if you’ve never worked in tech support, it’s hard to grasp just how non-technical most people really are.
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switch it off, switch it back on
Right?! I keep helping so many older family members wirh their android and iPhone phones.. And I'm thinking.. How is this supposed to work without any help?
I think it is very evident how non-technical most are given how many AI doomers there are View quoted note →
technology
this fixes many things.
I fixed a printer for a struggling nurse at work by pushing the power cable in all the way. It had pulled out.
"It's just not getting any power!"
Yeah.
Dude the number of times I've fixed something by fully plugging some power component in is kind of insane.
This 💯
I've spent over a decade of my life in support, phone & on site. The floor for technical knowledge is very low.
i've seen this or similar plug issues many, many times.
then there's ctr+alt+del (thats me spent 😅)
It's one of my go to fixes (I have a check list lol)
back in my tech support days, i did too :)
I often see a similar issue with monitor video/audio cables (and of course monitor power cables).
I think VGA had something figured out with the screw in connectors.
😂
Just wanted to help illustrate your point
What's funny is I don't even work in tech support. People just know that I have a CS degree and used to work in tech so they just come to me while I'm working my healthcare job. The water finds a way in. I can't escape it 😂
My worst support call ever was a person whose computer sound wasn't working. We went through the troubleshooting steps, check volume, reboot, make sure sound drivers were loaded, etc. Finally I got them to verify the speakers were plugged into the correct port.
"Speakers? I don't have any speakers."
🤦♂️
I speak from experience, but not from knowledge. If it works 👍
Oh my fuck.
Having run a small business for almost a decade in a capitalistic society without government contracts, I can assure you, that most people aren't just "non-technical" they're incapable.
😂
Lol
I pretend I don't know about computers now, saves a lot of unpaid tech support time 😅
A good tactic. It's somewhat hard in jobs where your background is known or of interest. Students, etc.
I, hand to your preferred deity, took an "I can't get on the internet" call at an ISP where the cause was a power outage.
They were on a land line phone and their mind was blown that wired telephones didn't get their power from your household electric. Determined that since the phone and computer both get plugged into phone lines they should both work.
Yeah, I know. I've outed myself as being old as fuck before.
That's pretty hilarious.
Support staff play a huge educational role in helping people understand the technology they are using.
Their role is so important that it's almost a social service. I don't know if those who work in that role realize what an important and wholesome job they have, even if it can get insanely frustrating.
how good is that click sequence tho on the ears
fingers effortless
The amount of times I was told it’s a PIC issue is legendary and ima okay wit that
From personal experience, I wouldn't wish working as ISP support staff on my worst enemy. It's cruel and unusual punishment 😭
I was actually an electrician once. Most people don't understand the differences between low and high voltage lines, which is fine. We can't all know everything. But maybe know a little to not be totally helpless 😂
I used to see all sorts of goofy shit. Especially on old houses where people would do what I called "straight pipe" an old breaker that kept tripping. Why update the panel and wiring for modern draw when you can just burn the fucking house down? Lol
Depending on the level one works in
It never changes
Fax 📠
I once had a support call with the Dean of the College I was working at, he had like 2 doctorates. He called because he moved his office phone to a different jack in the room. When I got there, instead of plugging the handset to the phone then phone to the wall, he had plugged the handset directly to the wall 🤦♂️
Fix the issue in 80% of the cases! 😂
Oh boy 😬😂
Adding Tech Support to my CV 👍
Not when you are on the call and know you are being recorded.
Wut
There should be a Doctorate of Thinking. That might actually be worth the money for most people.
/s
I always forget that's an internet thing. Maybe I'm getting old too...
There is no greater teacher of patience than a support role.
How else are they supposed to find the next highest resistance component?
low voltage, your fingers are probably fine but your tongue isn't.
High voltage, do not touch this.
Good enough for explaining to idiots who only touch things in their house.
Yeah. I was told maybe I shouldn't come to work sober again by my boss. I'd rather work shovelling cow and horse shit again.
One thing I learned working ISP tech support is that 65% of people don't know that you can right click on the mouse. And once you show them it exists, they will ask you whether they should "regular click" or "right click" for the rest of the call. It's like they discovered a new world.
See also ctrl-c & ctrl-v.
I don't remember that. But I don't remember much thanks to the amount of substance abuse I engaged in at the time and number of years.
I do know I was homeless and unemployed shortly after my ISP stint and still refused to even consider jobs where I answered a phone and talked to end users.
NGL I smoked a lot of weed and drank when I worked those kind of jobs too. It goes hand in hand 😂
That’s because most people don’t understand magic.
I guess none of his doctorates were in operating simple household appliances.
depending on setting it's mostly dealing with people who have learned helplessness and don't want to try things on their own. mom always cleaned the customer's mess
I work at Walmart.
Most people don't realize how non-people people are.
Yeah like stuff with flashing lights and shit.
What's curious is many people don't even have the intuition to plug things into the hole they fit in. I assume technical literacy has only gotten worse as usb-c has become more standard and bluetooth more streamlined.
What's curious is many people don't even have the intuition to plug things into the hole they fit in. I assume technical literacy has only gotten worse as usb-c has become more standard and bluetooth more streamlined.
This is a much more fun public conversation than some of the 2025 topics we've endured.
What's curious is many people don't even have the intuition to plug things into the hole they fit in. I assume technical literacy has only gotten worse as usb-c has become more standard and bluetooth more streamlined.
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If it makes you feel better, friend finally walked out of his job on the second broken cup holder
it's so easy, i don't understand. i've only been using linux for 10 years and everything works flawlessly for me
i see what you did there...
I'm not technical, but I can't know how much I'm not technical
Believe me I know, because I am one of them! 😬 Slowly getting better but it took me a bit to get NWC to work 😂
Its so easy! What friction? You bork your machine during an update and reinstall!
Profoundly true. Every aspiring software engineer should start in tech support.
this one still gets me to this day... i replaced all of the computers at a law firm once. it was done after hours. it took me all evening. i was proud when it was done. new desktops, new laptops, everything worked with their existing infrastructure, etc. i went to bed exhausted sometime after midnight. i got a phone call at 7am because a woman said he computer wouldn't work. i was freaking out because she was one of the partner's secretaries and had been there since time began. she was also a very nice lady that i always enjoyed talking to. so i quickly showered and rushed in there.
i get there and one of the partners sees me in the hallway and essentially berates me because his secretary is unable to do her job and she has work to do.
the issue was none of her desktop icons were in the order that they were previously in on her old computer
she would start her day and go down the line of icons from far left top to bottom clicking on law program 1, law program 2, law program 3, email, internet.
i don't remember the order i had them in. all i knew was that all of her law programs were there and automatically signed in like she requested and all data was there.
i would have never thought she would be unable to use her computer because the icons were out of order.
she panicked because icons were not where she wanted them to be and was literally unable to do her job.
i think i learned very quickly right then and there that sometimes people panick and their brains shut off when it comes to technology and things they don't understand.
greating a good UX is hard, especially when you understand what you're building and how the technology works. it's hard to think about people that have no clue what they're doing.
CAN CONFIRM
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You know, most of us just
Probably because like money, information about it is not taught in school
with android, and probably ios too, things have gotten more complicated and easier at the same time, as the years have gone by.
I consider myself above average in technical abilities but I was humbled hard the other day at work. I had to get a HDMI to DP replacement cable for my monitor and when I plugged it in nothing happened so I assumed it only worked one way and told IT I needed a new one. The IT guy came to my cubicle, switched the input and it lit right up 😂. I was so ashamed, he must’ve thought I was a moron.
I have had very similar experiences, at an accounting office though. The QuickBooks icon *must* be in the right position or it becomes invisible.
It's hard for me to understand, being able to jump from Windows to Mac to a bunch of different Linux DE without skipping a beat. People get set in their routines, and any tiny difference will throw them off.
I used to work in an airport and it’s hard to grasp just how retarded most people really are.
Or that caller saying my screen is dark and you try to troubleshoot till the point, well there is no light, so I cant see if the power plug is plugged in…
back in the days a landline phone did work without power…
😂 The infamous Dell tech.
Recurring topic of frustration amongst the so called tech people of all levels.
And a way to distinguish themselves from so called normies.
Having worked in various so called tech support roles over many many years on different levels with different demographics and educational backgrounds I can only observe that people think differently. And that’s normal.
And people (re-)act in different ways when stress level rise. And that’s normal.
Even though with my experience I’ve caught myself sometimes with the simplest of seemingly easy to solve tech situations not getting anywhere.
Also the magic of just being present with the client/normie often just solves the tech issue.
It happens to the best of us and my attitude by now is to stay humble because other people are better at other things than me/us. 💥
The anecdotes in this thread are making me feel like a tech genius 😂
(by Nostr standards, I most certainly am not)
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😂
I was half the asshole once. I was working a Network Operations Center helpdesk for a while, and one of our field techs called in (after hours on a weekend) saying his laptop is busted. Now, I was no rookie, I'd been building my own computers for a decade, but this was one of our top field technicians, so I dutifully created the ticket. When he typed, it just printed garbage on the screen. He went online, found his motherboard, and found a post discussing the same problem, which turned out to be a KB9 keyboard chipset error. The laptop needed to be replaced immediately for an important job tomorrow.
I called the on-call manager and conferenced him in. After 10 seconds of the tech explaining, the manager asked if he checked NumLock. It was fixed. Scariest words I ever heard: "Gentlemen, we will discuss this on Monday morning. *click*"
Yeah and you'd think it would be a simple enough concept like "male and female" cables. But we aren't even having sex anymore so maybe that's to blame 😂
That's transphobic.
Ah fuck you got me lol
I think this is why I suck at job interviews. I assumed people who work for Bitcoin companies know more than me, but I'm like a decade ahead of them and get the feeling they often have no idea what I'm talking about.
you're a smart guy, marc :) i enjoyed our conversations in Las Vegas. dont' sell yourself short!
Thanks man. I've been thinking about just doing my own thing because of that conversation. I really think that's the way I should go. 🤔
im glad you were able to figure out NWC. which client app and wallet did you struggle with?
Does being the tech support for my mom counts?
ill let it slide this time :) performing tech support for our family members is a time honored and frustrating addition.
shit.
this reminded me that my uncle called me two weeks ago and left me a voice message. i never returned his phone call. he only calls me when he needs my help with something computer related.
Aliens!
I concur. Good design can help with this. No im not talking about rounder corners.
It’s about relentless testing and iteration.
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I had to learn to use a lot of non-tech terms. Success rate was much better.
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I worked internal tech support at a tech company. No amount of technical illiteracy surprises me anymore. Senior engineers turning their monitor off and back on thinking that it was rebooting the computer was fairly common.
It helps when you've had to tell a few grandma's to get their cup out of the cd tray and take the mouse off the floor. No, it's not a pedal and this isn't like a sowing machine
Started with damus trying to connect to my wavlake wallet. Eventually got it to work. I think part of it was I didn't know I had to route a specific connection for each device I was using. I also use primal.
I see. Sometimes too many choices makes things confusing.
and not trending up
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I can relate. My wife like everyone spends way too much time on her IPhone and cannot do anything outside of scrolling.
I’m shocked every time I need to do something so basic for her.
It’s more like people give up before even trying. I regularly do service calls where people refused to even open a box and plug in the router
For real.
🤣🤣🤣 I can't say I've never seen that lol too common!
"Mam/Sir,...Is it plugged in?" 🤭
One of my first jobs was remote help desk. I got really good at assuming they know nothing and walk them through each and every single click Or push hard to remotely connect when they can't follow basic instructions. One time i picked up my personal phone like with a greeting like a work call, It was at that moment i realized i had to move to something else or risk turning into a robot.
But… the people… they are, retarded
Yes and large software corporations tend to have UX departments with focus groups that come in and give feedback. Also, they can take advantage by being highly centralized.
For sure. My next task is to figure out how to use AQSTR with keychat or something similar. Couldn’t figure out how to get Alby to work.
As someone who does legal tech and works with attorneys. Yes 😂
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I rang a sauna yesterday to ask why it was closed.
I was actually stood in front of a random closed bar 2 doors down from the sauna house.
The guy on the phone kindly said the sauna was not called “oysters and wine”.
Sometimes humans are also simply insanely stoopid / overtired.
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Hello Mista, please install AnyDesk.
Left click with the mouse...."er but I'm right handed"
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💯 true. I find it very disheartening how people think that others think the way they do. There are still majority of people who are scared to touch software icons let alone installing one. Empathy goes a long way. 🫂
Holy shit, I had this happen to me at one of my old IT jobs as well. Icons got rearranged because I essentially had to rebuild this computer from scratch. It was a workstation for an interferometry lab And the lady using it was confused because things weren't in the same order even though they were all on the desktop. She just couldn't be assed to look left.
people really get set in their ways and do not like any sort of change.
Younger people today are as bad as older people were a decade ago.
Smart phones, Chromebooks.
These kids don't even know what a folder is, they don't know how to navigate files, and google don't work the way it used to, on YouTube nothing but slop that comes up when you're looking for tutorials.
It must be stressful for tech support with this new generation.
I can imagine them saying things like "but chatgpt told me it wasn't that so I'm not checking that"
Or just not understanding how to navigate things and needing to be hand held the entire way
Someone asked me how to see the illegal telegram groups.
Download the app from their website instead of the Australian version of the Play store.
Isn't it dangerous to download apps from the internet? What if it damages my phone? 😑
Before I mute you I gotta tag someone
@ScamAlert in case they haven't already noticed you.
A rotary phone connected to landline still works without power
I haven't but I know. Then again neither are the people who answer the tech support calls. Everyone I talk to reads from a script.