Explaining parts to un-educated people

Skeeter

Skeeter

Skeeter

Caporegime
Joined
8 Mar 2007
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Surrey
Heyo

Just got paid and bit the bullet and bought myself some new bits. But as my sisters were paying for some as my Christmas present I had to explain in simple terms what they were, which was... challenging.

8800GT - Makes my PC's graphics much better than a PS3 for a fraction of the cost.

Freezer 7 Pro - Means I can make my PC's brain run faster instead of having to buy a new faster one (took some explaining about cooling etc).

Coolermaster 690 Case - My current case is loud and i cant sleep with my PC on, this one is much quieter and looks nicer (met with a 'turn your PC off at night then' answer....)

Cheap 5.1 Sound Card - So I can put sound and pictures through my TV which is pointing the other way from my PC, and allows me to play games etc with headphones while someone else can watch a film. (answer: you can connect your TV to your PC?)

I got there in the end and they paid up. What other means have you used to purswade people who arent as geeky minded as us that PC parts are a worthwhile upgrade?
 
I don't convince anyone, I just buy what I need/want.

However, when meeting a new girl, damn near the first thing I tell them these days is that I'm a geek. Usually I get told "no, you're not", until maybe a week or two later when they realise, yes I actually am, a huge geek.
 
My GF tells me that she loves my geekyness.... Im not so sure, I just think she likes my free, on demand PC repair service.

The fact with this is I had to convince my sisters to cough up some cash for it. PEople need to know what there paying for...
 
The only times I'd have got PC hardware bought for me would have been years ago by my parents, and in those cases, they just trusted that I knew what I was doing. It was easier to just tell my mum "you wouldn't understand even if I explained it".
 
When I'm explaining something to people, I often use real-world analogies.

My favourite one is explaining the difference between different types of memory... which I explain as so (and yes I'm sure some of the facts aren't 100% correct, but close enough for a non computer person!):

There's three types of memory, there's cache, which is in your processor, where all the main work happens. This is like having a bit of food on your desk - it's very quick to get to, but you can't keep very much there.

Then there's RAM, or "system memory", or "main memory", which is like your kitchen. It can hold more food, but it's slightly further away than the desk, but still reasonably quick to get to.

Then, you've got the hard drive, which is like Tesco. Very big, can hold a lot of data (food), but is a long way away, so takes much longer to get to and back from.


There's not been one person I've explained it to like that who hasn't understood what and why, and why increasing RAM can help speed up a computer if there's not enough.
 
Skeeter said:
Coolermaster 690 Case - My current case is loud and i cant sleep with my PC on, this one is much quieter and looks nicer (met with a 'turn your PC off at night then' answer....)
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don't do overnight "video" downloads then =0

I got a new graphics card by explaining to my dad that the current stuff in there doesn't run my game, quite simple really =p
 
my gf wondered why i had to order some Sata cables for the H.D.D's i had coming, so i had to explain why everything worked...
 
My GF loves my geekyness..........until itunes doesn't work, then it's all my fault and I have to fix it immediately :rolleyes:
 
ConfusedTA said:
When I'm explaining something to people, I often use real-world analogies.

My favourite one is explaining the difference between different types of memory... which I explain as so (and yes I'm sure some of the facts aren't 100% correct, but close enough for a non computer person!):

There's three types of memory, there's cache, which is in your processor, where all the main work happens. This is like having a bit of food on your desk - it's very quick to get to, but you can't keep very much there.

Then there's RAM, or "system memory", or "main memory", which is like your kitchen. It can hold more food, but it's slightly further away than the desk, but still reasonably quick to get to.

Then, you've got the hard drive, which is like Tesco. Very big, can hold a lot of data (food), but is a long way away, so takes much longer to get to and back from.


There's not been one person I've explained it to like that who hasn't understood what and why, and why increasing RAM can help speed up a computer if there's not enough.
Click to expand...

I like that little analogy.

personaly i love when people dont get the difference between ram and hdds. does my ***kin' nut in. lol

i could also be padantic and say that hdds have cache. theres video ram. and also flash rom/firmware ;)
 
ive seen me having to compare cpu speeds to car engine sizes starting from your basic 1.3 litre to the full blown 3.0 litre gti or something like that.
 
jackassuk56 said:
yes i have had to explain computers to very dumb people!
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Prefer to think of them as not totally IT literate. If they're not into IT, why should they be? Would you be able to have a pertinent conversation with a brain surgeon about his last operation?

jackassuk56 said:
and yes it hurts soo much to dumb things down to the point where you use 1 sylable words.
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lol
 
paradigm said:
I don't convince anyone, I just buy what I need/want.

However, when meeting a new girl, damn near the first thing I tell them these days is that I'm a geek. Usually I get told "no, you're not", until maybe a week or two later when they realise, yes I actually am, a huge geek.
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You sound like me :D
 
Every time I see a TFT set to a non native resolution because the user wants BIGGER WORDS AND MORE SPACE I cry a little inside an a Kitten Dies. Worst was in a GP practice the other day. 24" Almost new Samsung Monitor that must have cost £300ish, being run at 1024x768! ITS NOT EVEN A WIDESCREEN RESOLUTION!

And yes, Memory, Ram, Storage, Drive Space, Hard Drive etc seem to be interchangeable words for the non literate. Does my head in!
 
I don't generally bother to tell people that I know anything much about computers but sometimes it just slips out, particularly at various jobs where the IT department has said "nope, can't be done" to which the reply of "cobblers" is usually forthcoming since I know for a fact it can - I can understand them not wanting to do it because sometimes it is a rather complicated option but give me a better reason.

I had to laugh a few weeks back when a girl I know who is head of IT at a fairly large company was surprised because a) I could understand her and b) I gave her a technical solution. Ironic because you'd think after all the assumptions she gets lumped with about people expecting her not to know about computers she'd have thought twice before judging me.
 
KelticDaz said:
Prefer to think of them as not totally IT literate. If they're not into IT, why should they be? Would you be able to have a pertinent conversation with a brain surgeon about his last operation?
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how about 'Technologically impaired' :D thats a great term i think

EDIT: just found this lol http://www.satirewire.com/features/siliconpines/10.shtml (was checking the spelling of the above term (with google) lol and came across it

does anyone else use google to spell check???
im one of those people that can understand computing stuff perfectly, but everything else that would be considered 'easy' for a non-technically minded person is hard/impossible for me to understand lol, does anyone else feel this way???
 
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QlimaxUK said:
im one of those people that can understand computing stuff perfectly, but everything else that would be considered 'easy' for a non-technically minded person is hard/impossible for me to understand lol, does anyone else feel this way???
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If my GF is 'Technologically impaired' then I must be a 'Literary Dunce' as she can read anything from Shakespeare to Tolstoy to Harry Potter easily and understand every sentence, as well as follow the story line. I get stuck at 'Chapter One'!

Definitely not a dumb person........but still can't put more paper in the printer when it runs out.
 
ConfusedTA said:
When I'm explaining something to people, I often use real-world analogies.

My favourite one is explaining the difference between different types of memory... which I explain as so (and yes I'm sure some of the facts aren't 100% correct, but close enough for a non computer person!):

There's three types of memory, there's cache, which is in your processor, where all the main work happens. This is like having a bit of food on your desk - it's very quick to get to, but you can't keep very much there.

Then there's RAM, or "system memory", or "main memory", which is like your kitchen. It can hold more food, but it's slightly further away than the desk, but still reasonably quick to get to.

Then, you've got the hard drive, which is like Tesco. Very big, can hold a lot of data (food), but is a long way away, so takes much longer to get to and back from.


There's not been one person I've explained it to like that who hasn't understood what and why, and why increasing RAM can help speed up a computer if there's not enough.
Click to expand...

You should be writing IT idiots guides tbh, that was a brilliant analogy.
 
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