internet

[armalites]

The internet is amazing but I can't help thinking for many people their mental well being would be far better without it.

I have a couple of older relatives who are able to be involved in crusades(for want of a better word) and spend hours every day arguing with people they don't know and are never likely to meet about things that they are never likely to make an impact on.

 

[armalites]

To be a real winner and gainer is mastering sorting the wheat from the chaff,solely by your own initiative.

In rural areas like ours there are still many older people who manage to live the whole day without having to interact with the internet and I genuinely believe they have less stress as a result.

 

[rtcosic]

With so much information readily available on the internet, I suspect that in some professions it may cause a lower value to be placed on the skills and the knowledge that individuals have built up through their career and may be that is reflected in a perceived lower financial value placed on their skills and depress their wages. As with every new development there will be some winners and some losers. Just a thought.

I never cease to be amazed at how readily many people are willing to share their knowledge for free.

But then I suppose a love of your area of expertise and the overwhelming desire to share it with others is the true definition of an expert.

This Forum is a prime example.

 

[Seadog]

Generally people Google the answer for them.

It happens a lot on this forum, too

 

[optima21]

and is it fair to say that the internet as we know it (the W.W.W.) is a British invention. without the vision the team behind it, it would have been a free for all, but not so free to access, but more like being charged for streamed TV.

 

[armalites]

I never cease to be amazed at how readily many people are willing to share their knowledge for free.

But then I suppose a love of your area of expertise and the overwhelming desire to share it with others is the true definition of an expert.

This Forum is a prime example.

Many people believe that by sharing knowledge they are doing themselves out of a job but in my experience it can actually open up more work. Often if someone asks how to do something and you explain it fully they will say "Can you do it for me?" those people will always appreciate the skill and knowledge more because they've decided it's beyond them.

We used to have a guy in technical support who made a career out of keeping all the knowledge to himself and talking down to people. We had an issue with a machine at a high profile customer and he started his usual spiel. It was a Friday afternoon and I suggested not very politely that he should go there and sit in the traffic himself and sort it out. It was packed office and everyone heard, I thought I would hear from my manager on Monday but never did. He ended up meeting a colleague(had also had words) and myself at this customer and he was nice as pie. It was an unmanned site I genuinely believe we were going to have a proper chat with him

 

[waddycall]

Fantastic for learning stuff. Horrendous for fuelling dissatisfaction/greed. I had no idea how much superfluous stuff I ‘needed’ until I got the internet

 

[MattF]

What? You mean it's not just porn?

There's porn on there? I'll see you all later, at some point.

 

[8ob]

Many people believe that by sharing knowledge they are doing themselves out of a job m

Wouldn't take very long to share my knowledge and they would be more than welcome to my job

Bob

 

[mdr]

Totally. My fridge freezer was leaking a year or so ago and I found a youtube vid

It's good, but it also has a downside. I'm all for sharing knowledge (I'm on a forum on Sunday posting this).

Years ago there would be a local guy that fixed fridges. Your fridge would have a problem, you'd ask friends or neighbours for a recommendation or you would grab the Yellow Pages (a physical book by the telephone (which was rented from the General Post Office!) for just such a problem). A guy would "pop round" because he was actually local and not a national firm or covering multiple counties and fix it with his skill. You would pay him a small amount and everyone would be happy. You would probably spend longer chatting in the kitchen over a coffee than the job took. He wasn't on the clock. He had his skill and you had yours. He practiced his skill you practiced yours. Each got better at their skill and less jack of all trades. The world was small.

Today, with cheap tools, Screwfix or Toolstation click + collect and open on a Sunday (got to dash off in a minute! My order is ready to collect ), eBay, and YouTube we want to fix more things ourselves. The little guys that we use to employ to fix our fridge, TV, sagging door, etc. are out of business. Wasn't our fault really. The little guy was dying before we decided DIY was actually a hobby as opposed to work. The larger companies pushed them out.

Heck it's too expensive in time to troubleshoot something electronic now and it's cheaper (because of labour) to buy something new. We actually have to roll up our sleeves if we want something fixed rather than replaced. I think I'm fixing things today to try to be that local little guy that had a practical skill.

Sorry @brightspark I'm not paying you to fix my broken kitchen socket. Just received my new multimeter off eBay from China (CAT 1 is the best right?). £5.99 delivered - bargain! It's a real upgrade from my trusty neon mains testing screwdriver! I've watch a few videos before it arrived. Good to go.

 

[brightspark]

Sorry @brightspark I'm not paying you to fix my broken kitchen socket. Just received my new multimeter off eBay from China (CAT 1 is the best right?). £5.99 delivered - bargain! It's a real upgrade from my trusty neon mains testing screwdriver! I've watch a few videos before it arrived. Good to go. [/QUOTE]thank christ for that. many a time i give advice on the phone to punters with there power tripping and tell them to unplug stuff . its generaly kettle tumble dryer and washer causing it.i dont want any more work and turn a lot down. it saves me going out

 

[Shedendman]

One draw back with youtube,customers see the fix and actually thinks it take 8.35 mins to do,you spend the next 60+ mins telling them otherwise,then they become the expert

 

[mdr]

i give advice on the phone to punters with there power tripping and tell them to unplug stuff . its generaly kettle tumble dryer and washer causing it

Typical thing around this time:

Friend: Can you help me as the electric is tripping this morning.
Me: Anything changed recently?
Friend: No, can't work it out.
[Goes round, see a ladder against the house]
Me: What's the ladder for?
Friend: We want another set of lights on the front of the house.

 

[brightspark]

Typical thing around this time:

Friend: Can you help me as the electric is tripping this morning.
Me: Anything changed recently?
Friend: No, can't work it out.
[Goes round, see a ladder against the house]
Me: What's the ladder for?
Friend: We want another set of lights on the front of the house.

i get that have you touched anything no are you sure yes. tell me now because if you have the bill will be a lot higher if you dont tell me and they then fess up

 

[maz0]

Fixed my oil burning boiler last week thanks to a few youtube videos. 20 years ago it would have been a call out to a tradesman. I wonder if its effecting business at all...

 

[gaz1]

not really as they say im sorry you need a new boiler as we cannot be bothered repairing your old thing too much bother to do it ..

 

[skotl]

i get that have you touched anything no are you sure yes. tell me now because if you have the bill will be a lot higher if you dont tell me and they then fess up

Same thing happens in IT:

Customer: "I don't understand it. It's worked for years then it just stopped working. I'm baffled"
Support: "Did you change anything?
Customer: "Nope - it just stopped working"
Support: "sigh... think back to the last thing you did, just before it stopped working and undo that"
Customer: "Huh? Well, I did... oh wait... yeah - it's working now"

 

[skotl]

Same thing happens in IT:

Customer: "I don't understand it. It's worked for years then it just stopped working. I'm baffled"
Support: "Did you change anything?
Customer: "Nope - it just stopped working"
Support: "sigh... think back to the last thing you did, just before it stopped working and undo that"
Customer: "Huh? Well, I did... oh wait... yeah - it's working now"

For anyone who writes software for a living, the above absolutely applies to developers too

Dev: "The code isn't working any more - it used to work"
Lead: "Go back and undo what you just did, then it will work"
Dev: "It can't be what I did - that was a completely different part of the app"
Lead: "... ... ... ..."
Dev: "Huh. That's weird - yeah, it's working again"

We even have a tool that helps figure out who screwed it up for the rest of us: git blame | Atlassian Git Tutorial

 

[colnerov]

Same thing happens in IT:

Customer: "I don't understand it. It's worked for years then it just stopped working. I'm baffled"
Support: "Did you change anything?
Customer: "Nope - it just stopped working"
Support: "sigh... think back to the last thing you did, just before it stopped working and undo that"
Customer: "Huh? Well, I did... oh wait... yeah - it's working now"

P.I.C.N.I.C. ?

 

[mdr]

Sorry to all those using Internet Explorer!