If computers are 100 times faster than 10 years ago, why are they still so frustrating for the average user?

Question

I find that I didn't have enough patience for computers then nor do I now. I am patient with other things.

Thanks ideaquest. You didn't really answer the question but you did try to make it less frustrating for me.

OK OK I'll brush up on my computer skills but I'm not completely ignorant of their use and function. I have been a user for more than twenty years and I have done some courses including programming.

I'm just wondering why patience is even a requirement at all?

Thanks to brgaming too. I intend to switch to Linux as soon as I can figure it all out.

Any idiot can make something complicated, only true genius can keep it simple. I don't see any genius in the computer industry these days...

Answer 1

Try commanding your computer from ten years ago to do the functions you command it to do now. See how slow it is then. The tasks you command your computer to perform gets more and more sophisticated with time. The faster a computer processes, the more tasks we program it with, pushing them to their limits. A computer, regardless of its speed, has a lot more information to process than it did ten years ago, so it balances out and will continue to frustrate you with the more tasks you push upon it. We're constantly cracking the figurative whip on artificial intelligence. The faster a computer goes, the more tasks we command it to do.

Answer 2

Every year computers get "more powerful", as the saying goes. And indeed many users make a habit of being frustrated with their computers. As you have discovered, patience doesn't help your computer work any better than it ever has.

A computer is a physical apparatus incapable of pleasing its users. So I think it's the software that it causing your frustration. Unfortunately, with new "intellectual property" laws focussing more and more on computers, the ability of the developers of software to learn from others' mistakes is harder now than ever. This won't change unless there is some serious change.

But there are some "alternative" models that encourage developers to learn from eachother (which results in happier users). This is called free software. I'm using Firefox and GNU/Linux as I write this, and my frustration with this system is nothing compared to what it is when I'm using Windows (and Internet Explorer) or Mac (and Safari). This is not so much of an advertisement as an observation. Either way, it works for me :-)

Ah yes, I forgot to mention that the majority of programs I am using are developed in a very open manner with lots of user interaction. The result is that if I disagree with a change, I can talk to the developers directly about it, and perhaps have a permanent impact on the program. From my experience, the developers tend to be friendly, or at least patient, and usually able to solve problems that occur in a timely manner.

Answer 3

Wow.. what an interesting question! The first 10 things a person who lived 100 years ago would notice: Since 1908.... 1. Urban Sprawl- The growth of urban centres (housing) and industrialization, and the shrinking of rural (country) areas. 2. Superhighways! 3. Automobiles- how they have changed! 4. The size and quality of houses/shopping facilites etc. 5. Technology-- what IS a computer/billboard/big screen theatre/coloured and big tv's 6. The way people dress/walk/talk/behave.. much less respect! 7. The music.. would probably think it's aweful now lol 8. Women's role in society.. women in the workforce.. women as professionals 9. Vast Multiculturalism 10. Newer and different modes of transportation and the transportation system as a whole (commuter trains, subways, busses, commuter and commercial planes etc).

Answer 4

As far as speed goes, just because they can make a computer today that is "100X faster than it used to be" doesn't mean YOU own that computer. That kind of computer is probably not readily available to the average consumer. A stat like that (and I don't know where you got your stat, but I get your point) is probably just showing you the gap between the worst of the first and the best of the latest. With the fastest computer today, the only speed limitation it really has should be the user - The fastest computer today should be able to process your instructions faster than you can react to give it more instructions, unless the instruction you gave it was a loop or infinite calculation of some kind.

Answer 5

If you don't care about gaming, get a Mac.

Computers are computers. They still use the same sort of technology as they did ten years ago, just faster and better. Just like with any machine (bicycles, telephones, alarm clocks, washers, the human body, etc.), you have to know something about how they work to make them work and fix them when they are broken. If you don't know enough to fix it, that's why people go into business fixing them. Computers are just like any other modern convenience; no matter how good the technology gets, they will someimes need fixing and user error is likely to occur.

Answer 6

moore law states that the processing power of computer chip will double approximately every 18 months. That has been true so far.
However programs become more complex and things you can do with a computer becomes more complex. Compare ms dos with windows xp or worse: windows vista. one was ugly the other is super fancy. However, if the only thing you care is to print that document, both work ok.
The problem is that programmers make it more complex faster than computer become faster.

Answer 7

IMHO, users are not stupid, perhaps merely afraid, ignorant or inexperienced, but not stupid. They also rarely realize that the machine that is apparently "holding a conversation with them on screen" doesn't "know" anything and can't correct their mistakes for them without the correction being activated by the user(s). The terms Artificial Intelligence and Neural Network being slung around also contributes to the average person's confusion. Isn't this bleeding edge box I bought "smart" enough to know that what I meant isn't what I typed? Sorry, wait about another 5-25 years for that, folks.

Answer 8

Make sure your computer has enough memory, at least 256MB or better 512MB or 1G even better.

The processor may be faster but the software requirements are also greater, so that kind of even it out a little.

Other contributing factors could also be your fragmented harddisk.

You can do a google search for optimization maintenance tips for your PC. That can help.

Answer 9

Simply because the software that runs on your computer is 200 times more complex and resource demanding compared to 10 years before.

Answer 10

Its true. Though the average home computers have grown faster humans have also learned to cope up with them and increasingly find the latter slow.
But this may not be always true in case of high end computers or supercomputers as they are called.
These machines are monsters both in terms of sped and size.
Yoou cannot call them 'slow'!!