"Dummies" books (was Re: New 6.0 Features - Sell what you got fellas)

[Nancy Palmquist]

Fairlight wrote:
> Is it just me, or did Kenneth Brody say:
> 
>>"Jay R. Ashworth" wrote:
>>
>>>On Mon, Oct 25, 2004 at 04:36:05PM -0400, Bill Vermillion wrote:
>>
>>[...]
>>
>>>>And my personal bias is that I hate anything that has DUMMIES
>>>>in the title.
>>>
>>>Though, ironically, they're pretty passable, believe it or not.
> 
> 
> I got OO Programming for Dummies.  What a waste.  I -looked- (at the store)
> at "Java for Dummies".  It really should have been titled, "Stealing other
> people's applets and seasoning to taste".

I have to add that the normal Computer Phobes like the "BLAH for 
DUMMIES" series of books.  They don;t feel threatened by the normal 
level of computer related books.  Programmers as a rule write very bad 
books.  It is hard for them to make a concept understandable to normal 
people.  I think it is incomprehensible to them that everyone does not 
know something they find so simple.  It is an arrogance that is very 
basic to books and training in this industry.

I think in a small way, they like people to think them all-knowing, and 
tell the end user that they could not understand this or that.

I have a philosophy that is quite different.  I like the end-user of my 
applications to have some power.  I like them to be able to use the 
selection screens, change the browse formats and get familiar to some 
degree with filePro.  It is such a enabling thing to be able to generate 
a list or find some data by yourself.

I always encourage customers to learn more about their computers.  I 
show them how to do something instead of telling them they can not 
understand how.

I remember when I started with Windows and I looked all over for a 
definition of "system tray".  Never did find one but all the books 
assume that I knew what it was.  That kind of basic information is 
missing and causes users much grief and frustration. (Please don't post 
a definition - I got it figured out.)

If a person has basic skill in logic (Geometry class seems to be the 
best indicator - not math or algrebra), they can have success with 
filePro.  A very basic skill and many people are surprised to find they 
have the gene.  Sometimes you have to get past the phobe that they are 
bad at math, a legecy of a poor education system that needs revision to 
actually train people to think not regurgitate.

Well I best get back to work.  Sorry about the rant.  One of my pet topics.

Nancy
-- 
Nancy Palmquist
Virtual Software Systems
PHONE: (412) 835-9417			Web site:  http://www.vss3.com