Living at home with my parents has its advantages (financial -- particularly in the Silicon Valley, relational). It also has some disadvantages (independence). However, the biggest pain of them all is being the de-facto IT support staff for my parents on a nearly weekly basis, who are not the most computer literate folks in the world.
Today, I just finished reformatting their Windows 98 system, hopelessly infested with spyware, adware and other crap, and cleanly installed Windows XP Professional on it.
I then installed Mozilla Firefox so their system wouldn't become bogged down by auto-installing junk again. No sooner had I handed it back to then, when my dad calls me, wondering how to get on the Internet (of course, he means "open a web browser") because he didn't see the blue e icon, and after I show him, asks me where his bookmarks were, and how to get to his email since he clicks on the "envelope" icon from the IE toolbar to use Outlook Express. Of course, he fails to notice the Outlook Express icon in the Start Menu and Quick Launch bar...
So why am I writing about this? This entry is just intended for me to blow off my own steam and share a glimpse of my life, and not intended to criticize my parents whatsoever. I love them like any child should, am very grateful to them for many things, and think very highly of them; I know there are many areas in my life where the tables would be flipped.
They are intelligent, with postgraduate degrees, and perfectly capable of learning and grasping computer usage concepts on their own. But with my presence, there is simply no incentive for them to take the initiative to do their own learning, thus empowering themselves. When I move to China (or heck, even to my own place in the Bay Area), it will be... ahem... interesting to see how they cope.
[PS: Unlike some other folks, my parents are almost certainly unaware of this blog, and this is likely to stay that way for a while to come. But even if they do find it, this is nothing I haven't told them, albeit in a different medium, so I have no reservations about them reading... for now...]
Comments (4)
Yeah, same situation here for me as well...though you are way more qualified to be IT support staff than me. My go-to solution? "Mom, why don't you try turning off the computer and turning it back on" :P
Posted by joeyguhguh | July 9, 2004 12:49 AM
Posted on July 9, 2004 00:49
my mom once asked me "how much softer is software than hardware?"
Posted by kimtd | July 9, 2004 8:49 AM
Posted on July 9, 2004 08:49
haha. i'm not a "techy" but certainly more tech savvy than an average asian adult. last year, i worked as a computer technology instructor at a non-profit korean-american organization teaching basic word and internet explorer to adults. boy, it required a lot of patience and energy. i can't imagine what new technology will come up as we get older...
Posted by sojink | July 9, 2004 2:53 PM
Posted on July 9, 2004 14:53
oh mark... it won't change once you move out. i'm out in NY now, and i'm still the defacto IT phone support for the Nee family
Posted by vnee | July 9, 2004 11:20 PM
Posted on July 9, 2004 23:20