okay, so the last few work days i have been taking calls on my new call center job. i am assisting people with their verizon DSL when they have DSL problems.

i am not a computer genius, i'm really not. at best i am slightly above average, or so i thought till the last few days. i am finding that compared to many of oour customers, i should change my name to chris the universal power and super-genius.

some of these customers i have to fight the urge to tell them to put it back in the box and ship it back, cause you are never gonna be able to figure it out. i had one a few minutes ago that called to ask about his playstation 2, how to set it up for online, and to ask what he should do about the 612 (not an exageration) virus alerts his computer has. i told him he would need to buy a virus removal program or contact the original manufacturer of his computer about re-formatting his hard drive, and that i could do nothing about setting up his PS2. he then asked me the same question again. i re-phrased and said the same thing. he asked again. i repeated. he repeated. i repeated. he repeated. UGH!!

another said he could not connect to the net. i asked what happens when he opens the browser window. he said "nothing, all i get is a black screen" i asked what he meant. he said he would power the computer on, but all he ever gets is a black screen. gosh... if you can't get anything on your computer to run, what would make you think that was a DSL thing??

god, what a world
[Edited 1/3/05 14:23pm]

I've found that every time I think the world is evolving slightly, dealing with the general public will quickly disabuse me of this notion.

Ace said:

exactly

My father has a computer and my conversations with him on how to operate the thing are very similar.

I've also seen friends computers that are so infected by viruses (no antvirus softwear) that they ought to be hit on the head with a shovel.

cborgman said:

He prolly hadn't powered the monitor

AlfofMelmak said:

Ace said:

90% of the human population is overcome with ignorance. Unfortunately those same idiots are the ones who predominantly procreate at an increased rate.

AlfofMelmak said:

I would bet my firstborn that you're right.

Sorry, Chris. People really are idiots.

It's a dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb world!!!!!

To be fair, i'm quite confortable with computers, was running a self-updating virus scanner and, when running a scan for spyware and the like i had over 300 infected files. Fact is, you have to be somewhat of an expert ánd spend an awful lot of time (and money) on protecting a computer that you may only use for a few hours a day. Someone who is just surfing the net isn't willing, and probably wouldn't be able, to do that.
And if hardware doesn't outdate fast enough on it's own, all the patches and scanners and whatnot will make sure your computer slows down faster than those 300 spyware files ever could.
You know what, rumour has it they are releasing a $500 low-end iMac in a few days. I think it's time for me to switch over (again).

SpcMs said:

Yeah, that's one of the really fab things about Macs.

Viruses? What?

Ok, there ARE mac viruses that exist, certainly, but I've never had a problem with one.