special Interest Group is one of the most knowledgeable and energetic groups within Melb
PC. Most of its members took up computing as a retirement activity. Nobody is too old. It's all in the
attitude.
Computing is like driving a car. It is a hands on practical skill. The theory is very interesting and people will ear bash about it for ages but having a degree in automotive engineering does not make you a good driver. The thing that makes you a good driver is getting behind the wheel, starting the engine, putting it into gear and driving around. The more you do, the more you learn. No one ever learned to drive a car by reading the book. The book is for when you get stuck.
It's the same with computing. You cannot learn it by talking about it. Fire up the computer and start keyboarding and mousing. When you collide with something you can't do or doesn't work then go and find out. Computing is too big to learn everything so you should stick to the things you can use or find interesting. Have you noticed that despite having driven a car for however many years you are probably a useless forklift driver?
You only learn the things you practice. If you need the skill then you need the practice. You will not get it by reading academic tomes. You will learn the things you can apply. Computing is not an academic pursuit.
The Right Tools
Another way of looking at computers is that they are a tool that does a job. No one goes off to the local hardware shop and buys $1500 or $2000 worth of tools, sets them up in the workshop at home and then wonders what jobs to do with them. If you want to hang a picture, you go out and buy a drill and plug and a hook and whatever. You buy the tools to do the job. The job comes first.
Ask most people what kind of a computer they would like to buy and they might say. "An AMD 1800, 256 MB RAM, 60 GB hard drive. CD burner, 19 inch flat screen" etc. They have listed the tools.
What kind of a computer should be answered with "One that will handle the Great Australian Novel" or "One that will let me edit my family photographs" or do online banking and surf the Net. What do you want to do with it? That will determine the choice of software, which will then determine the choice of hardware.
The problem with this is that it assumes that you know what computers can do. That's a good reason to join Melbourne PC User Group. Lots of brains to pick. You have got to talk to people sooner or later and at least no one at Melb PC will try to sell you something.
Whose Needs?
It is my experience that if you ask your friendly neighbour or work mate about the kind of computer you should buy they always seem to tell you what kind of a computer "they" would buy. This should not stop you from picking everyone's brains. Just be aware that almost everyone in computing has the idea that his or her way of using a computer is the best way. You must wade your way through this mess of opinions and use the bits you like. There is nothing new about this. You have been doing it all your life.
There is no one single "correct" approach to computing. The way that you use a computer, set it up, display your files, icons, the programs you use, etc is a reflection of your attitudes and your personality. Most people are different so expect to see lots of different ways of using a computer.
Another example of the "Faster is Better" myth is CPU speed. Generally speaking the difference between a computer with a 900 MHz CPU and an 1800 MHz CPU is very little. A few tasks will run a bit faster but most of the time you can't notice it. It is certainly not worth the several hundred dollars difference in price. At the end of an eight-hour day you might save a few minutes. It would make no significant difference to the time it takes for Windows to start up.
A warning to the parents out there in the real world. Kids these days are under enormous peer pressure to have the greatest and latest computer. Computer mythology is rampant in the education system. Youngsters go to school and lie about the computer they have at home. There is serious loss of status having a less than 1.0 GHz CPU. They do not need that upgrade. They are just climbing socially.
There is a perception, heavily promoted by the advertising industry that new equipment solves old problems. All problems can be fixed by buying a new something or other. Have you noticed how computer salesmen can fix most things by selling you a replacement?
Let me finish with this profound truth.
Regardless of how much money and resources you throw at a problem, your
ignorance will not go away.
Reprinted from the February 2002 issue of PC Update, the
magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
