Many people have a vague idea that technology is difficult. How many times have you heard someone say …
I don’t get computers!
There must be gremlins in the system today, I don’t understand why it’s so slow …
My kids are better at this computer stuff than I am.
I have a theory.
Fear of technology is really, underneath, fear of failure. Of looking foolish in front of your kids, your classroom, or your coworkers. Of making a mistake and “breaking something.”
But why?
Why is this an intimidating sight for so many people?
Scary? (Image credit: Marc Diluzio)
After all, this isn’t scary, right?
Not scary. (Image credit: Jason Dean)
And neither is this … (well, not most of the time … after a few weeks, mine can get pretty scary!)
Super not scary. (Image credit: Kathleen Franklin)
But these are all just “technology,” right? So why are computers different?
I sincerely believe that for most people, it’s simply because no one took the time to explain anything to them.
The assumption that technology people made, for a long time, and sadly that many still do, was “you either get it or you don’t.” And if you were one of the people who “got it”, you didn’t want to take the time to try to explain it to people who didn’t “get it” — why spend the time on that, when you’ve got better things to do?
(And, I think, as a subtext, there is a certain amount of reverse-snobbery going on, because those of us who live and die by technology are outliers, even though supposedly we are now “the cool kids”. We know we’re nerds.)
I’ve been thinking about this for fully twenty years, since I was doing tech support in the early 1990s, and really, not much has changed. The only difference is that computers have become more ubiquitous than they were back then, when most people only had a computer at the office. But now, everyone has a computer at the office, two or three at home, and one in the pocket of every adult and child in the home as well. They are everywhere.
And as a result, computer fear runs rampant, from people’s living rooms to their workplaces. No wonder there is so much stress in our lives. (Especially because no one wants to admit that they’re afraid!)
The truth is, none of us were born with the ability to type on a keyboard, use a webcam, or text on a smartphone.
But I believe that everyone can learn. Just like you learned your language and learned to walk, you can learn to understand technology. With understanding, the fear goes away. And once the fear is gone, you can start to have fun.