Ignorance Can Be Bliss

But people who don't know that something is amiss with their tech may be happier for it. Consider the millions of TV watchers who apparently think they're getting a great picture from any show that proclaims "broadcast in high-definition" even though they don't own a high-def TV--or even though the set they do own isn't connected to a high-def program source. Hey, think of the money they're saving!

Those of us who make our living by paying attention to such details tend to get exasperated when relations and friends who are no longer "novice users" fail to understand or care about what we consider simple. What we forget is that the "logical" tech world we take for granted is in fact highly arbitrary, whimsical, and proprietary. Why can't you plug cell phone X into cell phone Y's charger when they seem virtually identical? Why will phone X, but not phone Y, work in Europe? Why won't a document created in Word 2007 open in Word 2003?

If you follow the world of technology, you probably know the answers to these and other mysteries. Folks who don't have a clue are probably getting real work done--until they blow up their cell phone or can't open a Word document from their boss. And that's when, inevitably, they'll once again depend on the kindness of geeks.