from my experience in training computer users, i have found that many people feel like their computer doesn’t like them or ‘has it in’ for them. even though they know rationally that this in impossible, they have to a degree convinced themselves of this and it makes their daily interactions with their computer miserable. for those of us who spend a lot of time every day in front of our computers, it can take a heavy toll if our relationship with it is an adversarial one. who wants to wake up every morning and with the looming sense of dread that they have to go in and deal with ‘that machine that hates me’ all day long. life could be better! the fact is: a computer has no capacity to hate nor can it hold a personal grudge against its user.
i look at the relationship between a computer and its user more like that of a pet and its owner or a child and its parent. just as with training a dog or raising a child you need to set the rules and let it know that you are in charge. if a dog respects you and knows what to expect from you it will obey you. if a child respects you and knows what to expect from you, you will have a deep and wonderful relationship (well, children are a little more complicated but that’s a whole other story). without respect in either of these relationships you are in for a challenging journey. the same holds true for your computer: if you have its respect you can have a delightfully productive relationship; but without respect you are in for trouble! once you learn that you are in charge of your computer (believe it or not, it’s true!) and you learn how to make it respect your commands you will see your relationship turn around quickly. you will look forward every morning to sitting down in front of your computer and having it greet you with a smile.
your mantra - keep in mind one thought above all others at all times: ‘you are smarter than your computer!’ even though all of us have felt otherwise at times (maybe all the time), it is true – you are smarter than your computer. all you have to do is learn to master it and to do that, you must know how to use it correctly and what to expect from it. keep in mind that your computer only does what you tell it to do. even though sometimes it may seem like your computer has a mind of its own, it really doesn’t. your computer is conditioned to respond to commands that you make through input devices like the keyboard and mouse. if you give your computer specific intentional commands it will respect you and you will get consistent predictable results. if you give your computer random unintentional commands, it won’t respect you and you will get random unexpected results. knowing what you are telling the computer to do and knowing what the expected results are is half the battle (maybe the whole battle). once you accept that you are ultimately in control of your computer all that is left is to gain a little composure at the keyboard and know how to make the right choices. with that said, consider this your mantra and say it to yourself over and over and over at your desk, in your car, in your sleep, on the bus (don't worry, lots of people talk to themselves on the bus)…”i am smarter than my computer, i am smarter than my computer, I AM SMARTER THAN MY COMPUTER…”