The Truth

*Comic by Ctrl-Alt-Del

"Computer license and registration please."

Some people may believe that being "computer illiterate" is a victimless crime, but I am here to dispel this belief, once and for all. I will say however, being computer illiterate, and also not having a computer, is much less dangerous.

The problem lies in the fact that most people that do not believe they have time to spend learning how to properly use a computer, also believe that the rest of the world that does know how to use a computer, is forever in debt to them, and therefore must act as their personal slave of technology. It almost seems as though the ideology is that they would rather spend their time talking to tech support, then actually exploring/learning/using the device they bought. Now you may say, "But James, don't people learn things when they call tech support?", and the simple answer is "no". People seem to click their brains off when they call for help. Suddenly the person is unable to make any decisions for themselves, let alone even process what they are seeing on screen. They must now have extremely detailed descriptions/instructions on how to close the active window!

So, we have now determined that computer illiterate people effect those in the IT field. However this "effect" is minor, and some would argue is "part of the job". So lets look a little closer at how this all pans out.

There are people that legitimately need tech support for the products that they own. However the bulk of Internet related, phone service calls, go from "Tech Support" to "Computers 101" in the blink of an eye. Instead of troubleshooting a supposed "internet problem", suddenly you find yourself teaching someone how to use bookmarks, or how to set up email rules in Outlook, or giving a lecture on spyware and spam, the list goes on and on. The main problem with this scenario, is that troubleshooting problems with an internet connection is a relatively basic procedure, with minimal variables, and the problem can be determined quite quickly in most cases. This all falls apart however, when the person needing tech support, suddenly also needs a personal computer tutor.

So what is the end result of all this? Besides frustrated phone tech's, and lots of time on the phone? I believe it has been one of many contributing factors to businesses outsourcing phone support over-seas. As more and more people that are unfamiliar with technology are getting involved with it, this problem intensifies. Suddenly service centers are needing to double and triple their staff, or offer less effective tech support, with more on hold time. In general, if all calls to a given tech support call center, actually had a legitimate problem, and both ends of the phone had people that have a basic understanding of their respective computers, then tech support call centers would be drastically smaller, and more effective.

Of course in the real world, it is a lot easer to pay a whole building of people from India to do your job, and for a lot less. The companies don't care, they are paying less for support then ever, and don't have to listen to you complain about it, because they don't even run the show.

Obviously there are many, many, many reasons for outsourcing jobs. I believe this is one reason for the large scale move over of tech support related jobs. It is a sad truth.

So what will come first, a required license (or training at least) to operate a computer on the internet, or a couple generations of people using computers from childhood?

The suffocation of MMORPG's and the Rise of the SuperCade

rant/

I have been into gaming, on and off, for most of my life. If you would have asked me 5 years ago where I thought my gaming future would go, I would have seen nothing but MMORPG's in store. However as of late, I have found that I don't get the same sense of "awe" that I once was infused with through the likes of Ultima Online. That feeling of adventure, that the world around you is alive with people, just waiting to create new experiances with eachother.

Is this a product of getting older, and not finding joy in the same things? Or is it the over decline in innovation and progress in MMORPG's. Since my long bout with Ultima Online addiction, I have played a variety of more current MMORPG's. I have played the WOW, Anarchy Online, Guild Wars, Redmoon, Legend of Mir, Project Entropia, and while I have not played EQ, I have been around it enough to know more than the average non player.

While I have gotten into all of these games in varrying degrees, there is one common thread. I get bored with the pre built worlds, pre built experiances, pre built friends and enemies. They come and go, with the same "static" feel, allways slightly different, but allways the same. This has led me down the same path each time. Have some fun, like some of the new things, then loose all motivation to repeat the same things I have done the last 8 years in past MMO's.

Ultima Online, I belive, is the one MMORPG that has a fully dynamic feel to it. Perhaps I feel that way because I have allways played on player ran shards, which give complete control (or lack of it) of all parts of the game, to the players. Because of this fact, I see UO as living on forever in the player ran MMORPG world.

However, as it is now, I do not play Ultima Online, or any other MMO for that matter. I have found my gaming bliss as of late, to come from the past. When games were valued for their sheer enjoyment factor, and not all the extra frills. When games HAD to be fun, at least enough to convince hundereds of teenagers to dump all the quarters they had in, just to see what was next, or get that high score. This my friends, is the true foundation for the current gamming industry.

There is something about that golden age in gaming that calls to me. I have had more fun trying to beat my friends score's in the likes of Galaga, Gradius, and Joust, (to name a very select few), then I can remember having in my entire time of killing Murlocks and Bandits. There is just something about gathering together around the dull glow of an arcade, and competing to see who's the best at staying alive. All the while with full social interaction and tactile feedback from the people around you.

These games didn't need dual 3 ghz processors, or the latest $700 video card, or a cell proecessor. They survived on the fact that they are great fun, and highly competitive. It is all to common these days for the main selling point of a game being sheer graphics. The game looks great, but plays like a bucket of rocks. To which I ask myself "Why not just watch a CG movie" as I get 100% in the third bonus round in Galaga.

Well, ranting and raving aside, having an Arcade at home, that has an unlimited amount of classic arcade games, is pure gaming nirvana. Of course there is some satisfaction knowing you built it yourself as well.


/rant