Friday, January 13, 2012

How Is Your Technology Confidence?

There are those of us who embrace new technology more easily than others.  It isn't that they already know how to use said new technology item.  But it seems they are predisposed to be enthusiastic about what the new thing might be able to do, AND they aren't afraid to give it a try; to play around with it. 

I'm pretty good with new technology; better with software than hardware it seems.  There is a ton I don't understand, believe me.  But I seem to have the propensity to give it a try; a baseline confidence that I won't screw it up and that there is probably some intrinsic value in the new technology.  How about you?  Do you get sweaty palms when encountering a new program or "device"?

A friend and I were talking the other day about how it seems you need a certain level of tech confidence and understanding to be willing to call into a tech support line.  Without the confidence, fears of not understanding their instructions or questions, along with the fear of seeming stupid, are overwhelming.  So the folks who need tech support the most, often avoid it. 

She also said something like, " People with low tech confidence need to get an iPhone".  That is, that the iPhone (and I think Droids also) help you to do so many techie things at the touch of a finger, you feel like a master, leading to that "bring it on" attitude we all need.

I think this predisposition to embrace something new isn't just tied to technology.  There are those who embrace new innovations of what ever their "thing" is.  My husband is one notch above a Luddite when it come to computers and such.  But he is way beyond handy when it comes to construction.  He can build, plumb, wire, and weld most anything.  If not, he'll figure it out.  And as you might imagine, he LOVES a new tool.  Is he afraid to try and figure out a new tool?  Not at all.  Put my iPhone in front of him, and all confidence, and logical thinking disappear.

And how far things have come.  So much is "plug and play" and most things have those handy pop ups that ask if you are sure you really want to completely wipe out your hard drive, before letting you do so.  So bring it on, give it a try and play around.  You may discover some cool new things and raise your tech confidence at the same time.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you, Leslie, for this great article. I've always been the one who wanted to be at the forefront of technology and would be the first one to buy a new "..." even at the highest initial price. I was happy, the things did what I wanted them to do and what I needed as a web designer.

    Things have changed now. We seemingly have evolved into the "Buy and Try" society where you buy something and if it works, fine and if not you throw it out.

    My first disaster in buying the "latest" technology was the Sony Ericsson Xperia 8 and the shop attendant confirmed that I could run all Google products including Google Docs on it.

    Nothing was further away from the truth. The Android version sold (January 2011) was 1.6 and they had no other smartphone available (this is Spain). I did not have the opportunity to come back another time, so I bought it as I needed a phone anyway. YouTube videos - great, Facebook and Twitter (I don't use them much) - great. Gmail worked as well.

    No handbook (only an online version, but I just can't read online and try it out at the same time, it's physically impossible!).

    Finally a call to the support team which cost me € 8.00 per quarter and they finally told me that I had to download the PC suite and upgrade to Android 2.3 to make everything work that I want to work.

    Needless to say, the download didn't work. Sony Ericsson just pretends.

    I've stopped the contract for this useless gadget now and in future I will not participate anymore in the "Buy and Try" society. Or they let me try it out in the shop to see if it REALLY works or I won't buy.

    Well, thanks again for your great article, I think I shall not be at the forefront of technology anymore ... :(

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