Have you started listening to Digital Planet yet? (BBC IT Podcast) Does Bill Thompson bug you? Sometimes I think his little commentaries seem gratuitous - as if he has to say SOMETHING to justify his existence on the show. This week however, Bill Thompson hits the nail on the head with two perceptive and important observations.
In the story about MacPaint and the release of its source code by Apple, Thompson says everyone should understand programming basics so the machine doesn't control you. That may be overstating it a bit - I don't think everyone needs to learn to read computer source code - but his central idea is spot on. (A little BBC lingo there.) I took a stab at majoring in computer science at U of M. Weak math skills proved my undoing, but I have written programs in Algol (a now defunct language) and I wrote several programs in good old Apple Basic on my first Apple computer. I'm not a proficient programmer by any means, but I understand the basics of how computers do what they do. It makes the computer less of a magical box to me and helps me troubleshoot when problems come up. Consider automobiles: If a car is just a magical device to you that drives when you turn the key (or press the button) and put it in 'D,' then if there's a problem when you follow your standard sequence, you're done. Call the mechanic. If you understand the basics of how the thing works, you can save yourself a lot of headaches.
The second thing Thompson mentioned related to the story on how some mothers are paid to review movies and other products on their blogs. Thompson latched on to the critical point in the story: paid bloggers won't lie but they won't do bad reviews either. From the book Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, the authors state that the average review on Amazon is 4.3 stars. (Here's a link to a Wall Street Journal article about the phenomenon: http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB125470172872063071.html) People don't write about stuff they're disappointed with or ambivalent about. They write about stuff they HATE or stuff they Like or LOVE. Professional reviewers with professional ethics review everything. Consumer Reports reviews everything and refuses to accept payment or advertising that might bias their reviews. When you read amateur reviews on Amazon or on blogs, take them with a giant grain of salt. As with everything, CONSIDER THE SOURCE.
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People should be learning to code or at least understand computer basics in some way, shape or form. Computers aren't some kind of mule that works for you at your every beck and call - you have to work with the computer and know its strengths and limitations. I don't care how many ads and false propaganda (*cough cough* APPLE CORP.) tell you that a certain OS or program only takes a few clicks and it's always perfect...that's not how technology works. There are always hangups and if you haven't the faintest clue on how to fix your computer's problems, then have fun shelling out money at the computer repair shop for a fix that would have probably taken 15 minutes to do on your own. Whether it be a simple troubleshoot or a reference to a wiki-how or some other help thread research, fixing computer problems really isn't as hard as people make it out to be. If you're more aware of how code works - no you don't need to really KNOW it - then you will be more apt to be able to solve issues on your own.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the paid bloggers business goes, it's once again just a matter of "common sense". People tend to be more critical on the web because they can and, well, it's fun. Nothing is better than absolutely flaming a product, movie etc into oblivion and seeing other people agree with you. And of course it's always fun to rebutt the one guy that stands out and tries to tell you "you're being to critical and not objective enough." When it comes down to reading these kind of blogs, you can't really take everything written too seriously. Well, I mean you could, but the chances are you're going to be misled. What's best to do is to subscribe to MULTIPLE blogs and even cross-check the articles with more "legitimate" websites, such as CNET. Sites such as CNET hire people for the purpose of objectivity in their work. On the flip side, bloggers are hired to give their honest opinions and they usually do so; however this does not take into account any preexisting bias, or other elements, not to mention exaggeration which many bloggers will utilize for additional appeal. Exaggerating is fun, amirite?
ReplyDeleteExaggerating is fun Alex, but there's more than that. I think they mentioned in the story that human memory seems constructed in such a way as to lose or limit painful memories and reinforce positive memories. I mean, if that weren't true, no one would ever have more than one child! ;-) But seriously, there is plenty of psychological data about the unreliability of amateur observers, but their extrordinary power in swaying our opinion. Consumer Reports may spend thousands of dollars carefully testing a car and ultimately recommending it, but if your best friend had a bad experience with the car, most people will give more weight to their best friend's judgment based on ONE car.
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